In 1460, at the request of Duke Francis II of Brittany, a papal bull created a university in Nantes, and that foundation is the distant ancestor of today’s Université de Rennes. The law faculty moved to Rennes in the eighteenth century, the faculties were regrouped as the University of Rennes in 1896, and a law of 1969 divided the institution into the University of Rennes 1 and the University of Upper Brittany (Rennes 2).
The present Université de Rennes dates from 1 January 2023, when the University of Rennes 1 merged with five grandes écoles: EHESP, ENSC Rennes, ENS Rennes, INSA Rennes and Sciences Po Rennes. Rennes 2 and research organisations such as CNRS, INRAE, Inria and Inserm, along with the Rennes university hospital, were associated with the project.
Teaching takes place on several campuses in the Brittany capital, among them Beaulieu, and on sites in Lannion, Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo. The university and its constituent schools together enrol more than 30,000 students.
Domains taught:
Aerospace, AI and Machine Learning, Astroscience, Automation, Bioengineering, Bioinformatics, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Vision, Data Analytics, Ecology and Sustainability, Electrical and Electronics, Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, Food Science, Geotechnics, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Marine Science, Materials, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Microbiology and Genetics, Nanotechnologies, Optics, Physics, Process Control, Robotics, Signal Processing, Software Engineering, Statistics, Structural Engineering, Telecommunications, Thermodynamics
Diplomas*:
Bachelor, Doctor, Master
Status:
Public
Partnerships:
Part of EDUC European University Alliance, Udice. Strong collaborations with research institutes in Rennes (e.g., INRIA, CNRS).
Research:
Cybersecurity, Digital sciences & AI, New materials for energy and environment, Marine sciences, Health and life sciences.
Famous Alumnis:
Yves Chauvin (Rennes 1 legacy)
International recognition**:
Number of staff***:
4000
Current students***:
36000
Foreign students***:
10%
Cumulative former students***:
N/A
Pros
Leading research university in Western France, strong in digital technologies and materials science, dynamic student city.
Cons
Recent institutional restructuring, campus can be spread out.
Best For
Major research university in Brittany with strengths in ICT, materials, and environmental sciences.
Nantes Université: public university in Nantes, listing Materials Science, Marine and Coastal Sciences and Engineering.
Université de Lorraine: public and based in Nancy, with Materials Science and Engineering, Computer Science and Automation, and Chemical Engineering.
Université de Bordeaux: a public university in Talence offering Neurosciences and Health alongside Materials Science and Optics and Photonics.
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1: located in Villeurbanne, public, with Life and Health Sciences, Chemistry and Materials, and Computer Science.
Université de Lille: a public multi-component university whose Sciences and Technologies and Engineering via Polytech Lille echo Rennes' structure.
Most Similar Schools Abroad
Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany): public university with Materials Science and Engineering and IT Security and Computer Science.
Universiteit Antwerpen (Belgium): public university in Antwerp pairing Environmental Sciences with Materials Science.
University of Oulu (Finland): public university whose main specialties include Wireless Communications and Environmental Science.
University of Tsukuba (Japan): public university with Physics and Materials Science plus Computer Science and Information Engineering.
University of Limerick (Ireland): public university listing Materials Science, Aeronautical Engineering and Software Engineering.
*our own picks (our criteria: a mix between domains, diploma delivered, reputation and size), but obviously too many criteria for an apple-to-apple ranking.
FAQ
Why is 1460 mentioned in the history of the University of Rennes?
The first university of Brittany was founded in Nantes in 1460 through a papal bull, at the request of Duke Francis II. Its faculties moved and were reorganised over the centuries, ending up as the University of Rennes in 1896.
What changed for the university on 1 January 2023?
The University of Rennes 1 merged with five grandes écoles to form the new Université de Rennes. The project is known as UNIR.
Which schools belong to the merged institution?
The five grandes écoles are EHESP, ENSC Rennes, ENS Rennes, INSA Rennes and Sciences Po Rennes. They sit alongside the former components of Rennes 1.
What happened to Rennes 2?
The University of Rennes 2 did not merge but is associated with the project. It remains a separate university, centred on the Villejean campus.
Where are the campuses of Université de Rennes?
The main teaching area is in Rennes, including the Beaulieu campus, with further sites in Lannion, Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo. Each degree page on the official site shows the campus where the programme is taught.
How many students attend the institution?
The university reported 30,482 enrolled students for 2022/23, and its press material cites about 35,000 students overall. Totals differ depending on what is counted.
Which research partners does the university work with?
Partners named in connection with the merger are CNRS, INRAE, Inria, Inserm and the Rennes university hospital. These organisations host or co-run many of the research laboratories linked to the university.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity, Digital Twin, Environmental Engineering, Marine Ecosystems, Materials, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development
*: without any judgment of the quality, readers are strongly encouraged to check the official status of the exact diploma envisioned as many universities have a mix of recognized diplomas, not recognized, “co-delivered,” “equivalent to”, “some pathways” (…), can change over time, and can be named differently from one country to another.
**: international reputation: is based on some criteria that do not mean much in some domains or specialties (number of researchers, of scientific publications, on budget ….). Our approximate 1-4 scale:
known locally
known locally and internationally
is listed in some of the world university’s classifications
is listed among the 20 firsts in some of world university’s classifications
***: estimated numbers, based on online sources and/or feedbacks. The numbers can vary greatly depending on school organisation (ex.: school is part of a group, it employs internal staff or external consultants or has public staff without employing them …). Refer to all the links provided to have accurate and updated numbers.
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