Mathematics and Physics Olympic scholarships
Broadening international recruitment
The École normale supérieure (ENS) has launched an ambitious academic program for gold and silver medalists of the International Mathematical Olympiad — and, since 2025, the International Physics Olympiad.
The goal of this initiative is to attract outstanding students to ENS immediately after high school—students who have followed alternative academic paths compared to most current ENS students and who have demonstrated exceptional scientific ability.
A Two-Stage Academic Pathway:
If a selected student has not yet completed two years of higher education, they continue their studies in their home country in the relevant subject (mathematics or physics) while also learning French. Alternatively, if admitted to the Lycée Louis-Le-Grand, they are granted “ENS-PSL-LLG Scholar” status for one to two years, during which they receive a partial scholarship.
At the end of this one- to two-year period, the student may be admitted as a full “normalien” at ENS with a three-year scholarship, provided their academic performance—at either their home university or the Lycée Louis-Le-Grand—meets the institution’s rigorous standards of excellence.
This program can span up to five years, beginning with an evaluation phase before full admission to ENS, followed by three years of study at the school if the evaluation is successful.
