Activity
Aix-Marseille University enrols nearly 71,000 students, including more than 10,000 international students from 128 different countries. The University, with its wide range of general and vocational courses including over 590 degree courses, offers teaching in fields as varied as the Arts, Social Sciences, Health, Sport and Economics, Law and Political Sciences, Applied Economics and Management, and Exact Sciences such as Mathematics, Data-processing, Physical Sciences, Astrophysical Sciences, Chemistry and Biology. AMU is currently composed of teaching and research faculties. Its 132 recognized research units make it a centre of international excellence in social and natural sciences. With more than 500 international agreements, the University participates in the creation of European area of education and research. A policy in the direction of Asian countries has led to increase its enrolments of excellent international students. Programmes in French and/or English have been organized in order to favour the welcome and the integration of international students, in particular thanks to the presence within the University of the Institute of French Studies for Foreign Students (Institut d'Etudes Françaises Pour Etudiants Etrangers (IEFEE)). The IEFEE was founded in 1953 and is regarded as one of the best French-language teaching centres in the country. About a thousand students from 65 countries attend the institute throughout the academic year. The institute is also a notable centre for teachers of French as a foreign language, and its function is to provide training and perfecting of linguistic abilities in French as a scientific and cultural means of communication. Furthermore, the University is "one of the most distinguished in France, second only to the University of Paris in the areas of French literature, history, and linguistics", according to Harvard University website.
Many prominent government leaders have studied at the University's Institute of Political Studies (Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence), also known as Sciences Po Aix. Established in 1956, it is one of a network of 9 world-famous IEPs (Instituts d’Etudes Politiques) in France, including those in Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse. The IEP is a Grande école in political science and its primary aim is to train senior executives for the public, semi-public, and private sectors. Although the IEP offers a multitude of disciplines, its main focus is on politics, including related subjects such as history, law, economics, languages, international relations, and media studies. Its admissions process is among the toughest and most selective in the country. It should be noted that by means of a partnership with the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Sciences Po Aix offers a French-German bilingual degree, awarding students with a double diploma. The IEP now has numerous exchange programs through partnerships with close to 100 different universities in the world: the school therefore welcomes 120 foreign students a year. On top of these academic exchanges, students have the opportunity to do internships abroad in large international firms. Among the best-known people who graduated from Sciences Po Aix are the current Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, the current Minister of Labour, Employment and Immigration of Luxembourg, Nicolas Schmit, former Minister of Justice of France, Élisabeth Guigou, former Presidents of the National Assembly of France, Philippe Séguin and Patrick Ollier.
The law school at AMU dates back to the University's foundation in 1409. The school had far-reaching influence, since written law, which in France originated in Aix-en-Provence, spread from there, eventually replacing the common law practiced throughout the rest of Northern Gaul. The law school has a long tradition of self-management, with a strongly institutionalized culture and practices enrooted in the social and economic realities of the region. It is one of the largest law schools in France today, and is considered to be one of the nation's leading centres for legal research and teaching. The school is unique among French law schools for the breadth of courses offered and the extent of research undertaken in a wide range of fields. Other than Pantheon-Assas University, the school has attracted the most prestigious law faculty in France. The teaching faculty comprises 155 professors and 172 adjunct lecturers, the latter drawn from private practice, the civil service, the judiciary and other organizations. Much of the legal research at the University is done under the auspices of its many research institutes – there is one in almost every field of law. Research activity is buttressed by a network of libraries. The University library holds an impressive collection of monographs and periodicals, including an important collection of 16th century manuscripts. Moreover, the libraries have several specialized rooms dedicated to specific fields of law, in particular in International and European Law and Legal Theory. The law school has produced a large number of luminaries in law and politics including the 2nd President of France, Adolphe Thiers, former President of the Constituent National Assembly of France, Félix Gouin, former Minister of Justice of France, Adolphe Crémieux, and former Prime Minister of France, Édouard Balladur. The school has also educated two Nobel Laureates: René Cassin, winner of the 1968 Nobel Peace Prize, and Frédéric Mistral, winner of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature. Alumni also include the 3rd President of Lebanon, Émile Eddé, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Vasil Kolarov, former Prime Minister of Angola, Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem, and former Prime Minister of Cambodia, Prince Norodom Ranariddh. In addition, from 1858 to 1861, complying with his father's wishes, a prominent French artist and Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne attended the school, while also receiving drawing lessons.
The University’s Institute of Business Administration (Institut d'Administration des Entreprises), commonly known as IAE Aix-en-Provence, was the first Graduate School of Management in the French public university system. IAE Aix is “a prestigious, double-accredited institution, with an international approach to business combining both classic and innovative teaching methods”, according to The Independent. It is the only French public university entity to receive dual international accreditation: the European standard of excellence EQUIS in 1999, and the AMBA accreditation in 2004 for its MBA Change & Innovation, in 2005 for its Master’s programmes and in 2007 for its Executive Part-time MBA and its Euro*MBA. The school is composed of 40 permanent faculty members, and invites more than 30 international professors and 150 business speakers each year to conduct lectures and courses within the various programmes. IAE Aix offers graduate level programmes in general management, international management, internal audit of organisations, service management, internal and external communications management, management and information technologies, international financial management and applied marketing. In 2011, the M.Sc. in General Management was ranked 2nd in France along with the M.Sc. in Services Management and Marketing being ranked 3rd and the M.Sc. in Audit and Corporate Governance also being ranked 3rd in the country by SMBG. In 1990, IAE Aix and the École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales (ESSEC) signed an agreement to unite and offer a joint Doctorate Programme, allowing ESSEC professors to teach in the Research Oriented Master programme in Aix-en-Provence. Furthermore, after Research Oriented Master graduation, students can attend the ESSEC Doctorate seminars and have an ESSEC Research Advisor (Directeur de Recherche). In the same way, ESSEC students can enroll in the IAE Aix's Research Oriented Master and Doctorate programmes. In both cases, the members of the thesis juries come from both IAE Aix and ESSEC. The Doctorate title is awarded by Aix-Marseille University.
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