Our history
The School was founded in 1783, at a time when mining was the high-tech industry par excellence, and the focus was on the safety of personnel, economic planning and even geopolitical issues (access to rare or strategic raw materials).
For 240 years, Mines Paris-PSL helps to meet the major challenges of the time
On March 19, 1783, an order from King Louis XVI founded the École Royale des Mines, with the aim of training people to carry out mineral exploration and exploitation work as safely and economically as possible.
Established since 1816 in the heart of the Latin Quarter, in the former Hôtel de Vendôme, on the edge of the Luxembourg Gardens, the School expanded in 1967 to Fontainebleau (500 m from the château), then to Corbeil and Evry (on the SNECMA premises), and finally in 1976 to the Sophia Antipolis technology park, in Valbonne near Nice.
Originally responsible for training civil engineers and the French government’s technical corps, since the 1960s the École has developed research and post-graduate teaching activities (specialized masters, doctorate), in relation with industry and in partnership with the ARMINES association.
In this way, it has kept pace with major scientific and technological changes, such as the development of railroads, nuclear energy and information technology (from the mathematical morphology center to quantum physics), as well as with societal changes, such as the definition of mission-driven companies resulting from the work of the Centre de Gestion Scientifique.
In 2012, the school joined Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) initiative as a founding member. Today, it is one of the 11 institutions of the Université PSL.
240 years of research and training serving the world’s major transformations
