It is located on the Beaulieu campus in the east of Rennes, it is a part of the INSA group, which trains nearly 12% of all French engineers each year. Founded in 1966 to train highly qualified engineers, support continuing education, and conduct research and testing, it is the biggest engineering school in the region of Brittany. The five-year curriculum aims at training engineers who possess humane qualities and are well versed in the primary areas of science and engineering. The school accommodates 1,400 students in engineering.
The 5-year education is divided into two parts:
the first cycle, a highly selective part of the studies which aims at giving the basis for future engineering studies that takes 2 years
the second cycle, where the students have 7 specialties to choose from and will study their choice of specialty for 3 more years
First cycle
The five year academic curriculum starts with a foundation course (preparatory cycle) where students focus on fundamental sciences (maths, physics, chemistry, mechanics and computer sciences) and then progressively concentrate on specialized areas in science and technology. This generalist preparatory cycle ensures that all INSA engineers acquire a solid background in terms of skills and competence, thus allowing them to reorient their career independently of their initial specialization. The first cycle is the highly selective part of the studies. During the first year the examinations are very hard to test if students are able to continue with their engineering studies.
Some special sections are available :
Filière Internationale (International branch):[1] only for the first cycle, the international branch consists of approximately 100 students, made up with around half of them French students and other half coming from non-French speaking country, mainly Turkey, China, and Vietnam.
Filière INSA - Sciences Po Rennes:[2] partnership with Rennes Institute of Political Studies (also known as Sciences Po Rennes), aiming to train high-level executives capable of working in both engineering and governance.
Filière Arts - Études (Art-with-studies branch):[3] provides 4 sub-branches of studies: music, plastic arts, theatre, and lighting.
Filière Excellence Sportive (Sporting excellence branch):[4] combines engineering training with high-level sport, aimed for student who are high-level athletes registered on the lists of the Ministry of Sports and national-level athletes.
Second cycle
The second cycle offers 7 different engineering specialties:[5]
Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering and Automatism
Civil Engineering
Electronics and Computer Engineering
Materials Science & Engineering
Communication Systems & Networks
Mathematical Engineering
Student life
The school is located on the Beaulieu campus, served by multiple bus routes and the metro line B.