École Polytechnique’s Foundation aims to raise 200 million euros to serve science
École Polytechnique Foundation is launching an ambitious new fundraising campaign to reach a new milestone in its support for X's development.
The aim of this third fundraising campaign is to raise 200 million euros over the next five years, following the 87 million (2016-2021) and 35 million (2008-2013) raised in the two previous campaigns.
The change in scale of this campaign, entitled “Servir la science” (“Serving Science”), will accelerate the implementation of the School's strategic plan, boost its attractiveness, and consolidate its role in resolving major contemporary challenges.
École polytechnique is “a public institution that is fortunate to receive strong support from the State, and in particular from the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which oversees it”, reminded Laura Chaubard, President and CEO of École polytechnique, during a press conference.
“In order to maintain our position in the international higher education and research landscape, we need to find additional room for maneuver from both individual and corporate sponsors,” she added.
Frédéric Oudéa, President of FX, compared the annual budget of 230 million euros for X and its 4,000 students to that of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL: one billion euros for twice as many students.
“I'm motivated to close the gap and make Polytechnique a competitive School,” he declared.
“The world needs science and science needs you”
Of the 200 million euros to be raised, donors have already pledged 85 million euros, or just over 40% of the target, in what has so far been a quiet phase.
“It's a launch that's looking good, even if there's still some way to go over the next five years”, continued Frédéric Oudéa, emphasizing that the Foundation's financing is ‘a very valuable complement to public funding’.
The campaign is of course aimed at the Polytechnic community, and in particular its 30,000 alumni, and at companies already involved in partnerships with X, but it is intended to be open to all donors, with the baseline : “The world needs science and science needs you”.
“The aim of our campaign is to gather a collective around the sciences and their positive impact on society”, explained Alexandre de Juniac (X 1981) and Christel Heydemann (X 1994), Chairman and Vice-Chairwoman of the Campaign Committee, in a press release.
“Philanthropy has already enabled École Polytechnique to make significant progress, particularly in terms of internationalization and curriculum diversification. We are counting on a renewed and strengthened commitment from all of you,” they added.
Three strategic priorities
The funds raised will be used to finance projects in three strategic areas: nurturing talent, advancing research and breakthrough innovations, and making the X campus a model of sustainability.
The first priority will help us to continue to attract the most talented profiles to X, and to support student and teacher mobility. It will also strengthen diversity by pursuing existing initiatives implemented by the School in favor of equal opportunity, and by initiating new programs, particularly in research.
Support for research, which Frédéric Oudéa estimated would mobilize around half of the funds raised, concerns both fundamental research, which paves the way for the emergence of new technologies, and numerous research projects designed to meet the systemic challenges of climate, bio-engineering, sovereignty and defense.
As 2024 marks the 230th anniversary of the founding of École Polytechnique and the almost 50th anniversary of its move to Palaiseau, support for campus development projects is a new feature and a priority of the new campaign to provide an attractive, sustainable environment for all.
The School, which has launched a major four-year project to modernize its central complex, also aims to renovate its sports facilities and equip itself with a Mathematics Centre and, in the longer term, a Faculty Club.
Referring to the planned Mathematics Centre, which will bring together 6 laboratories in a 10,000 m² space, Laura Chaubard declared: “Mathematics remains the absolute scientific signature of the École Polytechnique, and it deserves a totemic building”.
Designed to enhance the attractiveness and visibility of mathematical teams, the new building will also expose French and international students to world-class research, combining fundamental aspects with innovative business applications.
The funds raised will be used to invest in strategic real estate projects that meet the highest international standards and make the campus a living laboratory for the energy transition.