Paris Universitas was an alliance of six institutions of higher education in Paris, France, that existed from 2005 to 2010. Paris Universitas offered a wide range of disciplines, from medicine to the humanities, engineering, law, management and the social sciences. The institution expected to rank between 1 and 3 in Europe for number of publications, although rankings were not released due to the short lifespan of the institution. In 2006, Paris Universitas was ranked first among European universities and 4th in the world for the largest volume of English-language publications. Paris Universitas had 350 research laboratories, a broad range of disciplines, and almost 80,000 students.
Organisation
Paris Universitas was a collegiate university, with its main functions divided between the central departments of the university and the higher education institutions that are members. They are technically institutions independent of the university itself and enjoy considerable autonomy. Unlike the University of London or University of California, Paris Universitas did not have the power to award degrees.
Paris Universitas had research departments and teaching faculties in most academic disciplines.
Research
The constituent institutions of Paris Universitas conducted research in many areas within the basic sciences, humanities, economics, social sciences, and law. There were 182 CNRS/APU and 58 INSERN/APU member research units. There were also 40 common laboratories.
Programs
The Paris Universitas had a number of joint degrees at the baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral levels that involve participation and dual institutions within the alliance. There were also 17 international programs as follows: Masters
Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie ranked 39th in the World and 1st in France for the Sciences & Mathematics by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
Panthéon-Assas University''' ranks first in France in most legal subjects.
The historic University of Paris, second oldest university in continuous operation, appeared in the second half of the 12th century and grew up around the Notre Dame Cathedral. The medieval Latin term universitas actually had the more general meaning of a guild, and the university of Paris was known as a universitas magistrorum et scholarium. The university had four Faculties: Arts, Medicine, Law, and Theology. The ancient university disappeared with ancient France under the Revolution. All the French universities were replaced by a single centre, the University of France. After a century, people recognized that the new system was less favourable to study and restored the old system, but without the faculty of theology. Following the cultural revolution commonly known as "the French May", resulting in the closing of the university for only the third time in history, the university was in 1970 reorganised as 13 autonomous universities. Most of these universities have joined, or are in the process of forming, new groupings along the lines of a collegiate university. Typically, these groupings take the legal form of a Center for Research and Higher Education, though some have opted for other forms of organization. Paris Universitas was one of the two new large university centers in the city of Paris, along with Paris Centre Universités.
