Ecole normale superieure

The École normale supérieure, also known as ENS, Normale sup, Ulm or ENS Paris, is a grande école in Paris and a constituent member of Paris Sciences et Lettres University. It was founded in 1794 during the French Revolution to give high-school teachers in France a common training, later closed, was re-established under Napoleon I, was recreated in 1826, took the name École normale in 1830 and gained the word supérieure in 1845 when other écoles normales appeared. From 1936 it offered university-level education. Most of its academic staff also belong to outside bodies such as the Parisian universities, the CNRS and the EHESS. It is the only French grande école with research departments across the natural, social and human sciences.