Grenoble Alpes University (UGA) has its roots in 1339, when a university was established to include four areas of study: medicine, liberal arts (sciences and literature), canon law and civil law.
Following several periods of closure and reopening, the university disappeared in 1793. This was during the French Revolution, at a time when many universities in France were being suppressed.
In 1805 Napoleon resurrected the faculties of law, letters and sciences, formally inaugurated as the University of Grenoble in 1879, before splitting apart into smaller subject departments with localised administration powers. These would eventually be reunited, to form UGA in 2016, a merger of the three universities in Grenoble: Joseph Fourier University, Pierre-Mendès-France University, and the Stendhal University.
In 2020, Grenoble Alpes University merged with Grenoble Institute of Technology, Sciences Po Grenoble and Grenoble School of Architecture to form Université Grenoble Alpes and is now ranked in the World University Rankings under this name. .
Today it is one of the biggest scientific centres in Europe and the largest in France outside of Paris. It is organised around two close campuses in the city: 175 hectares in Saint-Martin-d’Hères and 250 hectares in Grenoble, with more facilities located around France.
Notable alumni include former first lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy, former president of South Korea Park Geun-hye, and former president of Germany Richard von Weizsäcker.
