Ensci

Founded in 1982, ENSCI is the only national higher education establishment in France dedicated to design and industrial design with a particularly contemporary vision of the "industry". It is under the authority of the ministries responsible for culture and enterprise. ENSCI's "industrial design degree" is recognized as level 1 by the State, that is to say the highest level on the gradation of professional degrees. ENSCI also offers two other programmes: one leads to the degree in textile design awarded by the Atelier national d'art textile (ANAT); the other to the post-master professional certificate (Mastère) in "New Media Design". ENSCI, at first specialized in product design, has widened its domain of studies to other design fields: digital design, textiles, spaces, communications and services. Therefore it is now present in most fields of activities to be found in this post-industrial era at the dawn of the 21st century. All the programmes at ENSCI are based on an approach through projects, combined with theoretical and practical courses. The students learn to master tools, from the most traditional to the most up-to-date, and acquire the knowledge necessary to confront the cultural, economic and social contexts of their future professions. Tuition leans as much on apprenticeship of the new digital technologies and images as on work in the wood, metal, plastic and textile workshops. In addition to the permanent academic staff, the college calls on outside collaborators (designers, artists, manufacturers, architects, stage designers, engineers, philosophers, sociologists, art and science historians, economists…) for conferences and seminars or "workshops". All the students spend a semester as interns in a professional context before preparing their degree and most of them go abroad for this, or in the frame of an academic exchange. ENSCI has also built up partnerships in the economic and institutional world. In this context, the students learn to reply precisely to demands and this places them in a real professional situation. For companies, working with ENSCI students means they are in contact with a breeding ground for new trends that gives them the opportunity to widen their horizons. Among the most recent partners: CEA and EDF, Centre Pompidou, France Télécom, Hennessy, Hermès, Kenwood - Design (Japan), Legrand, Leroy Merlin, RATP, Renault, SNCF, TAG Heuer, VIA, etc. Every year, 230 - 250 students of all nationalities attend the school, and degrees have already been awarded to 530 industrial designers and 200 textile designers (ANAT). 130 Professional Mastères in "New Media Design" have also been delivered. ENSCI has established a system of equivalences for degree programs in Europe to facilitate freedom of movement for its students within higher education in Europe.