The École Normale Supérieure (also known as "ENS", "ENS-Ulm" or "Ulm", from the name of the street where its main campus is located) is an elite French grande école located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.
Originally meant to train high school teachers, it is now an elite institution training researchers, university professors, and civil servants. It focuses on training through research, with an emphasis on freedom of curriculum.
Its alumni include eight laureates of the Fields Medal, which is the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for the mathematical sciences, as well as Nobel Prize winners in both science and literature.
Apart from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, three other écoles normales supérieures have been established, with similar goals:
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (sciences),
- École Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines (humanities),
- École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (applied sciences, foreign languages, technical studies).
