French Poles of Research and Higher Education

French university associations known as "pôles de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur" (PRES; English: centers for research and higher education) were a form of higher-level organization for universities and other institutions established by French law in effect from 2007 to 2013. The 2013 Law on Higher Education and Research (France) discontinued the PRES; these have been largely replaced by the new associations of universities and higher education institutions (French translation abbreviated ComUE). The list below indicates the status of those institutions designated as PRES or related associations before the 2013 law took effect. See the list of public universities in France for the current status of these institutions.

The reforms of French higher education in 1968-1971 broke apart several public universities into numerous autonomous successor universities. For example, the University of Paris was split into thirteen universities, Paris I through Paris XIII. These universities have subsequently formed groupings in order to pool resources and better advance their joint activities. Some of these groupings, which typically take the legal form of a groupement d'interêt public, or GIP, are themselves called universities or university centers. In addition to universities, they may include other institutions of higher education and research as well as municipal and regional governments. The process has accelerated with the law of 18 April 2006 on the reform of research in France. This has permitted the creation of tighter groupings called pôles de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur, or PRES. In addition, there are a number of consortia of engineering schools, such as the Grenoble Institute of Technology, that are so tightly united as to be listed as if they were single universities by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Systems and consortiums in Bordeaux:

The present University of Bordeaux (Université de Bordeaux) is a PRES, established 21 March 2007, made up of the four successor universities to the former University of Bordeaux as well as a number of other institutions:

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