École normale supérieure (Paris)

The École normale supérieure in Paris, usually called ENS, Normale sup or Ulm, is a French grande école and a constituent member of Paris Sciences et Lettres University. Its roots lie in the École normale of 1794, created during the French Revolution to train teachers for a uniform national education. It was later closed, refounded by Napoleon in 1808, recreated in 1826 and given its present name in 1845. It sits on the rue d'Ulm in the fifth arrondissement, with a second campus on Boulevard Jourdan, and is unusual among French grandes écoles in having research departments across the natural, social and human sciences, from mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology to cognitive science. The article credits its alumni with 14 Nobel Prizes, eight of them in physics, and 12 Fields Medals.