Université Paris-XIII / UP13 / Sorbonne Paris Nord

• Name: Sorbonne Paris Nord, Paris 13 University, Université Paris-XIII, UP13,
• Location: Villetaneuse, Bobigny, Saint-Denis, La Plaine Saint-Denis, Argenteuil; north of Paris, France,
• Institution type: public higher education institution in France,
• Activities: active research and education since 1970,
• Number of students: 27,000 as of March 2025,
• Language of instruction: French on Licence mention Droit and the P2S master's program,
• Programs: Licence, professional Licence, BUT, Master, DU, DIU.

• Location: Villetaneuse, Bobigny, Saint-Denis, La Plaine Saint-Denis and Argenteuil, north of Paris, France,
• Institution type: public higher education institution in France,
• Research and education: active since 1970,
• Doctoral students: 506 as of March 1, 2025.

The university is listed in the top 60 French universities.

Classes on Licence mention Droit, an undergraduate law program, are conducted in French. French is also the language of instruction on the P2S master's program.

Sorbonne Paris Nord also offers continuing education through FTLV, helping people return to education and develop professionally. Participants include employed, unemployed and self-employed professionals. Support is available across different ages and educational backgrounds. The provision extends to people other than those continuing directly from high school.

Class arrangements vary by program. When registering for classes, students choose their practical class times and electives. Licence mention Droit requires 180 ECTS credits. Students develop legal reasoning skills and learn to write legal essays, comment on texts and analyze practical cases. They also study a foreign language and legal terminology. The program provides preparation for finding internships and writing résumés, research reports and cover letters. Students may take an academic break or change their area of education with approval.

The P2S master's program requires 120 ECTS credits. The first two semesters provide a common foundation in computer science before students specialize. Classes are conducted in person, with substantial practical computer work in computing disciplines. Teaching methods encourage active student participation. Thematic blocks allow students to plan an individual sequence of modules and progress at their own pace. The ENT digital environment and Moodle support communication. Specialized courses are conducted by LIPN researchers and invited professionals. The fourth semester is devoted mainly to a final internship in engineering or research, and knowledge is assessed continuously throughout the program.

Espace Langues courses are organized by semester. Students can earn ECTS credits when their main program allows this. Otherwise, regular attendance may be recorded in the diploma supplement. Tutoring is available to students in selected departments, including Institut Galilée, IUT de Villetaneuse, Licence information-communication and DU Passerelle. Tutoring for students seeking internships is also available at UFR Lettres, Langues, Sciences Humaines et des Sociétés. Some sports activities are assessed and count toward the academic program. External Espace Langues participants do not receive a student card or an enrollment certificate, but can obtain confirmation of course registration. A dedicated unit supports students with disabilities, CROUS social workers advise on administrative matters, and psychological support is available through Nightline.

The VOIE service provides career guidance, support for changing academic direction and preparation for employment. Students have access to individual consultations, résumé and cover letter workshops, interview preparation, and meetings with professionals and recruiters. A separate module focuses on writing résumés and cover letters in English. Through Réseau Pro, students connect with companies and graduates and look for internships, part-time jobs, employment and programs combining education with work at a company.

The university has five teaching and research departments (UFR), three university institutes of technology (IUT) and one institute. It also has two doctoral schools.

• UFR DSPS: law, political and social sciences,
• UFR LLSHS,
• UFR Sc. Info. Com,
• UFR SEG, with a site in Argenteuil,
• UFR SMBH: health, medicine and human biology in Bobigny,
• Three IUT institutes: IUT de Villetaneuse, IUT de Bobigny and IUT de Saint-Denis,
• Institut Galilée.

Licence programs are available in the following areas:

• Law,
• Economics and management,
• Political science,
• Mathematics,
• Computer science,
• Engineering sciences,
• Life and health sciences,
• Health and social sciences,
• Literature,
• Foreign languages.

Dual programs are available in economics and law, economics and geography, and computer science and mathematics.

BUT technology programs provide education in the following areas:

• Organizational and human resources management,
• Legal careers,
• Commerce,
• Biology,
• Electrical engineering and industrial computing,
• Industrial maintenance,
• Mechanical engineering,
• Computer science,
• Physical measurements.

