At a time when the drop in the level of French students in maths is causing a lot of ink to flow, these results may seem surprising! For the third consecutive year, the University of Paris-Saclay appears at the top of the Shanghai 2022 international ranking, in the section devoted to mathematics. It is moreover in this discipline that our country shines the most since 36 French establishments (i.e. 7.2% of the total) are part of this annual thematic ranking carried out by the Chinese University Jiao Tong*, and made public. last July 19. Also note the good score of Sorbonne University which maintains its third place, still in mathematics. Important clarification: the famous Shanghai ranking does not assess the quality of education provided by higher education institutions but their level of commitment to their research activities. “French excellence in this field is well established and we have reason to be proud of it”, rejoices Emmanuel Trélat, Director of the Jacques-Louis Lions laboratory which depends on Sorbonne University. “However, it is important to specify that the success encountered by the elites of this discipline is a bit like the tree that hides a not very beautiful forest. Let’s not forget that the average level of primary, middle and high school students continues, him, to lower”, continues the specialist.
What lessons can be drawn from this French prize list announced in the middle of summer? The quality of the mathematics education of the brightest students is a primary explanatory factor. Note that the overwhelming majority of French Fields medalists – eleven out of fourteen – went through the Ecole Nationale Supérieure in Paris. This is again the case of Hugo Duminil-Copin, the latest winner of the most prestigious world mathematics awards. This 36-year-old researcher, also holder of a master’s degree from Paris-Saclay, was offered in 2017 one of the rare permanent professorships by the prestigious Institute for Higher Scientific Studies (IHES). For Pascal Massart, professor at Paris-Saclay and Director of the Jacques-Hadamard Mathematical Foundation (FMJH), the origin of this French excellence goes back to the Age of Enlightenment. “From this period dates the decision to put the sciences in the spotlight and to establish a certain relationship to the truth, independent of partisan opinions and based on objective observations”, he explains.
Much more recently, the grouping under the same banner of several prestigious entities has allowed certain universities to change scale and weigh more in the international landscape. This is the case of Paris-Saclay which, on January 1, 2020, officially brought together the University of Paris-Sud, but also several large schools and public research organizations. This translates, in figures, into 48,000 students, 8,100 researchers and teacher-researchers, 275 laboratories, 13,000 publications per year. Suffice to say that this new mastodon, which alone represents 13% of French research potential, was perfectly formatted to meet the criteria studied by the Shanghai ranking. The summer following its official birth, Paris-Saclay also made a sensational entry into the top 15 of the charts by winning 14th place in the general classification… and 1st place in mathematics.
The limits of the Shanghai ranking methodology
“This dynamic, driven from the 1960s with recruitment methods already oriented towards the international, has gradually imposed itself”, deciphers Pascal Massart. “In the 1990s, this type of classification did not yet exist, but it was common knowledge in France that institutions such as the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques or the Mathematics Department of Orsay had brilliant personalities”, he continues. “The creation of the Paris-Saclay University results from the desire to go even further. To give scientific coherence to this whole and to have a greater strike force”, explained its president Sylvie Retailleau – today Minister of Higher Education and Research – at L’Express in 2020. For its part, Paris Sorbonne is the result of the merger, in 2018, of what was then called Paris IV and the Pierre -and-Marie-Curie.
For some observers, the rise of French universities in the Shanghai ranking, due in part to these structural changes, would be “artificial”. The relevance of the Chinese ranking methodology is also often questioned. The main criteria taken into account are the number of winners of the Field Medal and the Abel Prize (another prestigious award in mathematics) among former students and teachers, and the number of articles published in scientific journals. “In only three thematic journals, specializing in fundamental mathematics and not in applied mathematics, which is quite restrictive”, regrets Emmanuel Trélat. The good representation of Anglo-Saxon countries in the general classification and in that devoted to mathematics (the universities of Princeton, Cambridge and Oxford are among the top five) is largely explained by their seniority and their stability. “The fact that their name has persisted for hundreds of years plays for them. Conversely, when a researcher from my university signs a publication, he is never sure if he should present himself as being from Paris VI, from the Sorbonne or the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University, which confuses the issue a bit and tends to put us at a disadvantage”, confides Emmanuel Trélat.
“Strengthening cohesion”
On the other hand, the creation in 2007 of the Foundation for Mathematical Sciences of Paris (FSMP), which brings together the main laboratories in central and northern Paris, has contributed to the dynamism of the French school. Just like the birth in 2010 of the Jacques-Hadamard Mathematical Foundation (FMJH) linked to the institutions of Paris Sud. “The latter has enabled us to strengthen cohesion between the different entities of the Paris-Saclay plateau by participating, for example, in the creation of common training courses. It has also facilitated the establishment of synergies between the business ecosystem and academic research. Finally, it has encouraged the development of international collaborations”, lists its president Pascal Massart. For him, the Shanghai ranking remains a “formidable showcase” which will have made it possible to put the spotlight on Paris-Saclay and thus attract the best students.
After obtaining its first place three years ago, the number of applications for internationally oriented and highly selective master’s scholarships has thus doubled. This virtuous circle, now well underway, should continue in the years to come. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the general teaching of mathematics in France. Once again, the gap between the scientific elite and the general level of this discipline continues to widen. A very French specificity that major international studies do not fail to point out either.
*The ranking includes 54 disciplines divided into five fields (engineering, natural sciences, life sciences, medical sciences, social sciences)