Welcome booklet Master and PhD Track - IP Paris

Preparing for a period of study abroad means preparing your budget!
To help you, take a look at the table of different expenses you are likely to incur on campus. These amounts are given for guidance only and based on average prices.

You are advised to set a higher total budget than what is indicated here in order to cover other necessary expenses (food, clothes etc.), going out in Paris and visiting the region.

One-off fees to be paid upon your arrival on campus

Recurrent fees to be paid while you are living on campus

Since 2023, IP Paris has set up a free platform to help international students with the steps they need to take to prepare for coming to France: LivinFrance.

This platform offers resources and useful contacts for 

• All administrative formalities (visa, home insurance, civil liability, etc.)
• finding accommodation 
• Setting up a bank account in France
• Finding a telephone operator to suit your needs
• Travel insurance
• Apply for the LivinFrance grant (€1,000) for newcomers to France
• Etc.

Creating an account couldn't be easier.

Log on to https://livin-france.com/institut-polytchnique-de-paris/login and follow the 3 steps to create your account.

Log in to find the information you're looking for.

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris has a number of apartments and shared flats in residences located either on the École Polytechnique site, in partner residences in the Massy (91), Palaiseau (91) and Cachan (94) areas, or in the ECLA Campus partner residence.

To allocate these few apartments, the Institute applies an allocation policy that gives priority to the following students (in this order):

• Students admitted to the PhD Track
• Students with grants
• Foreign students arriving in France for the first time.

Please note: students who have been allocated accommodation by the Institute will not be able to choose their place of residence, nor will they be able to choose between a single studio or shared accommodation. There will be no systematic allocation.

As the Institut Polytechnique de Paris has a limited number of apartments to offer, we strongly advise you to look for alternative solutions on this page or on our website.

Your application for accommodation will only be processed once your enrollment file has been approved and your tuition fees have been paid.
Applications for accommodation will not be processed unless the enrollment file has been approved by the Institut Polytechnique de Paris admissions team.

More information

Long-stay student visa

• If you are a national of one of the 27 European Union countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you do not need a visa to come study in France.
• If you are not a national of one of the 27 European Union countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you must apply for a long-stay student visa valid as a French residence permit (VLS-TS – Visa étudiant Long Séjour valant Titre de Séjour)

This visa allows you to remain in France for one year without needing to request a residence permit. Your visa will need to be approved by the OFII (the French Immigration and Integration Office) within the first three months of your arrival in France on this website.

Visa application

Find your Campus France space via this link. Campus France centers are here to welcome you and help you complete the formalities.

The Campus France website is packed with useful resources and information to help you prepare for your study period in France.

• If you live in one of the 67 countries covered by the "Etudes en France" (Studying in France) procedure, you must create an account on the Etude en France platform, mentioning your institution (in this case, Institut Polytechnique de Paris) and the program to which you have been admitted. You must then submit the required documents, which will be checked by Campus France before you can submit your visa application to the consular authorities.
  To check that your country is one of the 67 countries covered by the "Études en France" procedure , go to this link.
• For all other countries not covered by the Études en France procedure, you must apply for your visa directly through the French embassy or consulate in your country of residence. You can find all the information you need on this website and the contact details for the embassy or consulate here.

Renewing your student residence permit

If you are already in France and need to apply for/renew your student residence permit, you can access the online procedure on this website.

You must apply to renew your student residence permit two to three months before your previous residence permit/visa expires.
To avoid any difficulties, opt for the 3-month deadline.

Health assurance 

Please note that social security coverage is compulsory in France when you enroll in a higher education institution.

Except for:

• Students from one of the 27 European Union countries, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, who already have national health insurance coverage and possess a European Health Insurance Card. This card is free and will give you access to state-provided healthcare during your stay in France under the same conditions and at the same cost as nationals.
• Students from Quebec are exempt from the requirement to join the social security scheme upon presentation of the #SE401Q106 form.

You can join the French social security scheme upon your arrival in France on this website.

For better coverage of medical costs, you may supplement the basic French social security health insurance with a top-up health insurance policy known as a "mutuelle" in France. You are not obliged to take out top-up health insurance, but it is highly recommended. To find out more about the benefits of top-up health insurance, visit this page.

