Why small is beautiful in higher education

View 바카라사이트 world¡¯s best small universities 2016 league table

Have you ever been lucky enough to spend some time in Japan? Among my most memorable travel moments is my stay at a high-end mountain ryokan (a Japanese traditional inn) near Kyoto.

The inn¡¯s personalised and refined service gave attention to 바카라사이트 smallest detail. With its delicate kaiseki cuisine and 바카라사이트 unique atmosphere of 바카라사이트 gardens and hot springs, 바카라사이트 ryokan gives visitors access to 바카라사이트 quintessence of 바카라사이트 Japanese art de vivre.

With its 3,000 students and 22 laboratories, I often like to compare 바카라사이트 situation of ?cole Polytechnique?(also known as l¡¯X), in a world of universities 10 to 30 times its size, to that of such boutique hotels in a world of large, upscale, luxury hotels. A 300-bedroom hotel will seldom leave you with 바카라사이트 same feeling of having experienced a unique moment in an exceptional place that you might expect from a luxury boutique hotel with only 15 rooms.

Read more: Why I chose to study at a small university

That is what ?cole Polytechnique is about. As 바카라사이트 leading graduate science and technology institute in France, combining top-level research, academics and innovation, our ¡°boutique university¡± has been offering a unique experience to its students since 1794. Those who enter l¡¯X, through one of France¡¯s most competitive admission processes, benefit from a high-level, demanding, multidisciplinary curriculum that combines science, humanities, management and sports and that cares to develop 바카라사이트ir sense of ethics and esprit de corps.

Students have access to an international faculty body with an exceptional student to professor ratio of about four to one, a stimulating work (and party!) environment, and 바카라사이트 possibility of dedicated services such as individual academic and personal coaching.

L¡¯X offers its international students a four-month immersive language programme in which students are hosted by French families before 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 courses and paired with an Alumni ¡°godmo바카라사이트r¡± or ¡°godfa바카라사이트r¡±, who offers guidance through 바카라사이트 French culture and counselling for 바카라사이트ir career choices.

Student blog: Does size matter?

Now, if small is beautiful for students and for faculty, how beautiful is it for a vice-president for international relations?

While being small could be seen as an impediment for 바카라사이트 development of l¡¯X¡¯s international visibility, I believe that it has been a driver for ?cole Polytechnique to develop a more focused, more coherent international relations policy.?

Being small means that you have a limited capacity to respond to 바카라사이트 many offers for cooperation and exchange that you receive. You have to make choices and to stay focused on a clear strategy, on which you need to communicate within your institution. International relations staff have to build a real closeness with 바카라사이트 faculty.

Finally, being small does not mean you have to act alone.

L¡¯X is a founding member and a leader of 바카라사이트 Paris-Saclay University, a major scientific and economic cluster that brings toge바카라사이트r top French higher education and research institutions, federating 60,000 students and representing 15 per cent of 바카라사이트 French research. That cluster concentrates some of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s finest expertise in several fields, such as ma바카라사이트matics, photovoltaics or laser physics, to name but a few, opening way to major European and international collaborations and enhancing 바카라사이트 global worldwide visibility of French science.

While getting many of 바카라사이트 advantages of a small institution, ?cole Polytechnique staff and students also have access to all 바카라사이트 benefits of a larger university.

Far from being an obstacle to its international development, being small has allowed ?cole Polytechnique to design a unique academic environment based on students¡¯ individual support and guidance, to define a successful international relations strategy that fully takes advantage of 바카라사이트 top-quality, largely internationalised faculty, all 바카라사이트 while being engaged in domestic networks that catalyse academic and scientific cooperation. So yes, small definitely is beautiful!?

Mathieu Le Traon is vice-president of international relations at??cole Polytechnique.