Paris-Saclay


Paris-Saclay is a research-intensive and business cluster currently under construction in the south of Paris, France. It encompasses research facilities, two French major universities with higher education institutions and also research centers of private companies. In 2013, the Technology Review put Paris-Saclay in the top 8 world research clusters. In 2014, it comprised almost 15% of French scientific research capacity.
The earliest settlements are from the 1950s, and this area was subsequently extended several times during the 1970s and 2000s. Several projects are underway to continue the development of the campus, including the relocation of some facilities.
The area is now home to many of the Europe's largest high-tech corporations, and to the two French universities Paris-Saclay University and the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The Paris-Saclay University was ranked 15th in the world in the 2023 ARWU ranking. It was also placed 1st in the world for Mathematics and 9th in the world for Physics.
The goal was to strengthen the cluster to build an international scientific and technological hub that can compete with other high-technology business districts, such as Silicon Valley or Cambridge, MA. This project started in 2006 and is likely to end in 2022. The main part is the construction of the ''campus du plateau de Saclay.''

History

First post-war settlement

Several French national institutions settled on the plateau after the end of World War II. The CNRS is the first to settle there, headed by Frédéric Joliot-Curie, who bought the estate Button at Gif-sur-Yvette in 1946. The following year, the newly created CEA to purchase land. The same year, ONERA settles on the plateau in Palaiseau. The Saclay center was inaugurated in 1952.
At the same time, higher education institutions settled nearby. The University of Paris is also up in the region in 1955 with the purchase of 50 hectares in the communes of Orsay and Bures. This Orsay campus brings laboratories of the Paris Faculty of Sciences and moved to 1956. Other institutions followed with the installation of HEC in 1964 with its move to the town of Jouy-en-Josas, then with the arrival of the École supérieure d'optique in 1965 on the Orsay campus.
Research centers related to private companies also settled at that time in 1968 with the arrival of the Central Research Laboratory of Thomson-CSF.

Second wave of settlement in the 1970s

In the 1970s, the École polytechnique and Supélec settled on the plateau, the first in 1976 in the Palaiseau area, the other in 1975 in the Moulon area. The project had a scheduled time to install other schools soon after. The Moulon farm which currently houses the genetics and plant breeding was restored in 1978.
Institutions on the plateau at this time begin to join together in an association d'établissements scientifiques to reflect future developments of the area.

Third wave of the 2000s

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, research centers of private companies settled on the campus. In 2000, Danone chooses to establish a center for Research and Development in the area of Palaiseau, joined in 2006 by Thales laboratories, and in 2009 by Kraft Foods which invests €15 million to install one of its expertise global centers. Other projects removal were also studied, including a research center of EDF, studied in 2010.
Two thematic advanced research are also on the campus, with the creation of Digiteo and Triangle de la physique in 2006. SOLEIL, which creation was decided in 2000 after three years of opposition of Claude Allègre, was inaugurated the same year, built with a budget of 313 million euros. The project of neuroimaging center NeuroSpin is launched in 2006 also on the plateau.
The first building constructed specifically for the campus is the Pôle commun de recherche en informatique, which was inaugurated in November 2011.

Development projects

The proposed new construction and renovation of campus was launched by President Nicolas Sarkozy who wants to create a "French Silicon Valley". The entire project is estimated to three billion euros funding.
File:Siege HP courtaboeuf.JPG|thumb|The research center of Hewlett-Packard in the Paris-Saclay cluster, France.
The different steps to set up the campus are part of several government operations.
  • The opération d'intérêt national de Massy Palaiseau Saclay Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines is established in 2006. Larger than the campus, it provides for the creation of a science and technology cluster on the Saclay plateau. It is supported by "Grand Paris" project which also provides that the campus is accessible by the future line 18 of the Paris Metro.
  • In 2010, the "plan campus" permits an investment of 850 million euros.
  • With the debt, a billion is invested. Saclay campus is one of the winners of the « initiatives d'excellence » project so was awarded another grant of 950 million of euros. 30 October 2012, Jean-Marc Ayrault confirmed for the future operation of the project Campus Paris-Saclay staffing a billion for real estate transactions designed to bring together institutions, 850 million from plan campus and additional billion for investments for the future.
In February 2001, the Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University became a founding member of the scientific cooperation foundation foreshadowing the future campus on the Saclay plateau.
In November 2011, the Mines ParisTech finally withdrew the project.
Three administratives structures have been created for this project:
  • The Établissement Public Paris-Saclay, which is now the EPA Paris-Saclay, chaired by Pierre Veltz.
  • The Fondation de coopération scientifique Plateau de Saclay is the structure that carries the project. It must unite the various institutions at the university and scientific level. It is successively chaired by Alain Bravo, Paul Vialle and Dominique Vernay.
  • The consortium des établissements du Plateau de Saclay, which brings together 23 institutions.

    Development status

Under construction

The last institutions to move on campus are mainly schools from the Paris-Saclay University, such as:
Institutions that have already moved on campus, such as:
Along with other institutions already located in the cluster, these education institutions are to be merged in Paris-Saclay University, such as:
  • part of Paris-Saclay University,
  • * the Paris-Saclay Faculty of Science, that placed its university 1st in the world for Mathematics and 9th in the world for Physics in the 2020 ARWU ranking.
  • * Polytech Paris-Saclay
  • part of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris
  • * École Polytechnique
  • * HEC Paris
This Paris-Saclay University was ranked 14th in the world in the 2020 ARWU ranking. The Polytechnic Institute of Paris, formed around the École Polytechnique, was ranked 61st internationally by the QS World University Rankings 2021, 93rd by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020, and 2nd by the Times Higher Education Small University Rankings.

Companies established at Paris-Saclay

Town planning

The campus has currently three main areas:

Urban campus area

''Quartier de Moulon''

The area, located in the cities of Orsay and Gif-sur-Yvette, includes the main campus of Paris-Saclay University, which has 15,000 students in the area, with its graduate schools CentraleSupélec and the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, its Faculty of Science, its Polytechnic University School and the Paris-Saclay University Institute of Technology. There should then be around 8,100 staff, 5,000 students for engineering schools and 8,000 students only in the university's faculty of science.
The French National Centre for Scientific Research is located at Gif-sur-Yvette since 1946. The area has a dozen research units and service, and also 1,500 people.
It should accommodate several components of the Paris-Saclay University as part of the development in the 2010s, but also several facilities pooled projected by the campus operation.

''Quartier de la Vauve''

The area, located in the city of Palaiseau, includes the main campus of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, the second research university of Paris-Saclay, with the École Polytechnique, the ENSTA Paris, the ENSAE Paris, the Telecom Paris and Telecom SudParis.
It also includes the ONERA and the Paris-Saclay University's Institut d'Optique Graduate School and AgroParisTech / INRAE in 2021. The IPSA aerospace College moved to Ivry-sur-Seine in 2009.

Other areas

"Jouy-en-Josas" area
, associate member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, has been located at Jouy-en-Josas since 1964. INRAE has 1,400 people in the area, and facilities for experimentation on livestock and microbiology. An extension of these activities provided for the arrival of more than 300 people in 2012, with the construction of Biosafety P3 facilities for virology.
"Orme/Saclay" area
It includes the CEA's Saclay Nuclear Research Centre, member of Paris-Saclay University, the Orphée reactor and SOLEIL in Saint-Aubin.