Subscription to civil liability insurance is compulsory, however.
Civil liability insurance covers the provisions of civil law. Civil liability insurance policies cover any harm you may cause to others or their property, and it is compulsory for students enrolled in French higher education institutions to take out civil liability insurance for their studies (including internships).

It may be included in various insurance packages (bank insurance, home insurance, car insurance, top-up health insurance) or you can take it out independently for less than €20/year (three examples of civil liability insurance for students are given below): Heyme, LMDE, SMERRA  ou SMENO.
The Heyme mutual insurance company has a promotional code for IP Paris students: 
code 3SUMMER15 valid until 31 July 2023 gives a 15% discount 
code 91EP valid until 31 December 2023 gives -10% discount

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris is keen to help you as soon as you arrive on campus, and has contacted a number of French banks to offer you their banking services at negotiated prices.

More information

To welcome international students, IP Paris offers a welcome desk where you can find all the information you need for your arrival in France to pursue your studies with us.

Thanks to a shared diary (https://calendly.com/welcome-desk-ip-paris), you can make a 25-minute appointment to ask any questions you may have, and get useful contacts for administrative formalities (visa, home insurance, civil liability, opening a bank account or telephone line, etc.), as well as academic information wherever possible.

The welcome desk staff are English-speaking and are on duty at office 27.20.09 in building 27 of the Ecole Polytechnique.

Here are the opening hours from September to December 2024

Here are the opening hours from January to June 2025

GATE is a one-stop shop for international students and scientists coming to the Paris-Saclay region.

Thanks to GATE, you can carry out all the administrative formalities required to settle in and stay in France in a single location.

Four partners (the Sous-Préfecture de Palaiseau, the Association Science Accueil, the Université Paris-Saclay and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris) have joined forces to facilitate administrative procedures for international students and scientists arriving in Paris-Saclay. 

The GATE, Guichet d'Accueil des Talents Étrangers, is set up each year near the IP Paris campus in Palaiseau: for 2024-25, it will be located in the Université Paris Saclay library in Orsay (Bât 407 rue du Doyen Georges Poitou 91400 Orsay).

The welcome desk is open for a period of 4 months (from the end of August to December each year), and brings together in one place all the services international students need when coming to France: the CPAM (health insurance), the CAF (housing and family allowances), the CROUS (housing and scholarships), France Travail (professional careers), the RATP (transport), Campus France (student mobility), the CPS (agglomeration community) and many others. 

The ephemeral welcome desk will be open on site at the Orsay university library from August to December 2024:

For more information, please visit https://gate.paris-saclay.fr/

The International Center for French Language and Culture at Institut Polytechnique de Paris aims to promote excellence for all international students arriving on our campus, in all aspects of their experience of French and Francophone language and culture.

More information

International students have the possibility to attend French lessons.

Libraries belonging to the Institut Polytechnique de Paris network offer students and staff free and unrestricted access to their spaces and their documentary collections.

All the member libraries of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and their terms and conditions of access are listed below.

• école Polytechnique 
• ENSAE Paris
• ENSTA Paris 
• Télécom Paris
• Télécom SudParis (Evry) 
• HEC Paris (Jouy-en-Josas)

More information

Several dining options are available around the campus, whether you have a big appetite or just want a snack. 

The Paris Saclay website lists some popular local and responsible dining choices.

More information

The contribution to student and campus life (CVEC), collected by the Centres régionaux des œuvres universitaires et scolaires (CROUS - regional student support centers), was created in 2018 with the aim of improving the quality of student and campus life at higher education institutions. The €103 fee is for students enrolled in initial education programs at a French higher education institutions.

The CVEC funds collected by the CROUS are subsequently divided between higher education institutions and the CROUS to finance initiatives to improve student and campus life.
It helps to create, consolidate and improve various services at Institut Polytechnique de Paris, your school and the Versailles CROUS center.
This contribution is used to implement various types of student-oriented measures:

• Promoting student health by facilitating access to healthcare and redesigning prevention policies on campus.
• Promoting social support for students through one-off social assistance measures, logistical and financial support for student associations, etc. 
• Supporting student initiatives by financing projects run by student associations
• Promoting sporting practices on campus by offering more sports activities, extending opening hours and developing complementary activities to the range of sports activities such as wellness
• Creating dynamic artistic and cultural offerings at IP Paris in conjunction with the Versailles CROUS center by providing year-round access to concerts, exhibitions, cultural events and art workshops
• Improving student reception by developing on-campus support initiatives, facilities and installations to improve everyday life, citizenship initiatives, etc.

