Grandes Écoles scientifiques

English translation: Grandes Ecoles Scientifiques

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Grandes Ecoles Scientifiques
English translation:Grandes Ecoles Scientifiques
Entered by: Abu Amaal (X)

19:22 Nov 9, 2001
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
French term or phrase: Grandes Écoles scientifiques
Le concours porte sur le programme des classes préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles scientifiques
Bharg Shah
India
Local time: 06:47
Grandes Ecoles Scientifiques
Explanation:
It's an administrative term. The meaning is: leading scientific universties, but this is a category, not merely a description.

This includes the Polytechnique, the ENS (Ecole Normale Supérieure, now in the plural as it is not only at Paris), Ecoles du groupe Mines-Ponts, Ecole du groupe Centrale, and possibly others. It used to be more limited.

Since Napoleon there has tended to be a strong engineering orientation, but also all the important pure science and mathematics tended to take place there originally. Though they offer extensive engineering programs, there is a distinct category of Engineering Schools.

Mines et Ponts used to be very much what I would call an engineering school, but I'm not sure what they're up to at present.

Extract from the Polytechnique's account of itself:

Today, graduates of the École Polytechnique follow careers in just
about every field of endeavor. POLYTECHNICIENS are especially
prominent as researchers, academics, heads of national
administrations and institutions, and corporate executives in France
and abroad.
They play a particularly important role in the French economy,
occupying top executive positions in the industrial and service sectors
(Airbus Industrie, Alcatel, Arianespace, Axa, Banque Nationale de
Paris (BNP), Dassault Aviation, Electricité de France (EDF), Elf,
Lafarge, Paribas, Peugeot, Renault, Rhône-Poulenc, Saint-Gobain,
Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer français (SNCF), Thomson,
Total and others).
Of the fifty most important and best-performing corporate enterprises
in France, nearly half are headed by a polytechnicien

Most importantly, this is where the Science-oriented part of the ESTABLISHMENT is nurtured. (Then there's the ENA ...)
Selected response from:

Abu Amaal (X)
Grading comment
Yes I too was thinking of leaving it in French - thanks for your help and detailed explanation.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5Grandes Ecoles Scientifiques
Abu Amaal (X)
4 +1Engineering schools
Kateabc
5 -1Important scientific schools
Robert INGLEDEW
4science graduate schools
Archipelago (X)


  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Important scientific schools


Explanation:
I am not a French translator (I translate Spanish and Portuguese) but I understand written French.
Important (or great) scientific schools. That's it.

Robert INGLEDEW
Argentina
Local time: 22:17
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  FrAngXL: Grandes Ecoles has a very specific meaning in France
11 hrs
  -> Thank you. I was not aware of this.
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14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
science graduate schools


Explanation:
A stab in the dark. However, it is possible that this term has no exact equivalent in anglosaxon countries, the French educational system being organized very differently. Another stab in the dark (but an expression in use in Australia): Centres of Excellence (for scientific research).

Archipelago (X)
Local time: 11:47
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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45 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Engineering schools


Explanation:
I came across this quite a few times while looking for the degree programs you are attempting to translate. I will list a couple of bilingual sites where "engineering schools" is given as the translation of "Grandes Écoles scientifiques".
Good luck!


    Reference: http://www.bde.espci.fr/homepages/Anterieures/Jacques-Antoin...
    Reference: http://www.cefi.org/OVERVIEW/ENGLISH/SCHEMAS.HTM
Kateabc
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 54

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Henri (X)
9 hrs
  -> Merci Henri!
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
Grandes Ecoles Scientifiques


Explanation:
It's an administrative term. The meaning is: leading scientific universties, but this is a category, not merely a description.

This includes the Polytechnique, the ENS (Ecole Normale Supérieure, now in the plural as it is not only at Paris), Ecoles du groupe Mines-Ponts, Ecole du groupe Centrale, and possibly others. It used to be more limited.

Since Napoleon there has tended to be a strong engineering orientation, but also all the important pure science and mathematics tended to take place there originally. Though they offer extensive engineering programs, there is a distinct category of Engineering Schools.

Mines et Ponts used to be very much what I would call an engineering school, but I'm not sure what they're up to at present.

Extract from the Polytechnique's account of itself:

Today, graduates of the École Polytechnique follow careers in just
about every field of endeavor. POLYTECHNICIENS are especially
prominent as researchers, academics, heads of national
administrations and institutions, and corporate executives in France
and abroad.
They play a particularly important role in the French economy,
occupying top executive positions in the industrial and service sectors
(Airbus Industrie, Alcatel, Arianespace, Axa, Banque Nationale de
Paris (BNP), Dassault Aviation, Electricité de France (EDF), Elf,
Lafarge, Paribas, Peugeot, Renault, Rhône-Poulenc, Saint-Gobain,
Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer français (SNCF), Thomson,
Total and others).
Of the fifty most important and best-performing corporate enterprises
in France, nearly half are headed by a polytechnicien

Most importantly, this is where the Science-oriented part of the ESTABLISHMENT is nurtured. (Then there's the ENA ...)



    Reference: http://www.polytechnique.fr/VA/about/instit.html
Abu Amaal (X)
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 51
Grading comment
Yes I too was thinking of leaving it in French - thanks for your help and detailed explanation.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Fernando Muela Sopeña
54 mins

agree  Madeleine van Zanten
1 hr

agree  Henri (X)
7 hrs

agree  FrAngXL: yes:Grandes Ecoles has a very specific meaning in France. Admission is competitive (extremely!)
9 hrs

agree  sandrinezm
19 hrs
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