The Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (, lit. 'National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts'; abbr. CNAM) is an AMBA-accredited French grande école and grand établissement. It is a member of the Conférence des Grandes écoles, which is an equivalent to the Ivy League schools in the United States, Oxbridge in the United Kingdom, the C9 League in China, or the Imperial Universities in Japan. CNAM is one of the founding Schools of the Grande école system, with École polytechnique and Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1794, in the wake of the French Revolution. Headquartered in Paris, it has campuses in every major French cities, in overseas France and in every francophone African country, China, Haiti, Germany, and Switzerland. Founded in 1794 by the French bishop Henri Grégoire, CNAM's core mission is dedicated to provide education and conduct research for the promotion of science and industry. With 70,000 students and a budget of €174 million, it is the largest university in Europe in terms of Budget for distance learning and continued education, and in terms of enrolment, slightly ahead of the University of Hagen. Under the aegis of the French Ministry of National Education, the National Directory of Professional Certifications and the Accreditation authority for French professional engineers, CNAM provides Grande Ecole and non-Grande Ecole certificates, diplomas, Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees and PhD's in Science, Engineering, Law, Management (AMBA-accredited ), Finance, Accountancy, Urban planning and Humanities, all designed to abide by the European Bologna Process, and thus complying with the European Credit Transfer System. It is the only higher education institution in Europe to provide Physics, Chemistry and Life-Science engineer's degrees up to a PhD-level (some of which 100% remotely) via distance learning and via its so-called "hybrid learning" which includes intermittent laboratories classes concentrated during a whole week on-site. The CNAM hosts also a museum dedicated to scientific and industrial inventions: Musée des Arts et Métiers (English: the Industrial Design Museum) which welcomed 250,000 visitors in 2018, and is located on the Parisian campus of the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts at 292 rue Saint Martin, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, in the historical area of the city named Le Marais.

History

Founded on 10 October 1794, during the French Revolution, it was then proposed by Abbé Henri Grégoire as a "depository for machines, models, tools, drawings, descriptions and books in all the areas of the arts and trades". The deserted Saint-Martin-des-Champs Priory (and particularly its Gothic refectory by Pierre de Montereau) was selected as the site of collection, which officially opened in 1802. Originally charged with the collection of inventions, it has since become an educational institution. At the present time, it is known primarily as a grand-école and university for: The collection of inventions is now operated by the Musée des Arts et Métiers. The original Foucault pendulum was exhibited as part of the collection, but was moved to the Panthéon in 1995 during museum renovation. It was later reinstalled in the Musée des Arts et Métiers. On 6 April 2010, the cable suspending the original pendulum bob snapped causing irreparable damage to the pendulum and to the marble flooring of the museum. The novel Foucault's Pendulum written by Umberto Eco deals greatly with this establishment, as the Foucault pendulum hung in the museum plays a great role in the storyline. The novel was published in 1988 prior to the pendulum being moved back to the Panthéon during the museum reconstruction. On 25 November 1819, at the instigation of Duke Decazes, newly nominated as Minister of the Interior, a three-Chairs higher education is established at the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts: Applied Mechanical Engineering vested in Baron Charles Dupin; Applied Chemistry entrusted to Nicolas Clément; and Industrial Economics left with Jean Baptiste Say.

Missions and Values

The French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts is infused with the values of the Lumières, as part of the French enlightenment era, of the 18th Century French Humanism, and of the French encyclopedists, whose goal was to provide emancipation via knowledge for everyone; the latter being often followed by most Grande Ecole and Universities in France, along with Universalism and Cartesianism. This background paved the way to nowadays CNAM's values of meritocracy, solidarity and academic excellence. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education and as French public institution of higher education, it is assigned three missions: These missions and values are reflected in CNAM's motto: "Omnes docet ubique", which means: "Teaching to everyone everywhere."