All three IUT institutes have a business and administration management department (GEA).

Master's programs are available in:

• Law,
• Economics,
• Finance,
• Political science,
• Communication,
• Digital creation,
• Cultural industries,
• Publishing,
• Computer science,
• Mathematics,
• Physics,
• Materials science,
• Biology,
• Healthcare,
• History,
• Geography,
• Psychology,
• Education,
• Linguistics.

Licence mention Droit has a duration of three years and leads to BAC +3 level. The program provides the following disciplines:

• Civil law,
• Constitutional law,
• Administrative law,
• Commercial law,
• Social law,
• Criminal law,
• Legal history,
• European Union law.

The P2S master's program at Institut Galilée has a duration of two years and leads to BAC +5 level. It offers education in software development, cybersecurity, reliability, program specification and proofs.

The EUR PNGS – M&CS research school is designed as an international program with a duration of five years. It builds on master's programs in mathematics, computer science, and engineering and innovation in imaging and networks.

Additional Licence options are available in business and public administration through AES. Applied foreign languages combines English and Spanish, while LLCER programs are available in English and Spanish. STAPS Licence options are:

• Adapted physical activity and health,
• Education and motor skills,
• Sports training.

Professional Licence programs are available in:

• Public procurement,
• Insurance, banking and finance,
• Commercial management in tourism and restaurant operations,
• Accounting and payroll,
• Human resources management,
• Notarial practice,
• Dimensional metrology and quality in mechanical production,
• Systems and network administration and security,
• Internet of Things,
• Very high-speed networks,
• Video game level and game design,
• Crisis management and business continuity,
• Fire safety management,
• Occupational health and safety management.

Selected professional Licence and master's programs combine education with company employment through apprentissage. State diplomas in advanced nursing practice at Master level are available in emergency care, psychiatry and mental health, and chronic disease management and prevention. Other master's options are available in nutrition, public health, adapted physical activity, sports performance, environmental and biotechnological processes, and occupational quality, health and safety.

University diplomas (DU) and interuniversity diplomas (DIU) provide additional specialized education:

• Phytotherapy,
• International technological studies,
• Forensic and social medicine,
• Health mediation,
• Osteopathy and manual medicine,
• Gerontology,
• Health promotion,
• Psychosocial rehabilitation in adult psychiatry,
• Migrant health,
• Intensive and emergency nursing care,
• Polycystic ovary syndrome management,
• Violence and health,
• Obstetric and medical acupuncture,
• Arthroscopy and hand surgery,
• Biology and sports medicine,
• HIV and tuberculosis care in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
• Obstetric mechanics and techniques,
• Care of older people,
• Travel and tropical medicine,
• Multidisciplinary outpatient and hospital medicine,
• Health sciences education,
• Exercise pathophysiology and functional testing,
• HIV care in Burundi and the Great Lakes region,
• Coordination of complex healthcare,
• Emergency traumatology,
• Targeted cancer therapies,
• Cognitive behavioral therapy.

The university's EUR research school brings together LAGA, the mathematics laboratory, LIPN, the computer science laboratory, and L2TI, which focuses on visual information analysis and processing and networks. Together, they form the MathSTIC research federation, which supports interdisciplinary research.

A STAPS sports student in Bobigny and his brother won the Trophée étudiant Lacoste golf tournament. 40 teams from across France competed on the L’Aigle course at Golf National. The winners finished at −10, with four birdies and three eagles on holes 15, 16 and 17. The student also won the nearest-the-pin competition, finishing 0.63 meters from the flag.

Representatives of Sorbonne Paris Nord discussed potential collaboration in artificial intelligence with Bina Nusantara University, including student and faculty exchanges, joint research and participation in curriculum assessment.

• The university has 300,000 graduates,
• More than 2500 Sorbonne Paris Nord students have used the accommodation search service since 2020,
• The university transferred the right to use a plot of land to Crous at no charge for a student residence project.

The university helps students find accommodation but has no residences of its own and does not allocate rooms managed by public or private operators. An accommodation search service provides access to studios, shared rentals and rooms in private homes for stays of 1 to 24 months, near the campuses or in other French cities during internships. The service can act as a guarantor for the full duration of the lease.

