The annual summit of the International Alliance of university presidents U7+ focused this year on "The Role of Universities in Advancing Artificial Intelligence". Invited as a panelist in the opening session, Laura Chaubard, President of École Polytechnique, was among the 37 university leaders who participated in this seventh edition of the U7+ Presidential Summit. The event brought together representatives from 42 universities across 16 countries at the University of Ottawa on April 22–23, 2025. As Canada prepares to host the G7 Summit in June 2025, this year's U7+ Summit concluded with the official delivery of a communiqué, endorsed by U7+ member universities, to the Canadian government. The document underscores higher education institutions' crucial role in shaping responsible AI.
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”.
Three years after graduation, most École Polytechnique Bachelor of Science alumni are pursuing further studies, particularly in science or economics through master’s or PhD programs. Those already in the workforce enjoy rapid job placement, competitive salaries, and strong international mobility.
Since 2020, the European university EuroTeQ, of which Ecole Polytechnique is a founding member, has been offering innovative programs to train the European engineers of tomorrow. To promote the on-going education of professionals and respond to contemporary technological challenges on a European scale, it is launching the EuroTeQ Professional Education catalog.
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.
In the latest episode of the podcast of the Alliance program, of which École Polytechnique is a member, Antoine Guibal speaks about American expatriate writers who settled in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. Antoine Guibal chairs the Department of Languages and Cultures at the École Polytechnique and spent a semester as a Visiting professor at Columbia University at the beginning of this academic year.
A study by a team from the Structural Biology of the Cell Laboratory (BIOC*), with the participation of the Molecular Chemistry Laboratory (LCM*), published in Nature communications, reveals the mechanisms that initiate translation of the genetic code into proteins in an archaea. This result supports the hypothesis that eukaryotes emerged from the archaeal domain during evolution.
Currently under construction at two sites in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTA) will be the world's largest array of telescopes capable of detecting high-energy gamma rays. The Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (LLR*) is heavily involved in this project.
Professor in the Department of Mechanics at École polytechnique, Caroline Cohen carries out her research at the Hydrodynamics Laboratory (LadHyX*), at the interface between science and sport. In particular, she helped athletes and federations prepare for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
X2009 and a PhD in biophysics from the Hydrodynamics Laboratory (LadHyX*), Olga Chashchina is co-founder and CTO of Metyos, a start-up that designs connected biomedical sensors.
Alliance Visiting professor at École Polytechnique, Reshmi Mukherjee, research professor at Barnard College of Columbia University, has developed her joint research with Deirdre Horan, researcher at the Leprince-Ringuet laboratory for particle physics and astrophysics (LLR), focusing on blazars. Moreover, her visit and exchanges with the LLR research team has further strengthened the ties between the astrophysics research groups at l’X and Columbia.
Pilar Acosta is a professor in the Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship Department at École Polytechnique. Her research focuses on Corporate Social Responsibility and their practices in the context of sustainable development.