Instituts d'études politiques (; ), or IEP's, colloquially referred to as Sciences Po, are eleven publicly owned institutions of higher learning in France. They are located in Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse, since 2014 Saint-Germain-en-Laye. and since 2022 Fontainebleau Their vocation is the study and research of contemporary political science. All students at the IEPs study a curriculum that is highly practical and broad-based, focusing on the full range of the social sciences across law, economics, finance, and management. These schools are considered as some of the most selective in France, mainly because they are the place where many political and business leaders are trained.

These establishments are more widely known under the name of Sciences Po. Sciences Po Paris is considered to be the most prestigious of all the IEP's in France, and is the only one allowed to refer to itself with the epithet "Sciences Po" without indicating the name of the city where it is located, under a legal agreement with the other IEP's. Other IEP's can use the term "Sciences Po" to refer to themselves only when followed by the names of the cities where they are located, such as "Sciences Po Aix" or "Sciences Po Grenoble". Other IEPs in France were created after the Paris one, apart from Strasbourg, which was created by the same law but with the status of an internal institute of the Robert Schuman University.

According to article 2 of an 18 December 1989 decree, their mission is: to contribute to the training of higher civil servants as well as executives in the public, para-public and private sectors, notably in the State and decentralized communities to develop the research in political and administrative sciences

The Sciences Po approach and style inspired many universities in France but also abroad. The most famous example the London School of Economics, founded on the model of the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques.

Grande École System

Sciences Po institutes are a type of Grande École, a French institution of higher education that is separate from, but parallel and connected to the main framework of the French public university system. Similar to the Ivy League in the United States, Oxbridge in the UK, and C9 League in China, Grandes Écoles are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process.,What are Grandes Ecoles Institutes in France? unlike French ordinary public universities which "have an obligation to accept all candidates in the same academic field".

Alumni go on to occupy elite positions within government, administration, and corporate firms in France.Monique de Saint-Martin, « Les recherches sociologiques sur les grandes écoles : de la reproduction à la recherche de justice », Éducation et sociétés 1/2008 (No. 21), . lire en ligne sur Cairn.infoValérie Albouy et Thomas Wanecq, Les inégalités sociales d’accès aux grandes écoles (2003), INSEE In particular, the Paris IEP ("Sciences Po") has produced at least seven recent French presidents (including the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron), 13 French prime ministers, 12 foreign heads of state or government, and six of the CEO's of France's largest companies.

Although they are more expensive than public universities in France, Grandes Écoles typically have much smaller class sizes and student bodies, and many of their programs are taught in English. International internships, study abroad opportunities, and close ties with government and the corporate world are a hallmark of the Grandes Écoles. Many of the top ranked schools in Europe are members of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles (CGE), as are the Sciences Po institutions. Degrees from Sciences Po are accredited by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles and awarded by the Ministry of National Education (France) ().

List The ten Instituts d'études politiques are:

Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po Paris or simply, Sciences Po) Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence (Sciences Po Aix) Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux (Sciences Po Bordeaux) Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble (Sciences Po Grenoble) Institut d'études politiques de Lille (Sciences Po Lille) Institut d'études politiques de Lyon (Sciences Po Lyon) Institut d'études politiques de Rennes (Sciences Po Rennes) Institut d'études politiques de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Sciences Po Saint-Germain) Institut d'études politiques de Strasbourg (Sciences Po Strasbourg) Institut d'études politiques de Toulouse (Sciences Po Toulouse)

The other Instituts d'études politiques around the world are : Institut d'études politiques de Madagascar

Critérium Every year an inter-IEP competition is held, hosted by the hometown of one of the IEPs and attended by participants from all 10 IEPs. The first crit, as it is known colloquially, was created in 1987 by the IEPs of Bordeaux and Toulouse who decided to have a friendly rugby match.

This competition takes the form of a 3-day sports event and party, and is held over the last weekend of March, run by the host university's "Sports office". The hosting of an event generally costs about 200,000 euros, funded by the participants, as well as by sponsors and grants. The hosting of the event is rotated between the different IEPs each year.

Hosts

1987: IEP de Bordeaux 1988: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 1989: IEP de Grenoble 1990: IEP de Toulouse 1991: IEP de Lyon 1992: IEP de Paris 1993: IEP de Strasbourg 1994: IEP de Lille 1995: IEP de Rennes 1996: IEP de Bordeaux 1997: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 1998: IEP de Grenoble 1999: IEP de Toulouse 2000: IEP de Lyon 2001: IEP de Strasbourg 2002: IEP de Paris 2003: IEP de Lille 2004: IEP de Bordeaux 2005: IEP de Rennes 2006: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 2007: IEP de Grenoble 2008: IEP de Toulouse 2009: IEP de Lyon 2010: IEP de Strasbourg – Choukrit 2011: IEP de Paris – Monarcrit! 2012: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence – Apéricrit 2013: IEP de Bordeaux – Grand Crit classé 2014: IEP de Rennes (canceled) 2015: IEP de Grenoble – Les bronzés font du Crit 2016: IEP de Toulouse 2017: IEP de Lyon – Crit Gone Wild 2018: IEP de Strasbourg – Le Temps de Krithédrales 2019: IEP de Paris – L'Impéracrit 2020: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence – La Goire de mon Crit (canceled)

Traditions Each of the 10 instituts has a distinctive colour and distinctive symbols and/or mascots: Aix-en-Provence. Colours: Red and gold. Mascot: "Pastaga-man" Symbol: An "X", cicadas Toulouse. Colours: Pink and white. Mascot: A pig or hog. Bordeaux. Colours: Red and black. Symbol: A bottle of red wine. Rennes. Colours: Orange and black. Mascot: A reindeer called "René". Paris. Colours: Yellow and black. Symbol: A lion and a fox. Lille. Colours: Red and white. Mascot: A giant mussel Strasbourg. Colours: Blue and white. Mascot: A stork called "Josy". Nicknamed the "Strohteam". Lyon. Colours: Blue and red. Mascot: a lion called "Lyonix". Grenoble. Colours: Blue and yellow. Mascot: Big Foot ("le Yéti"). Nicknamed "IKEA" due to their colours. Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Colours: Green and black. Symbol: a wolf.

Winners Paris and Aix-en-Provence are the usual winners of the trophy

1987: IEP de Bordeaux 1988: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 1989: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 1990: — 1991: — 1992: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 1993: IEP de Bordeaux 1994: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 1995: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 1996: IEP de Bordeaux 1997: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 1998: IEP de Paris 1999: IEP de Toulouse 2000: IEP de Paris 2001: IEP de Paris 2002: IEP de Paris 2003: IEP de Paris 2004: IEP de Paris 2005: IEP de Paris 2006: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence 2007: IEP de Grenoble 2008: IEP de Grenoble 2009: IEP de Paris 2010: IEP de Grenoble 2011: IEP de Paris 2012: IEP de Paris 2013: IEP de Paris

References

de:Institut d'études politiques de Paris