CROUS de Créteil manages several student residences near the campuses. Through a partnership with Espacil, students receive priority at selected residences close to the campuses. University students also have priority at Condorset Alpha and Omega. Other options include Cité Internationale universitaire de Paris for master's and doctoral students at universities in Ile de France, MA1SON residences that select scholarship recipients based on motivation, and intergenerational accommodation for students ages 18–28 with older hosts. The latter arrangements may require students to be present in the evening and overnight, contribute to utility costs or provide small amounts of help to their host.

The university and Crous planned 300 residential units in the Îlot des Poiriers 2 student residence project in Saint-Denis.

External student residence options are available in several towns:

University restaurants and cafeterias provide meals. Les Vergers and L’allée verte are open from 11:30 to 14:00, Rapid’RU from 10:00 to 15:00, Forum express from 10:00 to 16:00, and Galilée from 08:15 to 16:30. Café Expo is open from 08:00 to 17:30, closing at 15:00 on Saturdays. The IUT de Saint-Denis cafeteria is open from 08:30 to 15:00. Corner-coffee is open from 08:00 to 19:00, and another self-service outlet is open from 10:00 to 17:00. A hot meal vending machine is also available.

Sports activities are available Monday through Saturday, with options for recreation and competition. Students and staff can take part in off-campus skiing, golf, diving, snowshoeing, hiking and Nordic walking. The university also runs the Golf indoor project for indoor golf.

The DAPS sports service offers first aid courses throughout the year. Cultural activities include live performances.

Through Budget Participatif Étudiant, the student participatory budget, students propose projects to improve shared spaces and everyday life on campus, then vote to select them.

• Sorbonne Paris Nord is a founding member of Campus Condorcet,
• The university is a founding member of Alliance Sorbonne Paris Cité,
• Sorbonne Paris Nord leads the UNINOVIS European university alliance project.

This is a fairly large-scale institution, with 27,000 students as of March 1, 2025. Its teaching staff comprised 1289 of the best teachers and teacher-researchers as of the same date. The university is constantly adding to the list of participants of international exchange programs.

University infrastructure

At the disposal of students and teachers a large library. The university is in the TOP group of elite associations of similar institutions.

As of March 1, 2025, the university had 32 laboratories and 840 administrative staff members. In 2024, LAGA, LIPN and L2TI together had more than 170 researchers and teacher-researchers. Open-access computer rooms are available to computer science master's students. VOIE provides computers for preparing résumés and cover letters and searching for educational programs, internships and jobs.

The Villetaneuse campus is served by tram T8 from Saint-Denis Porte de Paris to the Villetaneuse Université terminus. One option for reaching Bobigny is metro line 5 to Bobigny-Pablo Picasso, followed by tram T1 to Hôpital Avicenne. The Saint-Denis campus is about a 12-minute walk from the station of the same name. For travel from Paris to Argenteuil, rail line J runs from Saint-Lazare.

The Îlot des Poiriers 2 residence project provided for 1060 square meters of student spaces and a green area of more than 4500 square meters, with an outdoor cinema and more than 30 tall trees. Plans also provided for work, meeting and leisure spaces open to all Sorbonne Paris Nord students, and a 180-seat space for films, performances and cultural events. In the student participatory budget vote, the installation of campus microwave ovens ranked first. Other proposed projects were drinking fountains, menstrual product dispensers, table football, a garden shed with equipment at Villetaneuse and an information screen in the Villetaneuse forum. The proposed IUT de Saint-Denis student room was to have tables, chairs, computers, a sofa, a refrigerator and a microwave. Implementation was planned in order of popularity within the available budget.

Expenses include registration charges and, for eligible student categories, the CVEC contribution. The P2S master's program is subject to national Master registration charges and the current national CVEC rate.

CVEC applies to students in initial higher education programs, including those combining education and company employment under an apprentissage contract. Continuing education participants, including those on a contrat de professionnalisation, and students on foreign exchange programs in France are exempt from the CVEC procedure. A tuition exemption granted because of financial circumstances does not, by itself, waive CVEC.

Licence mention Droit is organized into six semesters. Espace Langues classes for the first semester of the 2026–2027 academic year began during the week of September 14, 2026.

Admission to the P2S master's program requires a review of the candidate's application and approval by the program committee.

