Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC)

Student Life

On arriving at UPMC, you join a university community of 10,000 people, composed of 5,600 teacher-researchers and researchers, 4,400 staff and 31,000 students, including 6,000 international students.

While the university is, above all, a place of study and work, your timetable leaves you a great deal of freedom. This is a unique opportunity to join an association and get involved in the university. You can join one of the existing associations, but if you wish, you can create your own!

Student representation is also student involvement in the various democratic bodies that govern the university. The elected students and the student vice-president are your voice and continuously work toward improving your living conditions at UPMC.

Civic engagement

Student elections are held at UMPC every two years. All students vote to appoint student representatives on the university's three central bodies (Board of Trustees, Academic Programmes and Student Life Council and the Scientific Council).

A student vice-president is elected at a meeting of the three bodies on the proposal of the chancellor. The elected members keep the central bodies informed regarding the problems that students may encounter. They represent you at council and board meetings and work for your living and studying conditions to be as satisfactory as possible. They are your spokespeople; so, at the next elections, make your voices heard!

Information...Twenty-two students sit on the university's three central bodies. Academic, financial and administrative decisions are prepared, discussed and voted within these bodies. Other elected students also sit on departments and various committees (disciplinary, union rights, health and safety, solidarity fund and student initiative development).

Student projects

By joining the university, you are taking control of your professional and personal futures. This responsibility can also be exercised through student projects and association activities. The university, through the solidarity and student initiative development fund, can provide you with logistical and financial support.

Sport

Physical and sports activities at UPMC are provided by two different but complementary structures:
the Department of Physical and Sports Activities (DAPS; Département des Activités Physiques et Sportives), a UPMC teaching department, organises personal training courses for all, traineeships and approved certificate courses, supervised by physical and sports education teachers who are also responsible for the majority of competition training;
the UPMC Sports Association (AS; Association sportive) [AS-UPMC], a non-profit association, manages university competitions with the French Federation of University Sports (FFSU; Fédération française du sport universitaire) and organises recreational activities.

Health and solidarity

Because your academic success is dependent on your good health, it is essential that you join the student social security scheme, and even a top-up health insurance scheme.

The university provides you with the means to stay in good health: at the University Preventive Medicine Service you can see general practitioners, specialists and psychiatrists. This service also carries out health education and promotion initiatives. Look about you; the staff from this service are often on Jussieu campus!

Grants

Independence...is every student's dream. But the path to autonomy is sometimes perilous. There are, however, many forms of aid that can make life easier: grants based on social criteria, study allowances, one-off financial aid payment, grants based on academic criteria, grants for international students, etc.

The student social form is the single document for applying for grants and accommodation. Contact the Grants Office (Bureau des Bourses), your specific point of contact, at the entrance to Jussieu campus (4, place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, building J, Mrs Raymonde Banal.

Accommodation and Restaurants

Finding somewhere adequate to live and eat plays a role in the well-being of your student life. There are many solutions on offer.

If you have concerns about renting a room for the start of the academic year or you simply do not know where to eat between lectures, have a look at the various sections.

Disability

The Disability Support Service (Relais Handicap Santé), part of the Student Life Department, is dedicated to assisting and supporting students with disabilities or health problems. This falls within the university's obligation to meeting, on the one hand, the objectives of the Act on 'the equality of rights and opportunities, the participation and citizenship of disabled people' of the 11 February 2005 and, on the other, the commitments set down in the University Disability Charter, jointly signed by the French Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research (MESR; Ministère de l’Education Nationale de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche), the Ministry of Labour, Labour Relations and Solidarity (MTRSS; Ministère du travail, des Relations sociales et de la Solidarité) and the Committee of university chancellors (CPU; Conférence des Présidents d’Université).

To achieve this, the service assists students in partnership with the various other university services (registrar's office, medical service, academic teams, etc.) and external services (CROUS, MDPH (Maison départementale des personnes handicapées; Département Office for Disabled People), etc.) and helps students develop a study plan that is in line with their career plans. The personalised analysis of students' needs within their selected course is carried out by the service and in partnership with the academic teams. Technical and/or human provisions (note taking, support lessons, etc.) will be arranged by the service and modified, where necessary during the year, according to the student's needs. All exams and related provisions are, on the decision of the Chancellor, organised and managed by the service. Lastly, the service has developed an initiative to facilitate the transition to work for these students.

To date, the Disability Support Service has assisted all students that have so requested and regardless of their disability (motor, sensory or psychological disability, disabling illness or temporary disability). In the 2007/2008 academic year there were approximately 200 students on various courses throughout the university.