• Universities

Aix-Marseille University (AMU) is a public research university in Provence that can trace its origins back to 1409 when Pisan Antipope Alexander V was tasked with creating the University of Provence by Louis II of Anjou. It came into its current form on 1 January 2012 following a merger of the University of Provence, the University of the Mediterranean and Paul Cézanne University. This merger made AMU the largest university in the French-speaking world in terms of student numbers and also endowment, which is currently €750 million. The university has five campuses located in Aix-en-Provence and Marseilles. It has 19 faculties and 12 doctoral schools and offers about 600 courses across the disciplines, including arts, literature, social sciences, science and technology. AMU also has more than 500 hundred research and teaching partnerships, collaborating closely with such institytions as the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA). Some programmes are also taught in both French and English for international students, of which there are more than 10,000. There are many notable alumni and faculty of AMU in the fields of law, politics, business, economics and literature. These include four Nobel prizewinners – such as J. M. G. Le Clézio, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature – and multiple heads of state of countries from around the world, along with many important judges, economists, diplomats, scientists, journalists, artists and musicians. Film-makers and actors such as Jean Renoir and Bradley Cooper are also alumni of AMU.