Can France's new mega university rival the best?

France's new mega university Paris-Saclay will officially open for business later this year, but can it really rival the very best institutions in the world? French researcher Jean-Claude Thoenig takes a closer look.
After decades of planning, a new generation of students and researchers will start their first full academic year in September 2015 at the University of Paris-Saclay, a huge, ambitious project to bring together a group of 19 higher education institutions alongside a business cluster on the outskirts of the French capital. It has been dubbed the French Silicon Valley. More...