PSL University QS #28

PSL University has a strong, well-structured entrepreneurial ecosystem spanning student programs (PSL-Pepite, PSL-Lab) and deep-tech support across elite member schools like Mines Paris, ENS, ESPCI and Dauphine, producing roughly 50 startups and 70 patents a year. It is a leading entrepreneurial university in France and Europe, though it does not match the very top US startup hubs.

• On average about 50 startups are created each year at PSL, alongside roughly 70 patents filed annually.
• PSL-Pepite, the student entrepreneurship service launched in 2014, supported around 250 projects in its first 5 years and helped create 77 new companies.
• PSL-Starter is a 5-month accelerator program run at the PSL-Lab coworking space, covering business model, marketing and operations.
• Deep-tech support includes PSL Tech Seed, PSL Tech Acceleration (a BPI France SATT-Incubator-Accelerator winner) and the Deep Tech Factory operated with Mines Paris.
• The Dauphine-PSL incubator, created in 2012 with the Dauphine Foundation and a 90,000-strong alumni network, has supported 88 startups with coworking, funding and coaching.
• Incubators are run across elite member schools: Mines Paris - PSL, ENS, Dauphine - PSL, ESPCI Paris - PSL and Chimie ParisTech - PSL.

PSL University is a world-leading research powerhouse, ranking around 24th globally and accounting for nearly 10% of all French research output across roughly 140 to 181 laboratories. Its affiliated researchers and alumni include 28 Nobel laureates and 11 Fields Medalists, placing it among the strongest research institutions worldwide.

• 28 Nobel laureates, 11 Fields Medalists, and 3 Abel laureates among alumni and staff
• Over 150 ERC (European Research Council) grants secured since its establishment
• Accounts for nearly 10% of French research output, with about 4,500 researchers across ~140-181 laboratories
• Recent affiliated laureates: Alain Aspect (2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, ENS-PSL) and Fields Medalist Hugo Duminil-Copin
• Esther Duflo (Economics Nobel Prize), a former ENS-PSL student
• 11 Laboratoires d'excellence (Labex) including ENS-ICFP, MemoLife, and IPGG; member schools include ENS, Mines Paris, Dauphine, and ESPCI

PSL University concentrates world-class teaching scholars across ENS, Dauphine-PSL and its partner College de France, where star professors give actual lecture courses (including free public College de France lectures) rather than holding nominal chairs. Several Fields Medalists and a Nobel laureate are active in teaching or supervision within PSL institutions.

• Pierre-Louis Lions, Fields Medal 1994, professor at Dauphine-PSL (CEREMADE) and holder of the Partial Differential Equations and Applications chair at College de France where he gives an annual lecture course and seminar
• Esther Duflo, Nobel Prize in Economics 2019 and ENS-PSL alumna, was a visiting professor teaching at ENS-PSL (2020-2021) and holds the Poverty and Public Policy chair at College de France
• Thomas Romer, professor at College de France since 2007 (Hebrew Bible and its Contexts chair), gives recurring teaching courses
• Cedric Villani, Fields Medal 2010, studied and taught at ENS-PSL
• College de France professors deliver free, open public lecture courses, a strong signal of active teaching by elite faculty linked to PSL

As a federation of elite French Grandes Ecoles (including ENS, Dauphine, MINES Paris, ESPCI and Collège de France), PSL has an exceptionally distinguished alumni base spanning science, politics, business and the arts, with dozens of Nobel and Fields recipients and multiple French and African heads of state. Its network is world-leading in prestige in France and Europe, though smaller and less globally dispersed than the largest US universities.

• PSL counts 33 Nobel Prize laureates and 14 Fields Medal laureates among alumni, professors and researchers
• Alumni include 3 Presidents of France and African heads of state such as Faure Gnassingbé (President of Togo, Paris Dauphine-PSL) and a President of Senegal
• Famous alumni: Jean-Paul Sartre (Nobel Literature, ENS-PSL), Esther Duflo (2019 Nobel Economics, ENS-PSL), Pierre-Louis Lions (Fields Medal, ENS-PSL and Dauphine-PSL)
• Business and tech alumni: Mohed Altrad (French-Syrian billionaire, Dauphine-PSL), Isabelle Kocher (former Engie CEO, MINES Paris-PSL and ENS-PSL), Frédéric Mazzella (founder of BlaBlaCar, ENS-PSL)
• Other distinctions across the network: 38 César Award laureates and 71 Molière Award laureates among alumni, professors and researchers

PSL is world-leading on prominent figures passing through, anchored by the College de France, whose roughly 50 chair-holders deliver free public lectures open to all and whose past faculty included Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Claude Levi-Strauss and Roland Barthes. Across its schools (College de France, ENS, Dauphine, ESPCI) PSL counts around 28 affiliated Nobel laureates and 11 Fields medalists, an exceptional concentration of high-profile scholars in residence and as speakers.

