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Founded in 2010, Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL) is a research university with Grand Établissement status. It is based on an original model and is now entering a new phase in its development and global engagement. From January 2025, it will comprise eleven component institutions and two associate members, in partnership with three national research bodies.

PSL University is recognised for the excellence of its research and education, and it figures highly in international rankings. It maintains partnerships and carries out international projects with leading academic and research institutions throughout the world. PSL contributes to the advancement of science and knowledge through its definition and implementation of a global strategy for education, research, development and engagement. It thus plays a key role in both the French and the international academic and scientific landscapes.

With 2,900 teaching and research staff, 17,000 students, 140 laboratories and a dozen incubators, fab labs and coworking spaces, it is a university on a human scale. It brings together all areas of knowledge, innovation and creativity in the sciences, humanities and social sciences, engineering and the arts. It covers a very wide range of disciplines, from fundamental to applied sciences, from experimental sciences to human and social sciences and the arts. It trains researchers, artists, entrepreneurs and leaders who are aware of their individual and collective social responsibility. Committed to the objectives of sustainable development and a champion of the values of scientific integrity, PSL conducts cutting-edge research thanks to its researchers whose scientific and scholarly excellence is recognised internationally. Across all its disciplines PSL  offers a high-quality range of courses underpinned by proven teaching methods and driven by a committed  interdisciplinary approach. PSL offers training that is as close as possible to the research carried out in its laboratories, while also encouraging student mobility  between disciplines and between institutions.

PSL is backed by a Foundation of scientific cooperation, which is also one of its component institutions, and to which it has delegated its mission of promoting research. The purpose of this foundation is to support and assist the University in carrying out all of its actions and missions.
In particular, it aims :

• to develop, improve and strengthen the performance of research, training, innovation and the dissemination of knowledge;
• to promote research-led training at all levels and for all training objectives, and thus to create a model for the entire French higher education system;
• to strengthen interactions between academic research and social and economic needs, with PSL acting as an engine for economic growth and innovation.

The fact that the President of PSL is also President of the Foundation guarantees both the coherence and the independence of the two entities.

The position of President of PSL and its associated Foundation is open to candidates for a five-year term. This call for candidates is open to all interested persons in France and throughout the world.

Candidates are expected to have:

• A high-level university education, with recognised activity and publications in their field of research.
• Status as a university professor or equivalent in a research organisation or international university, regardless of nationality.
• Experience of international cooperation projects.
• Solid experience of management of a higher education or research institution or organisation.
• Mastery of funding and development strategies, including sponsorship and philanthropy.
• An excellent understanding of the research and higher education environment in France and of the specific context of PSL.
• Excellent command of both written and spoken French and English.
• The ability to develop, support and share a strategic project for the term of office, aimed at consolidating PSL and strengthening its position in both the national and the international domains.    
• The ability to work collegially with the component institutions and associate members of PSL, as well as with research bodies.
• The ability to promote dialogue between the arts, humanities and sciences and to foster the development of cross-disciplinary projects between institutions, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity.
• The ability to represent and champion the University and its component institutions to internal and external stakeholders, both nationally and internationally.

The application must include a curriculum vitae, a list of titles and works, a vision statement of no more than six pages explaining the candidate's strategic vision for PSL, and contact details for no more than five references. It must be sent by email to searchcommittee@psl.eu no later than 7 October 2024. The CV and list of titles and works may be submitted in either French or English, but the vision statement must be in French.

A Search Committee has been appointed by the Boards of Directors of both PSL and its Foundation; the list of its 8 members is given in the appendix.

The search committee's confidential examination of the applications will begin immediately after the close of the application period and may include interviews, in person or remotely, on one of the following dates: 29, 30, 31 October, 4, 6 November 2024.

A shortlist will be drawn up and the shortlisted candidates will then be interviewed by the PSL Council of Members,  whose members also represent the Foundation, between mid-November and mid-December 2024. Hearings by the Council of Members will take place in person, at PSL's head office, 60 rue Mazarine, Paris 6th arrondissement. All hearings, both by the Search Committee and by the Council of Members, will be conducted mainly in French.

The Boards of Directors of the University and the Foundation will elect the President. The President may take up his or her duties as soon as he or she is elected, or in the following weeks or months. The President will propose a team of Vice-Presidents to the Board of Directors.

Strict confidentiality for all candidates will be respected throughout the procedure. Members of the Search Committee are bound by a strict duty of confidentiality throughout the process.

For further information on the procedure, please contact president2025@psl.eu. The statutes and internal regulations of PSL, both the University and the Foundation, are available on the , as is the list of members of the Board of Directors of the university and of the foundation , as well as the list of members of the . Other documents (PSL's self-assessment document for the HCERES, sector strategies, Strategic Orientation Committee reports, student life master plan, etc.) can be sent on request made to president2025@psl.eu.

 It should be noted that the salary of the successful candidate will be proposed by the Remuneration Committee within the limits set by the Board of Directors.

¹ Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art dramatique ; Dauphine University ; École nationale des chartes ; École nationale supérieure de Chimie de Paris ; École normale supérieure ; École Pratique des Hautes Études ; ESPCI Paris ; Mines Paris ; Observatoire de Paris ; École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs ; École Nationale Supérieure d’architecture Paris-Malaquais ; associate members : Collège de France and Institut Curie ; together with three research bodies : CNRS ; Inserm ; and Inria.

² Council of Members is the assembly of the leaders (presidents, directors, administrators) of the component institutions, associate members and partner research organisations.