University of Nantes

Medieval University

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The university of Brittany was founded by Bertrand Milon [fr] on 4 April 1460, at the initiative of Francis II, Duke of Brittany under the form of a papal bull of Pope Pius II given to Sienna. This embodied the wish of François II to affirm his independence towards the French king, while near the duchy in Angers in 1432, Poitiers in 1432 and Bordeaux in 1441, universities were created.^[8] Founded under the structure of a studium generale, this university taught the traditional disciplines: Arts, Theology, Law and Medicine. The number of students between the end of the 15th century and during the two following centuries reached a thousand or 1500, according to the highest estimates.

The first attempt to move the university of Nantes to Rennes took place at the end of the 16th century. Henry IV wanted to punish Nantes, which was loyal to the Catholic League, for its support of Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur. The university received an order from the king by a letter of 8 August 1589 to move to Rennes, a city which was loyal to the monarchy, but financial issues prevented the move. Another letter of 5 September 1591 from the king reiterated the order of transfer, but again it did not happen. In April 1598, a letter from the king stabilised the situation by confirming the establishment of the university in Nantes.

The LMD and ECTS systems

Since 2004, the University has followed the LMD European system that divides the post-secondary education in 3 degrees: the Licence( equivalent of a Bachelor's degree), the Master and the Doctorat (PhD).^[9] Each course provides credits according to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) developed by the European Commission and a certain number of credits will allow a student to obtain their degree.^[10] For instance, the first post-secondary education degree, the Licence, can be obtained with 180 ECTS accumulated within 3 years. A full year gives 60 ECTS while a semester gives 30 ECTS.

List of faculties and schools

• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Pharmacy
• Faculty of Dentistry
• Faculty of Psychology
• Faculty of Science and Technology
• Faculty of Law and Political Science
• Department of History, Art History and Archaeology
• Department of Humanities and Languages
• Department of Languages - International Language Centre (CIL)
• Department of Sociology
• Department of Science and Technology of Physical Activities and Sports (STAPS)
• Institute of Geography and Regional Planning of Université de Nantes (IGARUN)
• Institute of Economics and Management - Institute of Business Administration (IEMN-IBE)
• Institute for Research and Education in French as a Foreign Language (IRFFLE)
• Institute of Teacher Training (ÉSPÉ)
• Institute of Preparation for General Administration (IPAG)
• Observatory of Earth and Planetary Sciences (OSUNA)
• Institute of Technology of Nantes
• Institute of Technology of La Roche-sur-Yon
• Institute of Technology of Saint-Nazaire
• School of Engineering - École Polytechnique de Nantes

Athletics

The University offers the students to practice more than 50 different sports, whether it is for competitive or recreational purposes. The University also provides adapted training to athlete students and participates in national and international competitions in the following disciplines: athletics, rowing, badminton, French boxing, soccer, ice hockey, judo, swimming, and sailing.^[11] In 2011, the University was one of the first French universities to create a quidditch team.^[12]

Residence

Approximately 3,500 places on residence are available each year. These places are distributed by the CROUS on a social status basis taking into account the yearly income of the student's parents or legal representative, the number of siblings remaining under the parents' responsibility and the distance between the University and the student's place of residence.^[13]

There are two types of residences:

• The traditional ones gather 9 m² single bedrooms in a building with common bathrooms and kitchens at each floor.
• The renovated ones with individual furnished apartments going from 13 to 18m².^[14]

Food locations

The CROUS from Nantes manages the different student restaurants on campus as well as the meals they offer. Most of the restaurants are open for lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday and offer a complete meal at a price regulated on a yearly basis. For the academic year of 2013-2014, the price of a meal was set at €3.30 (2019-2020).^[15]