Admission to the first year of the P2S master's program is competitive. Enrollment is limited to the program's capacity for the relevant academic year.

As of March 2025, the university was awarding 8000 diplomas a year.

Graduates of Licence mention Droit can continue their education in law master's programs at Sorbonne Paris Nord or other universities. They benefit from easier access to political science master's programs, and other master's options in the social sciences and humanities are also available. Legal expertise is relevant to careers in private and public organizations, business, commerce, administration, taxation and international affairs. Some legal and judicial professions are accessible after L3 through competitive examinations or direct recruitment.

Career options for P2S graduates include software development, DevOps, Java and Full Stack JS. Other areas include software and information systems architecture, multi-tier systems design and management of migration to free software. Research opportunities include programming logic, system specification and modeling support.

To join the ranks of students it is not necessary to be a resident of Paris or France. At the same time, all applicants must in advance to the selection committee to provide accurate data on the results of exams passed at the last place of training. Each academic year is traditionally divided into two parts - two semesters.

Citizens of countries outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland who hold the relevant foreign secondary school qualification need preliminary admission authorization, DAP, to enter the first year of a Licence program. The type of DAP depends on whether the applicant lives in France or abroad. A language test is required unless an exemption applies. Administrative registration requires confirmation that the CVEC contribution has been settled.

Entry to the first year of Licence mention Droit requires the French Baccalauréat. Entry to the second year requires completion of L1 Droit or Bac+1 level. Entry to the third year requires completion of L2 Droit or Bac+2 level.

Selection for the P2S master's program involves assessment of diplomas, certificates, transcripts and the content of previously completed disciplines. The application includes a résumé and a cover letter outlining a professional or research project. Documents in foreign languages other than English must be accompanied by a sworn translation into French.

Sorbonne Paris Nord students in initial education programs can access CROUS social assistance and university support when facing financial difficulties. One-time ASAP assistance is available to students under 35. The age limit does not apply to students with disabilities. Annual ASAA assistance is equivalent to a need-based scholarship. Both forms of support depend on a social worker's assessment of the student's circumstances. University FSDIE social assistance is awarded on the recommendation of social workers to students experiencing serious personal difficulties.

CROUS need-based scholarships take household income and family expenses into account. Applicants must be under 28 on September 1 of the academic year. Students from the EEA, Switzerland or Andorra must work or have worked in France, or have a parent earning income in France. Additional conditions apply to students from other countries: a residence permit, membership of a French tax household for at least two years and residence in France for the same period. This support is not automatically available to all foreign students. A provisional scholarship award notice provides automatic exemption from CVEC.

Tuition exemptions may be available in cases of financial hardship. Exemption from national registration charges is intended for students without a CROUS or French government scholarship and does not apply to continuing education participants or IEJ applicants. Partial exemption from differentiated charges takes social circumstances and financial resources into account. Eligibility criteria:

• Holding a DU Passerelle diploma from Sorbonne Paris Nord,
• Completing the baccalauréat in France,
• Participating in an international agreement with a partner university, including dual and joint degrees,
• Seeking political asylum or holding temporary protection status,
• Citizenship of a country on the UN list of least developed countries.

Registration charges for continuing education may be covered by a funding organization.

Support for international mobility partially offsets the cost of education or an internship abroad and depends on program eligibility and available funds. Erasmus+ has no income or citizenship restrictions. Funding is available for a total of up to 12 months at each Licence, Master or Doctorat level, and this period can be divided among several trips. Long-term mobility has a duration of 2 to 12 months, while short-term mobility lasts 5 to 30 days. The university funds only the first five days of a short-term trip. Travel cost assistance is also available. CROUS need-based scholarship recipients can receive ministry assistance for trips lasting one to ten consecutive months. Across the first and second higher education cycles, the total duration of this assistance is limited to ten months. It can be combined with Erasmus+ when eligibility conditions are met.

Foreign applicants at Master and Doctorat levels can apply for the Eiffel program. It supports the following areas:

• Biology and health,
• Ecological transition,
• Mathematics and digital technology,
• Engineering sciences,
• History,
• French language and civilization,
• Law and political science,
• Economics and management.

• Guardianship services during the studies
• Student supervision