Our research strategy

ENSTA's research, focused on applications in synergy with industrial needs, is structured around priority themes that correspond to the historical expertise of its Paris-Saclay and Brest campuses, as well as crucial challenges for the future: maritime, security and defense, sustainable energy, transport, and health. Digital technology accompanies and supports each of these areas.

The research conducted at ENSTA aims to produce scientific and technological knowledge at the highest international level, from fundamental sciences to their applications. It feeds into the first-rate training of its engineering students.

This research is carried out within six Training and Research Units, three of which are spread across the two campuses. These are the UFRs for Computer Science & System Engineering (S2I), Mechanical Science and Engineering, and Humanities, Economics, and Social Sciences (SHES), which are complemented by single-site UFRs: Physics, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Applied Mathematics.

These UFRs carry out ENSTA's research strategy while bringing together the historic research units of the two campuses, most of which are linked by multi-year agreements with major French research organizations, higher education institutions, and industrial partners.

ENSTA's research benefits from extensive and original experimental resources that enable the scientific results obtained in all disciplines to be validated. It is also part of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, which promotes the pooling of expertise and research infrastructure in order to break new ground in knowledge.

Our latest news

Institute | Training
IETA military engineering students training at ENSTA marched in the July 14 parade

About 40 IETA military students marched on July 14, 2026, on the Champs-Élysées on behalf of ENSTA and the DGA. For the past three weeks, they had been preparing together for this major event for the French armed forces, whose theme was “Europe’s...

IETA military engineering students training at ENSTA marched in the July 14 parade

About 40 IETA military students marched on July 14, 2026, on the Champs-Élysées on behalf of ENSTA and the DGA. For the past three weeks, they had been preparing together for this major event for the French armed forces, whose theme was “Europe’s...

Institute | Training | Student Life
Gaspard, a top-level windsurfer and engineering student

Having always been passionate about sailing and the maritime world, Gaspard Carfantan has built his professional and personal life around this passion. At 23, he divides his time between competitive sailing and his engineering studies at ENSTA.

Gaspard, a top-level windsurfer and engineering student

Having always been passionate about sailing and the maritime world, Gaspard Carfantan has built his professional and personal life around this passion. At 23, he divides his time between competitive sailing and his engineering studies at ENSTA.

Press release | Institute | Innovation | Research
Inauguration of the air-sea experimental basin, the only one of its kind in Europe

On June 24, 2026, ENSTA inaugurated a new air-sea experimental basin on its Brest campus: an exceptional facility for ocean research that combines a test basin with a drone flight enclosure. Its vast dimensions and permeability to satellite waves make it...

Inauguration of the air-sea experimental basin, the only one of its kind in Europe

On June 24, 2026, ENSTA inaugurated a new air-sea experimental basin on its Brest campus: an exceptional facility for ocean research that combines a test basin with a drone flight enclosure. Its vast dimensions and permeability to satellite waves make it...

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