Gwendal Hénaff, from the Plasma Physics Laboratory (LPP*), and Sooyong Chae, from the Laboratory of Physics of Interface and Thin Film (LPICM*), were recognized at the i-PhD 2026 competition for their doctoral research. They will receive support for developing their entrepreneurial projects. This demonstrates how research that begins as basic science can become the driving force behind practical applications.
Étienne Minvielle, Professor and CNRS Research Director at the École Polytechnique’s Center for Management Research (i3-CRG, jointly administered with...
Among the over 3,220 students enrolled at École Polytechnique for the academic year 2026-2027, more than 40 % are international. Admitted to the various degree programs at l’X due to their academic and scientific excellence, they come from around the world to pursue their studies at l’X this year. A diversity of nationalities and backgrounds that enriches the experience for everyone on campus.
The MSc&T program Data Science and AI for Business X-HEC ranks second globally in the 2027 edition of the QS Masters in Business Analytics rankings. The program retains its top global ranking for employability and has improved its rankings in the categories of Thought Leadership and Value for Money.
When massive stars explode as supernovae at the end of their lives, they emit neutrinos, particles that are very difficult to detect. The Super-Kamiokande detector in Japan has observed the first evidence of the “diffuse supernova neutrino background,” resulting from all of these stellar explosions. The Leprince-Ringuet Laboratory (LLR*) is involved in this research.
Marc-Olivier Renou holds a junior professorship at the Inria Center of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, within the PhIQus team, and is affiliated with the Center for Theoretical Physics (CPHT) and the Computer Science Laboratory of École Polytechnique (LIX). Through the QINF project, he is exploring a new frontier in quantum information: fermionic bits. This project is funded by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
Vicky Kalogeiton, a researcher at the École Polytechnique’s Computer Science Laboratory (LIX*), has just received a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The goal of her research project FLASH is to make generative image AI more efficient, more accessible, and more sustainable.
Against the backdrop of a nationwide slowdown in the job placement of recent graduates, the Polytechnique engineers of the Class of X2020, who will graduate in 2025, are reaffirming the strength of their transition into the workforce. One-quarter of graduates enter the civil service, 28% go on to pursue a Ph.D., and nearly half of graduates join the private sector, working at companies of all sizes. Of the graduates who join the company, 97% find their first job in Europe (87% in France), dispelling the notion of a brain drain.
Bruno Bellier, a senior defense procurement engineer and alumnus of École Polytechnique (Class of 1992), was appointed director general of École Polytechnique at the Cabinet meeting on August 31, 2026. He will also serve as interim chairman of the board of directors until the publication of the new decree governing the School’s organization.
Co-founded by Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Alain Aspect, professor emeritus at École Polytechnique, and Antoine Browaeys, a professor at École Polytechnique, Pasqal—France’s first quantum computing unicorn—is now listed on the Nasdaq. This listing provides the company with approximately $360 million in cash to accelerate its industrial and technological development.
Four Cycle Ingénieur polytechnicien students participated in the 2026 International Mathematics Competition, held in Bulgaria from July 27 to August 2. They once again distinguished themselves with their excellent results, winning four First Prizes, including a Grand First Prize awarded to Georges Tézé, who ranked 5th overall. A fifth Cycle Ingénieur polytechnicien student, Aymane Bouhsain, also won a silver medal.
Yannis Laplace’s team at the Irradiated Solids Laboratory (LSI*) has just achieved a major breakthrough by demonstrating the operation of a “temporal photonic crystal.” This finding has been published in the journal *Nature*. This is a collaboration with the Collège de France, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Thales’ Albert Fert Laboratory, and the Laboratory of Physics of Interfaces and Thin Films (LPICM*).