APPLY NOW! International selection of Young Graduates 2025
Presentation
The Ecole Normale Supérieure aims at varying its students’ profiles and incorporates students to be enrolled in the 3rd year of bachelor ( license 3 ) or 1st year of master ( master 1 ), coming from all over the world and from all disciplines. The competitive examination of the International selection is intended to young graduates in Arts & Humanities as well as Sciences, who justify at least one year undergraduate studies in a foreign university and distinguish themselves with outstanding results.
Joining ENS through the competitive examination of the International selection gives access to training of excellence, through contact with exceptional researchers, in a privileged training and research environment. Integrated to the community of the normaliens , international students continue their studies at ENS and at the university at the same time, while benefiting from a 1000 euros grant for 3 years and from a room on one of the ENS campuses. At the end of their studies, these students have graduated with a master degree in their specialty and with the diploma of École normale supérieure.
The examination takes place in 2 steps: a selection based upon application, then oral and written tests remotely for shortlisted candidates.
ENS opens 10 positions in Sciences and 10 positions in Arts & Humanities.
Eligibility criteria
- Candidates must not be after their 26th birthday on December 1st.
- Candidates must not have applied to the International Selection before.
- Candidates must not have lived in France more than 10 months during the academic year of the selection (September 1st – August 31st) nor the previous year.
- Candidates must justify at least one year of undergraduate studies awarded by a foreign university during the calendar year preceding the start of applications.
- Candidates justify at least two years of undergraduate studies in a foreign university, on the 1st of September following admission.
On rare occasions, the Director of ENS may authorize applications from candidates whose academic background is non-standard .
Procedure
- You must fill and validate the initial application form: https://candidatures.ens.psl.eu/
- Within 2 days, you receive an email to activate an account on Dematec, an application where you must upload the required documents in PDF format.
- If your file on Dematec is complete, it is submitted to the jury.
- If the jury selects your dossier, you are invited to take written and oral tests remotely.
- The marks obtained at the tests determine the list of admitted students.
During their 3 years of study, students from the International selection discovered Paris in exceptional conditions. Above all, they benefit from the intellectual freedom and multidisciplinarity characterizing training at the ENS. Beyond the outstanding academic results expected from the candidates, ENS looks for young students driven by curiosity, open-mindedness and a taste for research. ENS is rich in the diversity of its students’ profiles, experiences and origins, and is concerned with enhancing the aptitudes of each one. For studying Arts & Humanities, we recommend you to be fluent in French.
The training begins with a welcome event (1 day) and 3 weeks of conferences and debates in Sciences and Humanities, department visits, intensive French lessons, cultural visits of Paris as well as activities and entertainments organized by the various student associations of ENS.
Read more about the ENS graduate degree in Arts & Humanities
Academic disciplines offered through International selection in Arts&Humanities: Anthropology, Archeology, Classical studies (Greek, Latin), Cinema, Theater studies, History of Art, Musicology, Cognitive sciences, Economics, Political studies, Geography, History, History and Philosophy of Law, History and Philosophy of Sciences, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Sociology.
Students from the International selection are driven by curiosity, open-mindedness and a taste for research and innovation. Benefiting from good material and financial conditions (they are accommodated and receive a grant), they can dedicate themselves to their studies within a prestigious institution, while discovering Paris and living a good life.
They benefit from advanced training in their major scientific discipline and also from a multidisciplinary training, which allows them to improve their knowledge in other disciplines in Sciences and Humanities. The pursued training is personalized thanks to a mentoring system. From the outset, the training is research-oriented, with lessons in their major disciplines given by the best researchers and with internship periods in laboratories.
The training begins with a welcome event (1 day) and 3 weeks of conferences and debates in Sciences and Humanities, department visits, intensive French lessons, cultural visits of Paris as well as activities and entertainments organized by the various student associations of ENS.
When applying, students are invited to indicate their choice of training department, constituting their major discipline. Applicants can indicate an additional minor discipline in the case of a training project across two scientific departments. The choice of a minor assumes a minimum theoretical background in this discipline and involves additional evaluation by the jury of this department during interviews.
Read more about the ENS graduate degree in Sciences
Academic disciplines offered through International selection in Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Earthscience, Computing science, Mathematics, Physics, Cognitive sciences.
International selection in Arts&Humanities 2025:
- Application: October 17 to December 12, 2024 (11:59 p.m., Paris time)
- Shortlist: January 16, 2025
- Written tests: Between February 3 and February 7, 2025
- Oral tests: Between February 10 and February 14, 2025
- Admission results: March 6, 2024
International selection in Sciences 2025:
- Application: October 17 to December 12, 2024 (11:59 p.m., Paris time)
- Shortlist: January 27, 2025
- Oral tests: Between March 4 and March 14, 2025
- Admission results: March 20, 2025