These actions, which can be financed by the CVEC, may be:

• Conducted by the student welfare and campus life departments in higher education institutions
• Coordinated by student associations.

Each academic year, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research defines a priority topic.
In recent years, prevention for student health has been the main theme, with different initiatives carried out in the health field:

• Prevention of student alcohol abuse
• Provision of support for mental health, sexual health and breaking nicotine addiction 
• Improvement of access to healthcare for students 
• First aid training.

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris has formed a committee to manage the use of the CVEC.
Members include the IP Paris Student Council.

IP Paris Health Center

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris, with the help of its five member schools, has set up a student health service on campus that is being developed with your help and for all students on campus.

Located in the heart of the campus (Pavillon Broca), the IP Paris health centre is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 8.30pm.

You'll find a number of health professionals on hand to welcome you.

• A general practitioner is also on hand to answer all your health questions.
• A team of 3 physiotherapists on campus to welcome you
• A midwife for gynaecology and contraception

The health center team is at your disposal to help you study and work under the best possible physical, mental and social conditions.

More information

Psychological support

Psychologists in each school are available to listen carefully and sympathetically to masters and PhD track students.

The psychologist at your teaching school can be contacted by email or telephone.

Consultations can be conducted remotely or face-to-face.

Some psychologists are not on campus every day, so don't hesitate to contact them:

Help and health professionals off campus

Appointments can also be made with different professionals based near the campus.

More information

IP Paris facilitates and encourages sport.
It not only helps develop physical qualities, but promotes team spirit, perseverance, and self-improvement as well.

Numerous indoor and outdoor facilities are available for you to practice a wide variety of sports: tennis, horse riding, football, volleyball, dance, swimming and more.

More information

Indispensable to the smooth running of community life, the associative, artistic and sporting commitments of students from the five member schools breathe life into the Institut Polytechnique de Paris campus every day. 

More information

Each student receives a student card for the academic year. It allows you to:

• Access all buildings on the Palaiseau campus,
• Pay for meals at the university restaurant using your Izly account

You can collect your card from your Program School – the school where you take most of your courses.

Find out more about Master's and PhD Track admissions

Your Master's program contact

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris Graduate School centralizes the master's, doctoral and PhD track programs. In association with the IP Paris member schools, it offers graduate students the opportunity to combine learning and research in an intellectually stimulating and personally rewarding environment. It offers them cross-disciplinary study programs designed to develop a variety of competencies (soft skills, etc.) and ensure a remarkably high level of employability.

The Graduate School provides administrative support for students throughout their studies, from admission to graduation. Working closely with the IP Paris member schools, it provides the support required to ensure the academic, professional and personal success and fulfillment of all students.

Contact

Your PhD Track program contact

This program enables the selected students to benefit from the first-class ecosystem of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and to be closely associated with the research activities carried out in the Institute's labs from the first year of the master's program. Each student benefits from individual and personalized supervision by a faculty member and will interact directly with the Institut Polytechnique de Paris scientific community, within a world-renowned innovation cluster.

The first two years of the program, culminating in a master's degree, are designed to enable students to acquire the tools necessary for the successful completion of an ambitious research project, supervised by an academic tutor.

The following three years are entirely dedicated to the student’s research project and lead to a PhD awarded by the Institut Polytechnique de Paris. The best candidates are eligible for excellence scholarships.

Contact

Are you an international student in need of help or seeking answers to administrative questions?

An e-mail adress has been specially created for you and is reserved for all international students needing help with their administrative procedures (e.g. visas, residence permits, health insurance). Please feel free to contact us!

At each school, a Program Office is available to answer any questions you may have about your education.
The Program Office for each master’s program is mentioned in the contact section of its web page on the Institute’s website.