Campuses

Parisian campus

Out of the 70,000 students enrolled at CNAM (57.7% employees, 24% job seekers, 12% students, 6.3% self-employed), 36% are enrolled at the Parisian campus, 3% in Overseas France, 11% abroad and the rest in metropolitan France, of which 1,592 are enrolled at the Grande Ecole engineer school of CNAM: the EiCNAM. The Parisian campus and headquarters of the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts is located in one of the last medieval architectural area of Paris, in the historical district of Le Marais in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, at the former Benedictine priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, which church and core architectural style was inspired by the Basilica of Saint-Denis architecture built a few years earlier. This large Cluniac monastery founded by King Henry the First of France in 1059–1060 on Merovingian vestige, is still visible today. The former gothic-style refectory hall dated from the 13th century remains until today and was reassigned as the library in the middle of the 19th century by the CNAM's architect: Léon Vaudoyer.

Campuses in the rest of Metropolitan France

CNAM is based in 160 other French cities. French regional CNAM Centres are financially independent but pedagogically linked to the CNAM public institution based in Paris (namely of enrolment, selection and evaluation of candidates), and their existence is governed by a specific ministry decree. Half of the regional CNAM centres budget is allocated by the French regional councils. A student should apply through the nearest French regional CNAM in terms of enrolment, in other words, someone living in Marseille should enrol in Marseille's regional center (PACA) and not in Paris, even if his/her desired curriculum is not available in Marseille. As the vast majority of continuing education curricula are taught online, continuing education students can most of the time attend them via their nearest CNAM regional centre. Shall some specific classes be available only in Paris or at another regionalc centre, the student can attend these courses on-site, shall it be required (for example laboratory sessions in Life Science, Physics or Chemistry). Regional centres providing Engineering diploma via the EiCNAM, the Grande Ecole Engineer School of CNAM are all certified by the French national committee responsible for evaluation and accreditation of higher education institutions for the training of professional engineers in France (in French: Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur, abbr.: CTI). Some CNAM regional centres are hosted by other partner universities, for example the CNAM centre of Aix-en-Provence is located at the campus of the French Grande Ecole engineering and research school: Arts et Métiers ParisTech.

Campuses in overseas France

Campuses abroad

Source: Africa: America: Asia: Europe:

Faculties and Schools

Faculties

On 7 July 2016, the CNAM's board of directors enacted a reform via the directory of decisions number 2016-24 AG to 2016–33 AG, which goal was to create 16 national pedagogic teams (French: équipes pédagogiques nationales | abbr.: EPN) in lieu of the School for industrial sciences and technologies (French: écoles Sciences industrielles et technologies de l’information | abbr.: Siti) and the School for Management and Society Management et société (French: école Management et Société | abbr.: MS). Some Pedagogic Teams below are also sometimes Schools per se. Schools and institutes of CNAM The academic staff headcount in 2020 reached 1,670, wi****th 568 profes********sors/researchers and 1,120 academic staff, which are called a****t CNAM: Biatss**** (French: bibliothèque, ingénieurs, adminis****tratifs, techniciens, soci****al et s****anté | English: library staff, engineering staff, adminis****trative staff, technical t****aff, soci****al and health services staff).

Doctoral college, schools and research centres

Doctoral college and doctoral schools

The CNAM provides via its doctoral college PhD-curricula via distance-learning (along the job), or on-site. There are 91 PhD candidates enrolled at the EiCNAM Grande Ecole engineering School, and a total of 350 professors-researchers and academic staff for a total of 340 doctoral students from 40 different nationalities enrolled at CNAM worldwide, at which 60 thesis defence/examination take place yearly. The doctoral college of CNAM comprises two doctoral schools: Doctoral schools in partnership with other French Universities:

Research centres and laboratories of CNAM

Partner research centres

Curricula

Array of curricula

In 2022, amongst the 4366 curricula in total, the array of the Cnam's academic curricula spans the following :