• College de France (a PSL school) has about 50 professors who must give free public lectures open to anyone without registration
• Past College de France chair-holders include Claude Levi-Strauss, Pierre Bourdieu, Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan and Michel Foucault
• PSL counts around 28 affiliated Nobel laureates, including physicists Serge Haroche (2012) and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (1997) and economists Esther Duflo (2019) and Jean Tirole (2014)
• PSL counts 11 Fields medalists affiliated through ENS-PSL, including Alain Connes, Cedric Villani and Hugo Duminil-Copin (2022)
• As of 2021 the College de France alone had 21 affiliated Nobel Prize winners and 9 Fields medalists
• PSL hosts year-round debates, lectures, exhibits and concerts and partners with Cambridge, NYU, University of Chicago and Shanghai Jiao Tong for visiting scholars

PSL is a collegiate university federating around 11 to 13 elite institutions clustered mainly in the Latin Quarter of central Paris, giving exceptional internal cross-disciplinary mixing (sciences, humanities, arts, economics) and dense proximity to other top schools, labs, and partners. This is a world-leading case for ecosystem cross-pollination.

• Member institutions include Ecole normale superieure (ENS-PSL), Dauphine-PSL, Mines Paris-PSL, ESPCI Paris-PSL, College de France, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Ecole nationale des chartes, and Institut Curie
• Most schools are concentrated in the Latin Quarter and around the Montagne Sainte-Genevieve campus in central Paris, fostering close collaboration
• Institut Curie (associate member) runs 13 joint research units with CNRS, Inserm, Sorbonne University, and Universite Paris-Saclay, with 86 teams and over 1,200 collaborators
• Disciplinary span covers life and matter sciences, humanities and social sciences, art creation, and economics and management within one collegiate university
• Joined The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities (December 2023), broadening its external academic network
• Nearby institutions in the same district include Sorbonne University and the Jussieu campus, increasing ecosystem density

PSL University provides a substantial range of its own scholarships and fully funded fellowships, including field-specific Excellence Grants and the flagship 5-year PSL PhD Track that fully funds students from Master's through Doctorate, though most aid is merit and excellence based rather than broad need-based support.

• PSL PhD Track: 5-year fully funded program with a 10,000 euros/year grant at Master's level (2 years) then a 3-year salaried doctoral contract
• PSL Graduate Program Excellence Grants across fields (Chemistry, Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Finance, Life Sciences, Physics, Management, Religious Studies)
• PSL Excellence scholarships of up to 12,000 euros/year (6,000 euros/semester) for high-achieving Master's students
• France Excellence PSL Scholarship in Life Sciences: 1,000 euros/month for 10 months
• ENS-PSL International Selection: monthly grant of 1,000 euros for 3 years plus on-campus accommodation
• Dauphine-PSL Finance Master's Excellence Scholarship and CROUS housing assistance for laureates

PSL has essentially free public tuition: national-diploma fees are about EUR 175 for a Bachelor's and EUR 243 to 380 for a Master's, and most member schools waive the higher non-EU rates so international students often pay the same. The catch is Paris, one of Europe's most expensive cities, with student living costs around EUR 14,000 to 19,000 a year. Near-free tuition keeps overall affordability good despite the costly city.

• Public national-diploma tuition is about EUR 175 (Bachelor's) to EUR 243 to 380 (Master's, PhD) per year
• Most PSL schools waive the raised non-EU fees, so international students typically pay the same low rates
• Paris student living costs are roughly EUR 1,200 to 1,600+ per month, about EUR 14,000 to 19,000 a year
• Near-zero tuition offsets an expensive city; CAF housing aid can lower rent further, keeping the overall cost reasonable

PSL offers a rich social and sporting life with around 40 general-interest clubs and nearly 40 sports disciplines plus a structured student health and psychological support system, set against the high cost and tight housing market of central Paris. Student reviews are positive, though livability is constrained by Paris housing scarcity and intense academic competition.

• PSL-Sport offers nearly 40 disciplines including badminton, basketball, boxing, climbing, fencing, football, handball, swimming, yoga and zumba
• About 40 general-interest student clubs (humanitarian, cultural, athletic, civic, festive) plus over 60 trade associations across the federated schools
• Mental-health support via Nightline Paris, a free, confidential, student-run evening phone and web line (9pm to 2:30am), launched by a PSL association in cooperation with school psychological services
• PSL student health service includes a preventive medicine center and a prevention and psychological counseling center; Mines Paris-PSL runs a one-stop Student Support Center
• PSL Housing Service (SAL) owns roughly 800 beds across about 20 dormitories, with public-housing rents around 500 euros and private options of 600 to 700 euros, within 45 minutes of campus
• PSL ranked 28th in the QS World University Rankings (June 2025); EDUopinions student reviews give a 5.0 rating

PSL reports strong graduate outcomes, with sources citing roughly a 91 percent employability rate and a top-30 world ranking for employability (CWUR 2025, 30th), backed by over 3000 industrial partners and around 50 student startups created yearly. France's structured internship system (paid after 2 months) and PSL's research-industry links integrate work and study well, though detailed graduate salary data is not publicly published.

• CWUR 2025 ranking: PSL placed 30th in the world for employability (up one place from 2024)
• Cited graduate employability rate of about 91 percent, leading among French institutions
• Over 3000 industrial partners, with PSL students creating nearly 50 startups per year
• Internships in France require a tripartite training agreement and a compulsory bonus (gratification) after 2 months
• Students may work up to 964 hours per year (60 percent of full-time); internship hours are excluded from this cap
• PSL ranked #28 in QS World University Rankings 2026, where graduate employability is one indicator