Multidisciplinary projects projects
In 2000, under the direction of Pierre Veltz, the School introduced its most recent reform. Today, Ponts et Chaussées engineers have to be able to manage multidisciplinary projects. For this reason, the reform emphasised a strong scientific culture and fundamental specialist fields, for engineers trained to contribute to the resolution of complex sociotechnical problems and able to work in an international context. This international dimension has been reinforced by the signature of new double-degree agreements.
The era of partnerships
In research, the creation of the Navier Institute in 2002 formed the basis for the establishment of a world ranking centre working in the field of structures and materials. However, despite continuous growth, the School is still too small to achieve the desired international impact on its own. Hence the crucial importance of mergers and partnerships, within the framework of the elite Parisian schools network, ParisTech, and the Cité Descartes network of higher education establishments, the Polytechnicum.
Launch of the Descartes+ project
This foundational role within local networks has deeply embedded the School in its new environment. In 2005, within the regional Sustainable Cities and Mobility competitiveness hub, the School and other Cité Descartes institutions launched the Descartes + project, the construction of a building able to produce its own energy.
Founder member of Paris-East University
In 2007, the School, along with Marne-la-Vallée University, was a founding member of Paris-East University, which integrates general, technological and vocational research and education into a single interdisciplinary whole.
In 2008, the School broke its last links with its past when it made the final move from Hôtel de Fleury. Only the associations, the subsidiaries and the Publishing Houses remain in Paris, at other addresses…
Descartes “centre of excellence” around a cluster associated with sustainable development. The aim of the Descartes Cluster is to become the future world reference centre for construction, maintenance and services for the sustainable city.
The Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development (MEDDTL) and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research have jointly decided to create a world ranking scientific and technical hub at Marne-la-Vallée, in the heart of Cité Descartes. Bringing IFSSTAR and CSTB together with the school in a new building named Bienvenüe is one of the elements of this plan.