L’X strengthens its academic partnerships in the US

A delegation led by the new Director General and Acting President of École Polytechnique, Bruno Bellier, traveled to the United States to meet with several academic partners on the East Coast, notably MIT, Columbia University, and New York University (NYU), to discuss potential future collaborations and shared ambitions in science, technology, and education.

This first official visit abroad brought Bruno Bellier and his delegation to New York on the occasion of the first alumni gala in the United States, organized by the Fondation de l’École Polytechnique to support the growth and excellence strategy of l'X.

A partner of Columbia University since 2002 through the Alliance program¹, the institution has continued to strengthen this partnership ever since. As a result, numerous research collaborations exist between laboratories at Columbia and at l’X, and the Visiting Professorship program enables researchers from École Polytechnique to spend time at Columbia, and vice versa. 

This year, three researchers from l'X were welcomed in various Columbia laboratories, including Josselin Garnier, Professor of Mathematics, currently a visiting scholar at the Department of Mathematics. Two researchers from Columbia, Micah Goldblum and Liliana Borcea, visited l'X in 2026.

New York University (NYU) is another important American partner institution. Formalizing their shared commitment to promoting exchanges and joint projects, l'X and NYU's Tandon School of Engineering signed a framework agreement in early 2026, with a scientific internship program as its first concrete implementation. 

This cooperation offers students from both institutions the opportunity to gain international research experience in their partner's laboratories. This year, already seven students of the Ingénieur Polytechnicien program completed their third-year internship at NYU, and l'X welcomed two students selected through the Young Talents program supported by the Fondation de l’École Polytechnique.

The delegation, which included Dominique Rossin, Provost of École Polytechnique, Gaëlle Le Goff, Director of International Affairs, and Daniel Cedeno, Head of Development for the Americas, also visited other leading higher education institutions with a view to future academic and scientific collaborations, including Harvard University.

Many of École Polytechnique’s students go on to join this prestigious university for their fourth year of the Ingénieur Polytechnicien program, or after graduation to pursue a doctorate or post-doctorate there. Furthermore, several alumni excel in roles as researchers and professors at Harvard. 

The meeting with Dean Coleman, Dean of Harvard's Division of Continuing Education, concluded with the signing of a first agreement with the Harvard Summer School, which will be open to students of the Bachelor and the Ingénieur Polytechnicien program starting in 2027.

The delegation also visited Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania, both internationally renowned for their rigorous academic standards and strong emphasis on theoretical foundations, and highly attractive to École Polytechnique students pursuing international exchanges, as well as to alumni and researchers.

An outstanding first alumni gala in New York

About 160 alumni and guests came together at an extraordinary gala celebrating scientific excellence on 20 October 2026 in New York and enjoyed inspiring conversations with distinguished academic and scientific figures, as well as an auction benefiting the campaign “Servir la science” to support École Polytechnique's strategy for growth and excellence.

Organized by Friends of École Polytechnique, the US-based sister organization of the Fondation de l'École Polytechnique, in the presence of Bruno Bellier (X 1992), Directeur General and Acting President of École Polytechnique, Frédéric Oudéa (X 1981), Chairman of the Fondation de l'École Polytechnique, and Michel Combes (X 1981), Chairman of Friends of École Polytechnique, the evening put the spotlight on the institution’s scientific excellence as embodied by its students, alumni, and research faculty. The event raised more than $450 000 for the campaign “Servir la science”, which supports talented students, funds breakthrough research, and drives the transformation of the campus.

Among the guests were outstanding scientists, all alumni or researchers with close ties to École Polytechnique, such as Antoine Compagnon (X 1970), member of the Académie française et professor emeritus at the Collège de France, Stéphane Mallat (X 1981), a world-renowned mathematician, awarded the CNRS Gold Medal, and Yuri Tschinkel, a former visiting scholar at l’X, former professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of NYU, and current director of the Simons Foundation's Department of Mathematics and Physics. 

Hong Wang (X 2010), the first alumna of École Polytechnique to receive the Fields Medal, also honored the event with her presence. She was awarded the prize last July for her resolution of the Kakeya conjecture in three-dimensional space, a problem that had remained open for more than a century.
 

¹  Within the Alliance program, Columbia University partners with three leading French institutions - École Polytechnique, Sciences Po, and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - through joint research projects and dual-degree programs. As part of this program, the partners offer doctoral mobility opportunities and faculty visits within their partner institutions to foster the exchange of ideas and expertise across their communities.