News & events

The fight against global warming is a crucial challenge that requires us to make the transition to carbon neutrality by the end of the century at the latest. To achieve this balance between anthropogenic emissions and absorptions of greenhouse gases, we need to fundamentally transform our production and consumption patterns. This transition requires the concerted efforts of public authorities, the private sector and civil society.

According to the latest IPCC report, greenhouse gas emissions between 2010 and 2019 represent 80% of the "carbon budget" that humanity still has left before exceeding the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement. In order to preserve this budget, we need to transform the global economy and change consumption behaviors that are the most damaging to climate. But decarbonizing technologies and processes does not come without a price tag. So what measures should be put in place to encourage private-sector players to invest in the technologies needed to decarbonize the global economy?

Recent years have seen the popularization of the carbon footprint concept. Applied at different scales and in different contexts, it indicates the negative contribution of an actor or project to global warming. This concept can also be applied to savings, whose impact, although indirect, is equally significant (1). This indirect impact should not, however, overshadow the potential of finance, if it is used to help our societies make the transition, particularly in the face of the immense challenges posed by the climate crisis.

Computer processing of three-dimensional shapes still raises many fundamental questions. In particular, machine learning methods are much less developed than for two-dimensional images. Maks Ovsjanikov, a researcher at the Computer Science Laboratory of the École Polytechnique (LIX*), is tackling this problem with the VEGA project funded by the European Research Council.

The Engineering for Health (E4H) interdisciplinary center is organising the second edition of its annual forum on 5 July 2023 at École Polytechnique. The aim of this event is to highlight current research projects in the field of life sciences and to bring together researchers, medical doctors, engineers, startups and industry to encourage new interactions.

The first Entrepreneurship Night organized by Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris) welcomed around 100 students from IP Paris’ schools and other partner schools. During an entire night, their mission was to step into the shoes of an entrepreneur and propose, as a team, an innovative technological solution that answers market needs and with a sufficiently explained business model.

In an article published in the journal Nature Communication, scientists have made a surprising suggestion that gene transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes occurs. This discovery is based on the study of thymidylate synthase, an enzyme required for de novo DNA synthesis. These observations have provided new insight into the evolution of DNA by suggesting that the metabolic capacity of present-day eukaryotes to synthesise DNA may also have originated in bacteria and not only in archaea as previously thought.

This year, SPRING 50-2023-Paris Saclay Spring will take place on June 1st, 2023 at HEC Paris. The event is a platform that aims to showcase innovative startups and provide invaluable opportunities for entrepreneurs to present their groundbreaking ideas. IP Paris will present 17 startups as well as its interdisciplinary centers in the sectors of Health, AI and Data, Defense and Security.

Institut Polytechnique de Paris launches its podcast. On POLYGRAM, we listen to stories of science and technology to discuss the discoveries and societal challenges of today and tomorrow (in English and French).

In response to a climate emergency that has been scientifically documented for decades, a new form of global governance has been initiated under the leadership of the United Nations. Warned by the successive reports of the scientific experts of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the governments that have signed the Paris Agreement are committed to carbon neutrality. But will the reduction rate of their greenhouse gas emissions be up to one of the major challenges of the 21st century?

Pauline Rossi and Pierre Boyer, researchers at the Centre for Research in Economics and Statistics at Institut Polytechnique de Paris, are nominees of the Best Young Economist Award 2023, organised by the newspaper "Le Monde" and the Cercle des économistes. The prize recognises the work of economists under 41 years of age and their contribution to public debate.

Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris) will be present at the 7th edition of Viva Technology (Paris Expo Porte de Versailles), from June 14 to 17, 2023 at the stand C42. IP Paris will present 21 start-ups and invites you to discover their innovations in various sectors. On Thursday, June 15, 2023, IP Paris will host the "IP Paris Startup Pitch" workshop at 3:00 pm in Hall 1 at Viva Technology.