• You haven't received your course materials?
• Having problems?
• Can’t find your schedule?

Your Program Office is here to help you:

For the école Polytechnique, there is one office per program:

At the start of the school year, each student is provided with an IT account.
Log-in information (e-mail address and password) are available on your dashboard on your enrollment form.

As a student at Institut Polytechnique de Paris, you have two e-mail addresses:

• An IP Paris e-mail address
• An e-mail address for your Program School

The IP Paris e-mail address will allow you to communicate with the school in which you are enrolled and your Student Life Manager - Delphine Duprat.

You will regularly receive information about the Institute and its environment at this e-mail address. You will also receive information about student life and upcoming events not to miss on campus.

The e-mail address for your Program School will allow you to access all educational services.
We advise you to set up automatic forwarding of e-mails from one address to the other so that you will be sure not to miss any information.

If you have any problems, please contact the help desk at your Program School:

During your academic career at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, you will have opportunities to carry out internships and prepare for your future professional life. To help you with this process, you can contact your school's Professional life and internship advisor.

The European Commission's Erasmus+ program promotes mobility in Europe and abroad for students (study or internship periods), teaching staff and all staff at higher education institutions.
The Commission provides financial support to students during their stays abroad, enabling them to develop linguistic, intercultural and professional skills that promote both personal development and better integration into the European job market.

Funding in the form of grants/scholarships is managed and distributed by the student's higher education institution.

More information

Each school has advisors for disability-related issues.
If you have any questions or need information, feel free to contact the advisor at your school.

If you don’t know whom to contact, please write to the generic adress.

As a key player in society, gender equality is an important issue in the higher education and research sector. Like all higher education and research institutions, we are aware that we are not immune to discrimination or harassment, which may concern both staff and students.

Each of the Institute's member schools has signed the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles' Gender Equality Charter. The Charter text affirms that the equality of women and men is a fundamental right for all, and a core value for democracy.
It pledges actions in three main areas:

• Implementing gender equality
• Raising students' awareness of gender equality and gender issues
• Developing a policy of upstream attractiveness, particularly for students. 

The efforts to tackle gender inequality are beginning to pay off, and the Institute intends to commit proactively and permanently to this approach.
To this end, each school has appointed gender equality officers responsible for the action plan on gender equality and the prevention of gender-based and sexual violence. These officers have also established a number of bodies to serve you on campus and at our member schools.

In addition to the appointment of gender equality officers, the following initiatives have also been put in place to help victims speak out and receive support:

• Awareness-raising measures for each student,
• A reporting platform available 24/7, enabling the hotline to handle  all reports of sexual and gender-based violence, harassment (moral or sexual) and all forms of discrimination,
• A hotline for all forms of gender-based and sexual violence

If you have any doubts about whom to contact, please write to our dedicated IP Paris e-mail adress or to your Student Life Manager

Institut Polytechnique de Paris is a diverse and open-minded institute, which must be uncompromising when it comes to upholding respect for the values of inclusion of all orientations, respect for individuals and human dignity.

For any questions other than those on academic issues or needs, please contact Delphine Duprat - Student Life Manager at IP Paris.

Feel free to contact her if you are having any problems or difficulties, or if you have questions about campus life (which are not answered in this booklet).
She will do everything in her power to help you enjoy a full and rewarding student life.

BDE IP Paris

There are several ways of keeping in touch with the BDE:

• The Linktree account, which brings together all the social media of the BDE team
• The discord server for information, communication, finding new friends and having fun
• Other social media accounts :
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

By following the social media accounts, students will also be informed of all the events organised. Contacting them couldn't be easier: just send them an email!  

Buddy program

Among other things, the BDE IP Paris offers the IP Paris Buddy Program, which puts incoming students in touch with a buddy who has already been on campus for at least a year.

The aim is not only to create links, but also to share knowledge about life and studies in the IP Paris environment. Buddies will talk to each other online before classes start and stay in touch throughout the year.

You are invited to take part in this great adventure by sending an email.

You can also fill in this form.

One week after registering, you will be matched with a buddy who is likely to share some of your interests!

Alumni IP Paris

There are many opportunities to exchange ideas, meet new people and share knowledge.

Get in touch with us!