Nancy is a city with a strong university tradition. The University of Lorraine was founded in 1572 by the Dukes of Lorraine. It gained year after year a longstanding renown in Science, Law, Humanities and Medecine. Its current student population is 55,000, the majority being in Nancy. This is almost one student for seven inhabitants. Some 6,000 international students study on various campus in Nancy.
The University of Lorraine (French: Université de Lorraine), often abbreviated in UL, is a grand établissement created on 1 January 2012 by the merger of Henri Poincaré, Nancy 2 and Paul Verlaine Universities, and the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (INPL). The merger process started in 2009 with the creation of a "pôles de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur" or PRES.
The university is divided into two university centers, one in Nancy (biological sciences, health care, administration, and management) and one in Metz (material sciences, technology, and management). The University of Lorraine has over 52,000 students and offers 101 accredited research centers organized in 9 research areas and 8 doctoral colleges.
