including laboratories such as CNRS, CEA, and INRIA, as well as from the École Normale Supérieure and nearby institutions such as the Institut d'Optique, and the Université Paris-Sud, thus creating a varied and high-level teaching environment. Contrary to French public universities, the teachers at École Polytechnique are not civil servants () but contract employees. In addition to full-time professors who do research at the École Polytechnique in addition to their full teaching duties, there are part-time professors who have only a partial teaching load. Part-time teachers are often recruited from research organizations (CNRS, CEA, INRIA, etc.) which carry out their activities on the School's campus, in the Paris region, or sometimes even in the provinces. Academic programs === The 'Polytechnicien Engineer''' program === The program awards the prestigious diplôme d'ingénieur degree, and is selective upon entry. The subjects covered often go beyond the student's specialty, and the course is focused on generalized education allowing cross-fertilization between different fields. In addition to the 2,000 polytechnicien engineering students (500 students per year), the institution has approximately 439 master's students and 572 doctoral students, for a total of 2,900 enrolled. Admission There are two ways to enter the Polytechnicien Engineer program. The first way is through a very selective competitive examination that requires at least two years of intensive preparation after high school in classes préparatoires. The second way is to do undergraduate studies at another university. There is a week of written exams in the spring, followed by oral exams in the summer. About 400 French students are admitted to the school each year. Foreign students who have completed a classe préparatoire can also enter through the same competitive examination. In total, there are about 100 foreign students admitted to this cycle each year. Foreign students from European or American universities can also be admitted as part of an exchange program for a semester or a year.. Curriculum Four years of study are required for the engineering degree: one year of military service (for French nationals only) and a scientific "common curriculum" (eight months and four months, respectively), one year of multidisciplinary studies, and one year of specialized studies ("majors"). Since the reform of the curriculum in 2000, students complete a fourth year of study in a partner institution. First year The curriculum begins with eight months of mandatory military service for students of French nationality. In the past, this service lasted