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UCL and ENS-PSL renew and expand their long-standing cooperation in education and research

15 July 2025

UCL has renewed and expanded its partnership with École Normale Supérieure-PSL, signing agreements on student exchanges and joint training, under the framework of PSL-UCL global partnership, and committing to support a joint research project in cognitive science.

Professor Frédéric Worms (left), Director of ENS-PSL, and Professor Geraint Rees (right), UCL Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), sign renewed exchange, Dual Master’s and research agreements at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, 8 July 2025.

Professor Geraint Rees, UCL Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), and ENS-PSL Director Professor Frédéric Worms met at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus to seal agreements and discuss the next steps that will guide the fruitful cooperation between the two institutions, under the framework of PSL-UCL global partnership. A refreshed student exchange agreement in humanities has been signed during the visit. Earlier this year the long-running Dual Master’s in Brain & Mind Sciences, in partnership with Sorbonne University, has been extended for a further three years. And both institutions have pledged institutional support for a joint research project in perception neuroscience, co-led by 14 investigators from London and Paris.

Professor Rees said the new agreements “signal our confidence in a collaboration that spans disciplines and borders. By renewing our student exchanges and Masters degree programme and deepening our joint research agenda, we are investing in the next generation of scholars who will push the frontiers of brain science and the humanities alike.”

Echoing that sentiment, Professor Worms noted that “ENS-PSL and UCL share a commitment to excellence that transcends borders. Today’s renewal turns that belief into concrete opportunities for our students, our researchers and our societies.”

The alliance is already productive: between 2020 and 2024 researchers from the two institutions co-authored 111 papers, with neuroscience and astrophysics the most cited fields. Doctoral mobility is flourishing too: since 2023 six PhD candidates—three from each university—have undertaken funded research residencies under a joint internship scheme, with another cohort due to start this autumn.

Looking ahead, a steering group will convene in the autumn to map new thematic areas—such as urban studies and sustainability—develop teaching exchanges for the Dual Master’s and align bids with forthcoming Horizon Europe calls. Plans are also under way for a 20-year anniversary symposium for the Dual Master’s in 2026, coinciding with UCL’s Bicentenary celebrations.

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Professor Frédéric Worms (left), Director of ENS-PSL, and Professor Geraint Rees (right), UCL Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), sign renewed exchange, Dual Master’s and research agreements at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, 8 July 2025.

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