IMT Atlantique

IMT Atlantique Bretagne Pays de la Loire (also known as École Nationale Supérieure Mines-Télécom Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire or École des Mines Télécom Atlantique) is a technological university (French grande école), which was created on January 1, 2017 through the merger of the École nationale supérieure des mines de Nantes and Télécom Bretagne. The engineering school is part of the Grandes Écoles, a prestigious group of French institutions dedicated to engineering, scientific research, and business education. It consists of three campuses: Brest, Nantes, Rennes. IMT Atlantique is a school of the Institut Mines-Télécom and a member of the Université Bretagne Loire.

IMT Atlantique offers a unique generalist engineering diploma. Students from Grandes Écoles preparatory classes may apply through the Concours Commun Mines-Ponts competitive entry exam.

IMT Atlantique is one of the applied schools of the École Polytechnique.

Despite its small size (less than 2000 students), the university is consistently ranked high in both domestic and international rankings.

History
The École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Bretagne (Télécom Bretagne), which is best known for the invention of the turbo code and the iterative decoding concept, was established in 1977 and the École Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Industrielles et des Mines de Nantes was established in 1991. In 2009 it came under the administrative supervision of the General Council for the Economy, Industry, Energy and Technologies.

In 2012 the Institut Mines-Télécom was created, merging the Mines Nantes and Télécom Bretagne schools was envisaged from 2014. The merger was agreed upon by both schools on March 24, 2015

The new entity came into existence on January 1, 2017.

On February 2, 2017, the directors of IMT Atlantique and the ENSTA Bretagne signed a partnership agreement between the two institutions in the presence of the Minister of Defense, Jean-Yves Le Drian. The agreement provided for the implementation, in the short and medium term, of collaborative activities in training, research, innovation and internationalization, and the creation of an engineering hub6, 7.

Director

 * January 2017 - April 2022: Paul Friedel
 * From May 2022 : Christophe Lerouge

Chairman

 * From January 1, 2017: Guillaume Texier, Chief Executive Officer of Rexel11

Generalist engineer
IMT Atlantique offers a unique generalist engineering training program mainly drawing on students who have sat the Concours Commun Mines-Ponts competitive entry exam.

Apprentice engineer
It also offers three apprentice engineer training programs in partnership with the regional authorities of Brittany and the Pays de la Loire region :
 * digital transformation of industrial systems,
 * software engineering,
 * computer science, networks and telecommunications

Masters

 * Master of science
 * Information Technology
 * track Communication system and network engineering
 * track Datascience
 * track Architecture and engineering for the internet of things
 * Management of production, logistics and procurement
 * track Management and optimization of supply chains and transport
 * Process and bioprocess engineering
 * track Project management for environmental and energy engineering
 * Nuclear Engineering
 * track Advanced Nuclear Waste Management
 * track Nuclear Energy Production and Industrial Applications
 * track Medical applications
 * Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree
 * Management and Engineering of Environment and Energy
 * Safe and Reliable Nuclear Applications
 * Masters
 * Innovation management
 * Electronic, electrical energy, automatic
 * Complex systems engineering
 * Fundamental physics
 * Information technology
 * Actuariat
 * Process and bioprocess engineering
 * Computer science

Post-masters degrees

 * Cybersecurity
 * Cybersecurity of maritime and port systems
 * Cloud infrastructure and Devops
 * IT applied to banking and actuarial decision-making
 * Renewable Marine Energies

Doctoral programme
IMT Atlantique covers 30 doctoral specialities within the five doctoral schools in the Brittany and Pays de la Loire regions with which it is co-accredited.

Academic ranking
On a national level, right from its first year of existence the school was placed in the A+ group of L'Etudiant's ranking list, thereby entering the French Top 10. The school has risen to 4th in 2024.

Internationally, IMT Atlantique is ranked between 350-400 by THE (Times Higher Education) Ranking in the World, with Engineering ranked [126-150]. By subjects, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at IMT Atlantique are ranked 98 and [151-200] respectively by the 2023 QS Ranking.

Lastly, the school integrated the top 5% of the Webometrics ranking list, which evaluates an institution's influence through its presence on the Web (visibility, scientific publications, etc.). This ranking measures international renown and IMT-Atlantique is doing particularly well in this area. The school currently occupies 1,351st place in the world, out of 27,000 institutions.

IMT Atlantique also participates in U-Multirank, the worldwide ranking list of higher learning institutions established by the European Union, which evaluates each institution in five areas: teaching and learning, research, international orientation, knowledge transfer and regional engagement. In 2017, this ranking included 1497 institutions in 99 nations. IMT Atlantique was distinguished in the knowledge transfer category and holds second place in France.

