the academic year. It is also a notable centre for teachers of French as a foreign language, and its function is to provide training and perfecting of linguistic abilities in French as a scientific and cultural means of communication. According to Harvard University's website, the university is "one of the most distinguished in France, second only to the University of Paris in the areas of French literature, history, and linguistics". The university's library system comprises 59 libraries, with 662,000 volumes, 20,000 online periodical titles, and thousands of digital resources, making it one of the largest and most diverse academic library systems in France. The overall area occupied by the libraries is equal to 37,056 m2, including 19,703 m2 public access space. The libraries offer 49.2 kilometers of open-stacks shelving and 4,219 seats for student study. In addition, there are 487 computer workstations, which are available to the public for research purposes. Political Science The university's Institute of Political Studies (Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence), also known as Sciences Po Aix, was established in 1956. It is one of a network of 10 world-famous IEPs (Instituts d'Etudes Politiques) in France, including those in Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Strasbourg and Toulouse. Sciences Po Aix is a grande école in political science and its primary aim is to train senior executives for the public, semi-public, and private sectors. Although the institute offers a multitude of disciplines, its main focus is on politics, including related subjects such as history, law, economics, languages, international relations, and media studies. Its admissions process is among the toughest and most selective in the country. Sciences Po Aix has numerous exchange programs through partnerships with about 120 different universities in the world: the school therefore welcomes 200 foreign students a year. On top of these academic exchanges, students have the opportunity to do internships abroad in large international firms. Many of the institute's graduates have gone on to high positions within both the French government and in foreign governments. Among the best-known people who studied at Sciences Po Aix are the current President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, former High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, the 5th President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumaratunga, former Minister of Justice of France, Élisabeth Guigou, former Presidents of the National Assembly of France, Philippe Séguin