Mathematics, a historic hallmark of École Polytechnique, lies at the heart of many contemporary strategic and technological challenges. To strengthen its international influence in this field and foster interdisciplinary collaboration, École Polytechnique today announces the creation of an Institute of Mathematics and Fundamental Sciences, which will host an ambitious program of research and scientific collaboration. Its future building, to be located in the heart of the Palaiseau campus by 2030, will be funded through an exceptional €50 million donation from Bernard Arnault (X69).
Sergio Rajsbaum, researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and CNRS, has spent seven months at École Polytechnique as a Gaspard Monge Visiting Professor. During his visit, he and Professor Éric Goubault further developed a new research line focused on the connections between epistemic logic and distributed computing. This was also the theme of an international workshop organized by the researchers on June 15 – 17, 2026.
Speaking to the X25 cohort of École Polytechnique students, Antoine Bordes, Chief Scientific Officer at Helsing, emphasised the importance of developing technologies that serve European defence, whilst not overlooking the issue of the responsibility of engineers and military personnel. With their first-class training in science, and now in artificial intelligence, students at École Polytechnique will be able to innovate within the government or private companies to build a society capable of protecting its values by placing people at the heart of decision-making.
Philippe Hazet, head of the École Polytechnique X-UP incubator, outlines the key considerations behind our participation in the 2026 edition of the Viva Technology trade fair. This major global event for innovation and new technologies will take place from 17 to 20 June at the Porte de Versailles in Paris.
Emmanuel Candès (X90) is a co-winner of the prestigious 2026 Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences. The Shaw Prizes, sometimes referred to as the “Asian Nobel Prizes,” honor scientists in three fields: astronomy, biological and medical sciences, and mathematics.
In May, Micah Goldblum, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Columbia University, spent four weeks at l’X as an Alliance Visiting Professor. His stay at the Center for Applied Mathematics (CMAP) enabled him and El Mahdi El Mhamdi, a professor at École Polytechnique, to advance their international scientific collaboration, which also involves PhD students from both institutions.
Interview with Margherita Castellano, a doctoral student at the Center for Applied Mathematics (CMAP), who has qualified for the national finals of the science communication competition “My Thesis in 180 Seconds" (MT180*). She is seeking to better understand the role played by small molecules called surfactants when two immiscible fluids interact, as in the case of air and water in soap bubbles.
Through a series of talks focusing on the work of female researchers and their career paths, École Polytechnique sought to demonstrate through real-life examples that women have a rightful place in science, thereby encouraging gender diversity within laboratories and research centres. Supported by the École polytechnique Foundation, this event brought together renowned scientists in astrophysics, artificial intelligence, bioengineering, biology, mathematics and plasma physics.
X2019, Amaury Lancelin is conducting his doctoral research at the Dynamic Meteorology Laboratory (LMD*), in partnership with RTE (Réseau de transport d’électricité). The goal is to improve the study of heat waves, cold waves, intense precipitation, and other extreme weather events.
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.
On Saturday 11 April, almost 350 secondary school girls from the Île-de-France region were welcomed to the École Polytechnique campus. There, they had the opportunity to learn about scientific study programmes and careers in various fields, such as aeronautics, defence, artificial intelligence, energy and the environment, and research, from 47 female professionals and 15 students. They also had the opportunity to meet Elisabeth Borne, the former Prime Minister (who was the second woman to hold this position under the Fifth Republic), and Laura Chaubard, President and Chief executive of the École Polytechnique.
Scientists from the LHCb experiment at CERN, including a team from the Leprince-Ringuet Laboratory (LLR*), gathered for a workshop at École Polytechnique to discuss how to improve the LHCb particle physics experiment over the next decade.
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