Departments of teaching and research
Research is organized into thirteen departments of teaching and research


 * Automation, Computer-Integrated Manufacturing and IT (Nantes)
 * Information Technology (Brest)
 * Image and Data Processing (Brest)
 * Languages and International Culture (Brest)
 * The Logic of Practices, Social and Information Sciences (Brest)
 * Mathematical and Electrical Engineering (Brest)
 * Microwaves (Brest; Toulouse)
 * Optics (Brest)
 * Subatomic Physics and Related Technologies (Nantes)
 * Social Science and Management (Nantes)
 * Energy and Environmental Systems (Nantes)
 * Network Systems, Cyber Security and Digital Law (Rennes)

Research Units
The school is also linked to different joint research units:
 * GEPEA - Process Engineering for Environment and Food (with the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research), ONIRIS (National College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering) and the University of Nantes)
 * IRISA - Research Institute of Computer Science and Random Systems (with the CNRS, the École Normale Supérieure de Rennes, the INRIA (French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation), the INSA of Rennes (French National Institute of Applied Sciences), the University of South Brittany, the University of Rennes-I and the École Supérieure d'Electricité (CentraleSupélec))
 * Lab-STICC - (Research laboratory in the field of information and communication science and technology) with the CNRS, the University of West Brittany and the University of South Brittany, the ENSTA (graduate and post-graduate engineering school and research institute) of Brittany and the ENIB (graduate school of engineering) of Brest
 * LaTIM - Laboratory of Medical Information Processing, with the INSERM (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) and the University of West Brittany associated with the CHRU (regional university hospital) of Brest
 * LS2N - Laboratory of Digital Science, Nantes, with the CNRS, the University of Nantes, the École Centrale de Nantes and INRIA
 * Subatech - Laboratory of subatomic physics and associated technologies, with the IN2P3 of the CNRS and the University of Nantes

Chairs
IMT Atlantique is a certified Institut Carnot for the quality of its collaborative research and is developing a policy of long-term partnerships with businesses through the creation of innovative research facilities.

The school is a member of seven industrial chairs:
 * Cybernavale (Cyber defence of naval systems) with the École Navale, Naval Group (formerly DCNS) and Thales
 * Cyber CNI (Cyber security of critical infrastructures) with Orange, Nokia, BNP Paribas, La Poste, EDF, Airbus Defense, Amossys and the Société Générale
 * Pracom (advanced communications research hub) involving twelve businesses
 * C2M (Characterization, modeling and control of electromagnetic wave exposure) with Orange and Télécom ParisTech
 * STOCKAGE (Storage of radioactive waste) with EDF, the ANDRA and Areva
 * RESOH (Security at the level of inter-organizational relationships) with the IRSN, Areva and Naval Group
 * MERITE (teaching chair for the diffusion of scientific, technological and industrial culture), with Assystem

It is also a member of two academic chairs:
 * Medical imaging for interventional therapy with the Inserm
 * RITE (Risks and emerging technologies: from technological management to social regulation).

Lastly, it is also a member of 7 joint laboratories:
 * ADMIRE (Distributed deep learning for the classification of Multimodal, Uncertain and Rare data in ophthalmology), with the company Evolucare Technologies.
 * ATOL (Aeronautics Technico-Operational Laboratory): Started in 2005, it is a joint laboratory dedicated mainly to Man-Machine Interface prototyping with, as partners, the École Navale, Thalès Systèmes Aéroportés and Thales Underwater Systems.
 * CRC-Lab with the company 4S Network and its subsidiary CRC Services, aims to optimize freight transport in the presence of hazards.
 * LATERAL (Labsticc Thales research alliance on Smart On-board Sensor) with Thales-active 3D antennas for new generations of RF autosteering based on new additive technologies.
 * SEPEMED (SEcurity & Processing of Externalized MEdical image Data), a joint laboratory with the MEDECOM Company
 * TESMARAC The SUBATECH laboratory and the company TRISKEM INTERNATIONAL have created this joint laboratory (LabCom) to develop new resins and new methods for separating radioisotopes, particularly in complex media.
 * Lab-CIS is a joint laboratory of IMT Atlantique and the global engineering group SEGULA Technologies.

Brest campus
The Brest campus, located in Plouzané on the sea coast, is part of the Brest-Iroise technology hub, on 59.65 acres, near other higher learning institutions (ENIB and ESIAB). It consists of school buildings, sports facilities (gymnasiums, stadiums, tennis courts, a weight lifting room and a dance studio), restaurant, student residence, enough housing for all students (twelve buildings), an incubator and an astronomical observatory.

Nantes campus
The 13.15 hectare campus is situated on the Erdre riverbank in the Atlanpole technology hub, on the Chantrerie campus near other higher learning institutions (Oniris, École supérieure du bois, Polytech Nantes, École de design Nantes Atlantique). It consists of school buildings, sports facilities (gymnasiums, stadiums, tennis courts, and a weight lifting room), restaurant, student residence, enough housing for all students (six buildings), and an academic incubator. The school also has student accommodation in the town center.

Rennes campus
The Rennes campus is located in Cesson-Sévigné within Rennes Atalante near the research and development centers of major companies (Orange, Technicolor) and innovative SME/SMIs in fields such as image, networks, connected objects and cyber security (Acklio, Broadpeak, Enensys, NexGuard, Kerlink) along with the technological research institute, b<>com. Third year options include "Networks", "International Business" and "Business and Banking Finance". In 2020, Line B of the Rennes metro should link the campus to the Rennes' town center, from the Atalante station. It consists of school buildings, a student residence, student housing and an incubator.

Related articles

 * Télécom Bretagne
 * École nationale supérieure des mines de Nantes
 * Institut Mines-Télécom