1960s the school made basic changes to adapt to the recession in the coal industry. In 1965 it became a school for general engineers with two streams, Buildings/Public Works, and Mechanical/Metallurgy. Studies took four years, interspersed with five mandatory internships in companies. The school was authorized to issue an Engineering diploma in 1966. Research activity developed from the mid-1970s, and a technology incubator was founded in 1985 to support creation of innovative new businesses. In 1980 the school became the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines. The École des Mines de Douai merged with TELECOM Lille in 2017 to become the largest engineering school in France north of Paris under the name IMT Lille Douai. Education of IMT Nord Europe All Institut Mines-Telecom (IMT) schools are Grandes Écoles, a French institution of higher education that is separate from, but parallel and connected to the main framework of the French public university system. Similar to the Ivy League in the United States, Oxbridge in the UK, and C9 League in China, Grandes Écoles are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process. Alums go on to occupy elite positions within government, administration, and corporate firms in France. Although the IMT schools are more expensive than public universities in France, Grandes Écoles typically have much smaller class sizes and student bodies, and many of their programs are taught in English. International internships, study abroad opportunities, and close ties with government and the corporate world are a hallmark of the Grandes Écoles. Many of the top ranked schools in Europe are members of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles (CGE), as are the IMT schools. Degrees from the Institut Mines-Telecom are accredited by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles and awarded by the Ministry of National Education (France) (). First year The selected students have various profiles. At the beginning the school offers a training with general courses: Mechanical engineering, materials science, computer-aided design Chemical engineering, environmental stakes Automation engineering, signal processing Programming, algorithms, information technology, mathematics, analysis, probabilities, statistics, Sports Project management, team management, law, economics Foreign languages: English as a first mandatory language, second mandatory language (German, Spanish, Russian or Mandarin Chinese), third optional language (German, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese) During the second semester, several elective courses are offered and give students the opportunity to learn a particular subject related to engineering topics. These courses are divided into