With more than 230 start-ups supported over the past ten years, École Polytechnique and its incubator, X-UP, are contributing to the growth of European entrepreneurship. Interdisciplinary research centres, support services, the X-FAB prototyping facility and the presence of entrepreneurs in the business incubator make the École Polytechnique’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation a unique environment that fosters creativity. Project leaders – whether they are students or researchers from École Polytechnique, other institutions within the Institut polytechnique de Paris, or from further afield – will find this the ideal place to bring their ideas to life.
The École polytechnique incubator is looking for its new Promo for its X-UP CREATE support package for innovative technology start-ups in the seed stage.
Catherine Vautrin, French Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans, visited École Polytechnique on April 17 for the Defense Quantum Forum, organized at École Polytechnique by the Defense Innovation Agency. She reviewed the X24 and X25 classes and reminded them of the historic significance of the ties between their School, the Nation, and the Armed forces.
Vignesh Kannan, a young researcher at the Solid Mechanics Laboratory (LMS*), is leading a research team investigating a fundamental question: how can we explain the behavior of materials when subjected to extreme dynamic conditions?
From spring 2026, École Polytechnique's X-UP incubator will offer honor loans for the deep tech projects it hosts and supports. These honorary loans, supported by École Polytechnique’s Foundation and averaging €40,000 per project, will finance the start-ups' priority operations, leverage other funding, and accelerate the growth of the projects concerned.
Some fluorescent molecules used to produce microscopic images of biological processes cause the cells into which they are introduced to stiffen. This phenomenon has just been demonstrated and quantified by a collaboration involving the Hydrodynamics Laboratory (LadHyX*). He is featured on the cover of the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.
Using high-intensity lasers, an international team involving researchers from the Applied Optics Laboratory (LOA*) and the Intense Lasers Laboratory (LULI*) will probe the behavior of light at an unprecedented level, at the limits of current quantum electrodynamics theory. The project has just been awarded a Synergy Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
École Polytechnique is launching the construction of a new building to bring together two of its 23 laboratories, support its growth objectives and research ambitions, and implement its commitments to sustainable development.
For the third consecutive year, École Polytechnique hosted Opération CIEDS, an annual event dedicated to research and innovation in defense and security. The event, organized by the Center for Defense and Security Studies (CIEDS), in which many of the École Polytechnique's research laboratories are involved, is supported by the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Defense Innovation Agency.
Created in January 2025 by Thales, world leader in high-power lasers, GenF aims to develop and industrialize a process for creating a new, safe, abundant, inexpensive and non-polluting form of energy using the inertial confinement nuclear fusion process. The inauguration of its premises in Le Barp, south of Bordeaux, was attended by representatives of the various stakeholders involved.
The year 2025 has been proclaimed International Year of Quantum Science and Technology by the United Nations. In the 20th century, quantum mechanics radically changed the way we think about the physical world. Today, quantum physics is in the midst of a renaissance that is opening up new and unexpected applications. Laurent Sanchez-Palencia, Director of Research at the Center for Theoretical Physics (CPHT*) and Deputy Director of the Quantum-Saclay center, gives us an overview of this “second quantum revolution”.
The final of Institut Polytechnique de Paris' Ma Thèse en 180 secondes competition took place on Wednesday April 2 at École Polytechnique. Amélie Kies, doctoral student at the Applied Optics Laboratory (LOA*), Laure Corazza, doctoral student at the Dynamic Meteorology Laboratory (LMD*), Maxime Vigoureux from the Organic Synthesis Laboratory (LSO*) and Louis Berthier, from the Center for Applied Mathematics (CMAP*) were rewarded.
Support l'X 
