Experience Report Ecole Polytechnique WT 2006/2007 Master s Thesis. Ulrich Herberg (Computer Science) September 2006 April 2007

Transcription

1 Experience Report Ecole Polytechnique WT 2006/2007 Master s Thesis Ulrich Herberg (Computer Science) September 2006 April

2 1 Introduction 1.1 Paris Source: Wikipedia Paris is the capital city of France. It is situated on the River Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Ile-de-France region ( Région parisienne ). Paris has an estimated population of 2,153,600 within city limit (2005 est.). The Paris urban area has a population of 9.93 million and a commuter belt around the same completes the Paris aire urbaine (roughly: metropolitan area ) that, with its population of 12 million, is one of the most populated areas of its kind in Europe. Paris location at a crossroads between land and river trade routes in lands of abundant agriculture had made it one of France s principal cities by the 10th century, rich with royal palaces, wealthy abbeys and a cathedral; by the 12th century Paris had become one of Europe s foremost centres of learning and the arts. Today, Paris is a major influence in politics, fashion, business, arts and science. The city serves as an important hub of intercontinental transportation and is home to universities, sport events, opera companies and museums of international renown, making it an attraction for over 30 million foreign visitors per year. The Paris region (Ile-de-France) is France s foremost centre of economic activity. With EUR billion (US$595.3 billion), it produced more than a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP) of France in With La Défense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe, it hosts the head offices of almost half of the major French companies, as well as the headquarters of ten of the world s 100 largest companies. Paris also hosts many international organizations such as UNESCO, the OECD, the ICC, or the informal Paris Club. 1.2 Ecole Polytechnique General The Ecole Polytechnique is one of the prestigious Grandes Ecoles among them, Polytechnique is the most renowned institution. Founded by Napoleon, it is run under the supervision of the ministry of defense and the students have a status and salary of a soldier. To enter Polytechnique, students have to attend the so-called preparatory classes for two years after their highschool degree ( Baccaleaureat ). These classes are very challenging and at the end of these two years, students may write exams to enter a Grande Ecole. Most of the ecoles have their own exams, the exam of Polytechnique is considered to be the most difficult one. After the admission to the Ecole Polytechnique (also just called X ), students have a 10 month military service or alternatively a civil service. In their second year, students may choose six out of eight subjects (math, physics, chemistry, computer science,...). So students do have a very broad education. The third year consists of three trimesters, of which the 2

3 first two can be chosen among several subjects (e.g. first trimester computer science, second semester physics). The third trimester is reserved for a student project. In the final fourth year, students have to leave the campus and may study at either a french university or in a foreign country. After having acquired their diploma, the Polytechniciens often go into management in industry or to a ministry. 30% of all CEOs in France have a diploma from Ecole Polytechnique. The campus is far outside Paris, it takes around 45 minutes from the center of Paris to the campus. However, there are enough student dorms for all students, and foreigners have priority. The campus itself is huge and very pretty with many sport facilities (golf course, horses, soocer, climbing / fitness and so on). More information about the school itself including pictures can be found in [?] Master Thesis I have written my master s thesis in computer science 1 at Ecole Polytechnique in the Hipercom team under supervision of Professor Thomas Clausen. Officially, the thesis was supervised by Professor Feldmann at the TUM. Contrary to what I have experienced at TUM, the supervision at Ecole Polytechnique was very good. Every two weeks I had a meeting with my professor where we discussed about the ongoing research. He also corrected the chapters I have written in the meantime. This is certainly an advantage of the small size of the school. The whole LIX (computer science department) is only one floor. Concerning topics for an internship or a master s thesis, most research groups work in theoretical computer science. There are, however, some more applicational teams like the Hipercom team (research in mobile ad-hoc networks) Classes As I have not attended any classes at X, I cannot tell much about that. However, I know that Erasmus students may choose among the courses depending on their semester in Germany. More information can be found on the official website (English version: Dorms As Paris is one of the most expensive towns (rents are roughly twice as high as in Munich), I decided not to rent an appartment in Paris but to live in a dorm on the campus. This is also advantageous to avoid a long travel every morning. However, visiting Paris takes around 45 minutes. On the campus there are two types of dorms: the old ones and the new ones. As an Erasmus student, one can easily apply for a room in the old dorms. The new ones are reserved for the Polytechniciens. The rooms are very small (7m 2 ) and often not in a very 1 3

4 good shape. However, they are relatively clean and very cheap (122 EUR per month). Rest rooms and a kitchen are situated in the hallway. The rooms are equipped with blankets, basin, bedcover, desk, lockers, VoIP telephone and a broadband network access. Network cables are not available! One can activate the telephone line for external calls at the bureau de logement. The rates are very cheap as they introduced VoIP in the dorms recently. Television is streamed over the network, so no DVB-T card or antenna is necessary. A relatively cheap laundry is available for students. If one wants to apply for a room, just express the wish in the application (refer to section 2). The school offers a big library, a computer lab, a cafeteria, restaurant, post office, hairdresser, and three different banks (BNP, Société Générale, LCL). 1.3 Living costs Generally, you have to calculate costs of around 600 Euros. 122 Euro rental fee ca Euro for food 86 Euro for the public transport system (monthly Carte Orange for zones 1-4 if one wants to travel to Paris regularly if not, a single trip to Paris costs around 5 Euros).? Euro leasure activities, going out in Paris, travels, concerts,...? Euro miscellaneous 2 Application The application process depends on whether you want to apply for the Erasmus grant. As I have already been on Erasmus and I only wanted to do an internship, I applied directly at Ecole Polytechnique and not at the TUM. In this case, simply write a mail with the field of interest for the internship to Céline Rault (celine.rault@polytechnique.fr). If you want to pursue a classical Erasmus semester with lectures, you should contact you local Erasmus representative (Angelika Reiser at TUM computer science). I have then been contacted by a professor who wanted to have a CV and some references. 3 Language requirements Officialy, no language tests are required for applying. However, all courses are given in French. If one wants to profit from the stay, one should have a minimum level of French (e.g. 3 years of French at the Gymnasium). But don t be scared: One learns very fast and the lectures are generally easy to follow as the professors speak slowly and the lecture notes 4

5 / slides assist in understanding the contents. For all administrative purposes you may try to speak in English, but in general the level of English is much lower than in Germany. 3.1 Necessary documents Valid (!!) identity card or passport Health insurance: If you have a compulsory health insurance ( gesetzliche Krankenversicherung ), you need a replacement for the form E128 which does not exists any more since june If you have a private health insurance, a certificate of the insurance is sufficient (if possible in French, at least in English) Liability insurance (Haftpflichtversicherung assurance civile): Certification in French or English Photos: 3-4 University certifications may be necessary Never give anyone the original documents! Copies are sufficient. 4 My Résumé I very much enjoyed my stay in Paris! It was a great time where I have learned a lot. Paris is not the worst city to live in the world ;-) The organization at Ecole Polytechnique was very professional. My professor at Ecole Polytechnique asked me to stay for a PhD thesis which I will pursue from October 2007 on. If you need any more information about studying in France in general or at Ecole Polytechnique in particular, please feel free to contact me: ulrich.herberg@cdtm.de 5