THE 2021 Ranking by Subjects acknowledge the Excellence of École Polytechnique’s Research in "Physical sciences"
The 2021 edition of the Times Higher Education ranking of the best universities by subject acknowledges École Polytechnique’s research achievements in "Physical sciences" with a 21st ranking worldwide (24th in 2020) and second position in France.
L’X researchers are internationally recognized for their work on the modeling of the laws of nature and their implementation in a wide variety of phenomena. Fundamental physics plays a central role in the laboratories at l’X as it is the source on which our knowledge of the world is based, as well as many modern technologies. The Nobel Prize received in 2018 by physicist Gérard Mourou illustrates this link between fundamental and applied research as the technique he developed to amplify the intensity of lasers makes it possible to understand the very nature of matter as well as the void, and at the same time to develop the use of particle acceleration to visualize or treat cancer.
The reputation of École Polytechnique’s research in Computer Science and Life Sciences also improves significantly in this new edition of this ranking.
In "Computer Science", L’X is ranked 55th worldwide, gaining 12 places and taking the second ranking among French institutions. École Polytechnique is at the very heart of the interdisciplinary Hi! PARIS center dedicated to Artificial Intelligence and Data Sciences which was launched on September 15th by Institut Polytechnique de Paris in partnership with HEC Paris. This new center, privately funded, aims to become a world leader in the field within 5 years with a budget of 50 million euros per year, the recruitment of 30 new Professors, 150 PhD students, and a tripling of the number of students in joint Master’s programs.
In "Life Sciences", École Polytechnique joins the Top 100 worldwide and ranks fourth among French universities. At l’X, Life Sciences are studied in their fundamental aspects, for example to understand the synthesis of proteins from DNA. They are also present in many physics and mechanical laboratories from the point of view of biomedical enginering. Interdisciplinary interactions thus allow nanoparticles designed by chemists to be used to understand the membrane activity of a cell and to be applied in parallel to the detection of pathogens for medical purposes.
L’X is also among the world's Top 125 universities in "Engineering and Technology". Innovative materials, quantum technologies, batteries for energy storage, 3D metallic printing, the research topics of École Polytechnique's 23 laboratories are diverse and testify to the willingness of researchers to generate new knowledge, while seizing opportunities by developing innovations for the common good.
The THE ranking highlights the School's performance based on different criteria: teaching, research, citations of the School's researchers in scientific publications, international openness, and industry income.