Prestige

Over 125 years after it was founded, ESPCI Paris - PSL preserves the same fundamental focus on its scientific reputation and excellence which have been accrued over time. The School’s renown has been instrumental in attracting leading teachers and researchers, who in turn further enhance the institution’s prestige

That ESPCI Paris scientists’ Nobel Prizes were awarded in both Physics and Chemistry is emblematic of the School’s transdisciplinary culture. What’s more, the variety of the connections between the Nobel laureates at the School (researcher, lecturer, graduate, director, and professor) evidences ESPCI Paris’ ability to attract the leading scientific innovators of their time, irrespective of their position.

• Marie Curie was conducting research at ESPCI when she received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for the discovery of radium.
• Pierre Curie was Associate Professor at ESPCI when he also received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for the discovery of radium.
• Marie Curie received a second Nobel Prize in 1911, in Chemistry, for the electrochemical purification of radium.
• Frédéric Joliot-Curie, a graduate of ESPCI, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for synthesis of new radioactive elements.
• Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was serving as Director of ESPCI when he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1991 for his research on liquid crystals and polymers. In its report, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences wrote: "Pierre-Gilles de Gennes has by some judges been called ’the Isaac Newton of our time’."
• Georges Charpak was a professor at ESPCI when he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1992 for his work on detectors used in particle physics experiments, in particular spark chambers, the multiwire proportional chamber, and drift chambers (Charpak chambers).