Grande école academic features

The French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts is a Grand Etablissment (like the prestigious Collège de France founded in 1530), but is also a Grande Ecole which provides Grande-Ecole degrees, i.e. solely Master's Degrees, MBAs and PhDs (Grande Ecoles do not bestow diplomas lower than a European Master's degree level). A Grande Ecole, literally "Great School", is a higher education institution and part of a French league of universities, which select students via national competitive entrance examinations (in French: concours) to safeguard meritocracy and impartiality. The French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts was one of the founding Schools of the Grande Ecole System in the wake of the French Revolution. Grande Ecoles are separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. Grandes écoles, like CNAM, are elite academic institutions which enroll students via an extremely competitive process, and a significant proportion of their graduates occupy the highest levels of French society. Similar to Ivy League schools in the United States, Oxbridge in the UK, and C9 League in China, graduation from a grande école is considered the prerequisite credential for any top government, administrative and corporate position in France. The degrees are accredited by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles and bestowed upon by the Ministry of National Education (France). Higher education business and engineering degrees in France are organised into three levels thus facilitating international mobility: the Licence / Bachelor's degrees, and the Master's and Doctorat degrees. The Bachelor's and the Master's degrees are organised in semesters: 6 for the Bachelor's and 4 for the Master's. Those levels of study include various "parcours" (in English: paths or curricula) based on UE (Unités d'enseignement or Modules, in English: Teaching Units or Modules), each worth a defined number of European credits (ECTS) and thus abiding by the Bologna Process of the European Union. A student accumulates those credits, which are generally transferable between curricula. A Bachelor's is awarded once 180 ECTS have been obtained (3 years of higher studies after high school, abbreviated in French as "bac+ 3"); a Master's is awarded once 120 additional credits have been reached (5 years of higher studies after high school, abbreviated in French as "bac+ 5", i.e. 2 additional years after a Bachelor's degree).

National competitive examinations as prerequesite of French Grande Ecoles

One of the prerequesite of a Grande Ecole (along with having the Grande Ecole-label), is to select students via national competitive examinations. The latter are well-acknowledged to be particularly stringent. While students prepare for these National Competitive examinations right after their high school diploma (often obtained with a magna cum laude or summa cum laude) during a two-year preparatory programme in high schools proposing such curricula; some other students will start an Undergraduate or Bachelor's degree and prepare for the national Competitive examinations along their studies at Universities or private Colleges in France or abroad. Both pathways have their own advantages and drawbacks. As CNAM provides remote and continuous education, the access to the Grande Ecole does not require that candidates go through preparatory classes. Instead, obligatory classes and tests in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and English, along with a minimum required work experience (at least 6 months in a relevant field to the one the candidate wishes to apply to) and a minimum degree in a relevant field (an Undergraduate degree, i.e. 2 years of higher education after the French High School Diploma called Baccalauréat) will be expected as minimum requirements from candidates. Additionally, an interview of candidates will be conducted to select appropriate future Grande Ecole students. The Competitive Examination can only be retaken thrice. The most selective Grande Ecole will enroll less than 10% of candidates, i.e. 90% of candidates are bound to fail, not because they performed poorly, but because a handful of students performed better, which is in itself, the principle of a competitive examination. In some Grande Ecole, it is possible to retake a Grande Ecole national competitive examination as many times as one wishes, whereas some others limit the possibilities to retake the examination to a maximum of three times.

Notable people

Traditions

Graduates from the Grande Ecole Engineering School: EiCNAM, receive coloured graduation scarf during the diploma bestowal ceremony, depending on the major they belong to:

Foundation

In 1973, the Louis-de-Broglie Foundation was created at the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts by Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics Louis de Broglie along with Physics Nobel-Prize Laureate Louis Néel, and Fields Medallist René Thom, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of matter waves. It is now located at the French Academy of Sciences in Paris.

Affiliations and memberships

CNAM is a part of HeSAM (French: Hautes Écoles Sorbonne Arts et Métiers University), a cluster for higher education and research as a group of universities and institutions comprising 11 members and 4 associated institutions, totalling 110,000 enrolled students. The members are: