In 2004, institutions in the
Latin Quarter began thinking of how to join forces to boost their international visibility. The French law on research promulgated in 2006, which encouraged the formation of research networks (in various forms including
PRES and RTRA), paved the way for new projects such as
Paris Universitas, PRES
ParisTech and an early version of the PSL project. This new organization combined five institutions of higher education in the Latin Quarter:
Chimie ParisTech, , ,
École supérieure de Physique et de Chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris), and
Observatoire de Paris. Together, they adopted the status of a scientific cooperation foundation (FCS)
(fr). The new entity, called "Paris Sciences et Lettres – Quartier Latin", was initially conceived as a scientific alliance. In 2011, the five institutions submitted a joint application for the Initiatives for Excellence (IDEX) as part of France's
Investing for the Future program (PIA), causing the project to evolve into a new form of French university. This university would have 70% of its students at the Master's and PhD level and offer a Bachelor's program, with an emphasis on
equal opportunity students (40% scholarship students in the CPES multidisciplinary preparatory class).
Development Between 2011 and 2012, ten new institutions joined the foundation:
Conservatoire national supérieur d'Art dramatique,
Conservatoire national supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris,
École nationale supérieure des Arts décoratifs,
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts,
La Fémis, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Foundation for Research,
Institut Curie, Institut Louis-Bachelier,
MINES ParisTech and
Université Paris Dauphine. Their arrival reinforced PSL's scientific potential in the fields of
engineering,
biology,
the arts, and
management. In 2014, another four institutions specializing in humanities and social science joined the association:
École française d'Extrême-Orient,
École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS),
École nationale des Chartes, and
École pratique des hautes études (EPHE).In 2015, PSL organized itself into a university community (
ComUE: PSL Research University). PSL began awarding PhDs at that point.
"Investing for the Future" program In 2010, the French government launched a call for proposals to boost higher education: the
Investing for the Future program (also called the
grand emprunt). PSL has successfully responded to several calls for proposals. In 2011, with the Initiatives for Excellence call for proposals, PSL was one of the first three projects selected, along with
University of Bordeaux and
University of Strasbourg. While the diversity of project participants has sometimes been cited as a weakness, the promoters of PSL underline the complementarity of its institutions and the potential for collaboration. The funding of the Excellence Initiative has, in addition, supported the creation of 11 Laboratories of excellence (Labex) within PSL: CelTisPhyBio, DCBIOL, DEEP, DYNAMO, ENS-ICFP, ESEP, IEC,
IPGG, MemoLife, TransferS, and WIFI. In 2014, the Corail, HaStec, and TEPSIS Labex laboratories joined the list with EHESS and EPHE becoming members of PSL. Also in 2011, PSL's institutions presented ten projects under the "Equipped with excellence" (Equipex) program. Among the initial submissions, they obtained eight Equipex facilities: BEDOFIH, D-FIH, Equip@Meso, ICGex, IPGG, Paris-en-Resonnance, Planaqua, Ultrabrain. These projects have received funding ranging from 2 to 10 million euros. In 2017, after a detailed review process, nine institutions agreed to put in place an integrated budget and a multi-year strategy for academic recruitment, as well as to create a number of shared platforms and services. Chimie ParisTech, École Nationale des Chartes, École Normale Supérieure, École Pratique des Hautes Etudes, ESPCI Paris, Institut Curie, Observatoire de Paris, MINES ParisTech, Paris-Dauphine University decided to jointly form PSL University. The agreement approved by their respective boards calls for the schools and institutions that form the university to adopt a unified strategy, to submit to the budgetary authority of the president of the university, to jointly plan their recruitment, and to transfer the whole of their diplomas to PSL. Towards the end of the process, in 2018, one of the former members,
EHESS, did not approve the new statutes and decided not to be part of the target university. Beaux-Arts de Paris, Collège de France, Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique, Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, École Française d'Extrême-Orient, École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, La Fémis,
Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique and Institut Louis Bachelier are recognized as associates of the university pending later integration.
University status (2019) In December 2018, an opportunity to formally create a full university arose with a new
Ordonnance (ordinance) allowing to create a
collegiate university, whose constituents may keep their
legal personality, similar to British collegiate universities like
Oxford and
Cambridge. In November 2019, a decree creating Université PSL as a
collegiate university and the new statutes of the University were published. A few changes had occurred in the list of constituents, with nine institutions approving the new statutes and becoming (constituent colleges):
Chimie ParisTech,
Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique,
École Nationale des Chartes,
École normale supérieure, ,
ESPCI Paris,
Observatoire de Paris,
MINES ParisTech,
Paris Dauphine. Additionally,
College de France and
Institut Curie became associate members, participating closely in the governance of the University. Associate members contribute to the strategy of the University, receive financial resources from PSL University and may carry scientific programs on behalf and by delegation thereof. In January 2025, the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-Malaquais and
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs joined PSL as constituent colleges. == Organisation and administration ==