The Pres héSam research and higher education cluster comprises 12 higher education establishments. Officially set up on 31 December 2010, it encompasses 55,000 students, 130,000 lifelong learning auditors, 2,400 engineering degrees awarded annually (number two in France), 4,300 researchers and academics, 6,500 doctoral students and 139 research units.
héSam occupies a unique position at the crossroads between knowledge and action, between research and its applications, and its mission is to promote the management of complexity in support of innovation. It also aims to create synergies between the complementary strengths of French universities and grandes écoles, between selective programmes and lifelong learning, and to ally administrative and management cultures with the creative energy of workshops and the innovate thrust of research units.
Last, héSam aims to be a giant laboratory, fostering the emergence of a new pact between knowledge and innovation to serve social development.