In 2025, supported by the continued loyalty of its donors, the Fondation de l’ENS pursued its commitment to excellence and to enhancing the international profile of the École normale supérieure, while more firmly than ever asserting the School’s role as a central actor in major contemporary debates. A year of consolidation, 2025 was also marked by numerous new initiatives, both in research and in dialogue between science, society, and the public interest.
Research: consolidating excellence and opening new fields
Jay One Ramier © Frédéric Albert
In 2025, the research chairs and programs supported by the Foundation helped strengthen the ENS’s scientific attractiveness and its ability to recruit leading researchers.
The year was marked by the launch of innovative projects, including the Street Art(s) Chair, which explores contemporary urban cultures at the intersection of art history, the humanities, and artistic practices. Supported by the Fonds Renault pour l’Art et la Culture, this new chair illustrates the Foundation’s capacity to support emerging research topics and to encourage interdisciplinary openness.
ENS at the heart of debates on AI for the public good
A highlight of the year, the ENS hosted the AI in the City events in February 2025 as part of the Summit for Action on Artificial Intelligence. Over two days, the School became a forum for dialogue among researchers, policymakers, students, and civil society on the democratic, social, and environmental challenges raised by artificial intelligence.
The creation of the Global Observatory on the Environmental Impact of AI, with the support of Capgemini, forms part of this momentum in favor of responsible and sustainable AI.
Supporting ENS students
Foundation Scholars’ Evening with Patrick Gaule du Global Talent Fund © Frédéric Albert
In 2025, the Foundation continued its commitment to ENS students by maintaining its scholarship programs. The year was marked by the launch of a new Olympic Physics Scholarship Program, made possible by the support of the Global Talent Fund. This initiative complements existing schemes and supports paths of scientific excellence. Such support remains essential to ensuring equal opportunity and enabling each student to devote themselves fully to their studies.
Preserving and enhancing an exceptional heritage
Donors’ Evening on 18 December 2025 centred on the new historic library renovation project – Ulm © Frédéric Albert
In 2025, the Foundation reaffirmed its commitment to the School’s historical and cultural heritage. The restoration and conservation efforts undertaken in previous years yielded tangible results, contributing to the transmission of a unique material and intellectual legacy for present and future generations of ENS students.
Beyond ongoing conservation work, the year was marked by preparations for an ambitious renovation project of the historic Letters Library reading room. This future undertaking aims to preserve this emblematic space while adapting it to contemporary uses, offering students and researchers a place for study and knowledge-sharing worthy of the School’s intellectual heritage.
Maintaining strong ties with the ENS community
Class of 1990 Reunion © Frédéric Albert
Throughout the year, the Foundation continued to nurture close relationships with its supporters and the alumni community. Meetings, lectures, round tables, and convivial events punctuated 2025, providing valuable opportunities for exchange, dialogue, and discovery of the most innovative research conducted at the ENS.
These gatherings are essential to sustaining the spirit of the School and strengthening lasting ties between the Foundation, its patrons, the archicubes, and the wider ENS community.
Overall, 2025 was a year of active consolidation and measured innovation, laying the groundwork for future developments. The Foundation warmly thanks all its donors for their trust and hopes to count on their continued support in 2026 to sustain this momentum in service of the ENS’s excellence.