of the ENS Paris-Saclay who passed the entrance exam are civil servants and are known as "normaliens". Normaliens are paid a monthly salary (around €1300 ) by the French government, and are required to have an academic career or work for a French public administration for six years after their four-year curriculum at the ENS is completed. ENS Paris-Saclay also recruits other university students; the latter are not required to work for a French public administration but are not paid either. Students follow the standard university curriculum (Licence, Master, and most of the time PhD). They are encouraged -though it is not mandatory- to take then the Agrégation competitive examination. There are 17 departments : the scientific departments of Biology, Mathematics, Computer Science, Fundamental Physics, Chemistry; the engineering departments of Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering; Economics and Management, Social Sciences, Languages, Design. ENS Paris-Saclay cooperates with many foreign universities, for example in student exchange programs. One of them is MONABIPHOT developed in cooperation with Wrocław University of Technology in Poland, Complutense or Carlos III University of Madrid in Spain, MIT, Oxford, Humboldt. Admission The admission to the ENS Paris-Saclay as normalien is made through a highly competitive entrance examination, and requires at least two years of preparation after high school in Classes Préparatoires (Scientific (BCPST, MPSI, PCSI...), Literary (B/L) and Business sections (Economics and Management)). The ENS Paris-Saclay recruits every year 360 normaliens and 800 degree seeking students. Curriculum Though normaliens follow the standard university curriculum, they have the opportunity to pursue their studies in other grandes écoles such as Sciences Po, HEC, École Polytechnique and the ENSAE without having to take an entrance exam (or only a part of it). Normaliens can join the Grands Corps techniques d'Etat or prepare the ENA entrance exam. Notable alumni Philippe Aghion (French economist) Alain Aspect (French physicist) Julie Battilana (Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School) Laurent Batsch (French economist-President of Paris Dauphine University) Elie Bursztein (French computer scientist) Bernard Charlès (CEO of Dassault Systemes) Mérouane Debbah (Director Huawei France R&D) Erwan Dianteill (French cultural anthropologist) Aawatif Hayar (Moroccan Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and the Family) Michel Lallement (French sociologist) Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (French politician) Éloïc Peyrache (French economist) Olivier Rubel (Business school professor) Marc Yor (French mathematician) Gabriel Zucman (French economist) See also École Normale Supérieure (Ulm) École Normale supérieure de Lyon Grandes Écoles Classes préparatoires References External links ENS