Ecole Polytechnique

Ecole polytechnique, also known as Polytechnique or l'X, is a grande ecole located in Palaiseau, France, specializing in science and engineering and a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. It was founded in 1794 by mathematician Gaspard Monge during the French Revolution and was militarized under Napoleon I in 1804, remaining supervised by the French Ministry of Armed Forces; French students undergo initial military training and hold the status of paid officer cadets. Originally located in the Latin Quarter of central Paris, the institution moved to Palaiseau in 1976 as part of the Paris-Saclay technology cluster, and has awarded doctorates since 1985, master's degrees since 2005 and bachelor's degrees since 2017. Notable alumni include mathematicians Augustin-Louis Cauchy and Henri Poincare, physicist Henri Becquerel, and economists Maurice Allais and Jean Tirole.