In 2010, the French government announced plans to establish a €5 billion ($5.5 billion) infrastructure in Saclay of 18 universities, public and private research labs, and higher education institutes, with the hopes that the science “super campus” would serve as an “integrated research university” that would rival the world’s top science institutes. However, as of February, French reports indicate that the plans are at a dead end due to certain higher education institutions demanding to maintain autonomy instead of integrating with other institutions in the campus.

The original proposal stated that all universities and institutions would give up their identities and be known under the umbrella term of the University of Paris-Saclay. While negotiations were initially proceeding smoothly, CentraleSupélec, a leading engineering institution, unexpectedly turned down the proposal due to the institution preferring to remain autonomous and not merge its identity into the University of Paris-Saclay. The other engineering institutes may follow suit, as they are not disclosing whether they are willing to integrate as part of the super campus yet. The University of Paris-Sud, which accounts for 50% of all research in Saclay, may serve as the only member of the project, especially considering that the institute has received €33 million ($37 million) annually over the past five years in research grants through the IDEX initiative for top research institutes in France. However, the future of funding for Paris-Sud is as uncertain as the establishment of the super campus, as the institute has until December to prove that it deserves continued funding.
Source: Nature