The Paris Seine Initiative

Paris Seine Initiative brings together five institutions that intend to reshape the academic environment in Cergy-Pontoise and to propose a new university model in the French education system.

This ambition is structured around three major projects – some of which are already underway – that have all received support from territorial authorities and the local socio-economic and cultural environment. Both strongly rooted in the territory of the Western Paris metropolitan area and resolutely open to the world, these projects will help disrupt habits that have remained unchallenged for a long time, and they will enable the necessary changes to reconcile

the search for international recognition and the will to maintain an indispensable social mission on the territory.

While I-SITE funds will be used for the former, they are both essential parts of the overall restructuring of the academic environment and education system in Cergy-Pontoise.

The first project is the creation of an international research university that will enter the list of the top 200 in the world within 10 years.

This postgraduate level selective university will be recognized for its excellence in Social Sciences and Modelling and will prepare students for the challenges of global complexity in the 21st century. It will be built following a multidisciplinary approach with four institutions: Université de Cergy-Pontoise, EISTI and ENSEA will integrate the university, while ESSEC Businees School will have the status of affiliated institution and participate to the university’s governance.

The second project will be the creation of an undergraduate College focusing on student success. The territorial and social mission that is an integral part of the Paris Seine Initiative will thus be undertaken using diversified flexible pathways, promoting new teaching and assessment methods, and through the joint construction of vocational training with the socio-economic world and the promotion of multidisciplinary approaches.

The third project has already started. To create the conditions for the emergence of ambitious projects and to enhance international attractiveness, the COMUE Paris Seine is rebuilding the Cergy-Pontoise campus in order to create an International Campus that meets the highest standards to attract the best international students and researchers.

For almost the last three years, thanks to very important financial and political support from the state and local authorities, studies have been carried out to define the identity of this new kind of campus, which is both urban and surrounded by nature, and connected to Paris by public transportation.

The first buildings will be inaugurated between 2017 and 2020: they include a Fab Lab (2017), an Eco-city for innovation and entrepreneurship (2018), a Learning Center and a new building that will host the IUT and will be emblematic of the university College.