Education and Science

Secondary level

The large community of both foreign students and foreign researchers prompted the creation of an international over a decade ago. The Cité Scolaire Internationale Europole (CSI Europole) was formerly housed within the Lycée Stendhal across from the Maison du Tourisme, and later moved to its own building in the Europole district. In the centre of the city, two schools have provided education to the isérois for more than three centuries. The oldest one, the Lycée Stendhal, was founded in 1651 as a Jesuit College. In 1673 an astronomical and astrological sundial was created in the main building of the college, called "horloge solaire", which still can be visited today. The second oldest higher education establishment of Grenoble is the Lycée Champollion, completed in 1887 to offer an excellent education to both high school students and students of classes préparatoires.

Higher Education Main square of Grenoble's university campus

In a 1339 pontific bull, Pope Benedict XII commissioned the establishment of the University of Grenoble.

In 1968, the university relocated to a main campus outside of the city in Saint Martin d'Hères (with some parts in Gières). However, smaller campuses remain downtown and in the northwestern part of the city known as the Polygone Scientifique ("Scientific Polygon").

The university consists of four separate institutions sharing the campus grounds, some buildings and laboratories, and even part of their administration:

Grenoble I – Joseph Fourier University (sciences, health, technologies) Grenoble II – Pierre Mendès-France University (social sciences) which includes the Institute of political studies Grenoble III – Stendhal University (humanities) Grenoble Institute of Technology (INPG or Grenoble-INP) is a federation of engineering colleges.

Campuses of the École nationale de l'aviation civile (French civil aviation university), École d'Architecture de Grenoble ( School of Architecture of Grenoble) and Grenoble École de Management (management and business administration) are also located in Grenoble.

The city is now an important university centre with over 60,000 students, of which 16% arrive from abroad.

Science and engineering Site of European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institut Laue-Langevin and European Molecular Biology Laboratory at the Western end of the polygone scientifique

Grenoble is also a major scientific centre, especially in the fields of physics, computer science, and applied mathematics: Joseph Fourier University (UJF) is one of the leading French scientific universities while the Grenoble Institute of Technology trains more than 5,000 engineers every year in key technology disciplines. Grenoble's high tech expertise is organized mainly around three domains: information technology, biotechnologies and new technologies of energy.

Many fundamental and applied scientific research laboratories are conjointly managed by Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble Institute of Technology, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Numerous other scientific laboratories are managed independently or in collaboration with the CNRS and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA).

Other research centres in or near Grenoble include the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), and one of the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (Nuclear Energy Commission)(CEA) main research facilities.

Leti and the recent development of Minatec, a centre for innovation in micro- and nano-technology, only increases Grenoble's position as a European scientific centre.

The city benefits from the highest concentration of strategic jobs in France after Paris, with 14% of the employments, 35,186 jobs, 45% of which specialized in design and research. Grenoble is also the largest research center in France after Paris with 22,800 jobs (11,800 in public research, 7,500 in private research and 3,500 PhD students).

In order to foster this technological cluster university institutions and research organizations united to create the GIANT (Grenoble Innovation for Advanced New Technologies) Innovation Campus with the aim at becoming one of the world's top campuses in research, higher education, and high tech.

Grenoble is also renowned for the excellence of its academic research in humanities and political sciences. Its universities, alongside public scientific institutions, host some of the largest research centres in France (in fields such as political science, urban planning or the sociology of organizations).

Knowledge and Innovation Community

Grenoble is one of the co-location centres of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology's Knowledge and Innovation Communities for sustainable energy.