The Parisian Master of Research in Computer Science, in French Master Parisien de Recherche en Informatique (MPRI), is a research-oriented master's program in fundamental computer science, run jointly by several schools and universities. See here for the list of partner institutions. Its purpose is to train future scientists through intensive exposure to contemporary research in the foundations of computer science.

MPRI is a two-year master's program. The first year (M1) is organized independently by each partner institution. This website focuses on the second year (M2), which is common to all students.

ECTS credits

Students must validate 60 ECTS credits during M2 in order to be awarded the MPRI Master's Degree, divided into 30 ECTS of courses, and 30 ECTS for a compulsory internship.

• M2 courses: 30 ECTS.

Each M2 MPRI course is worth either 3 ECTS credits (for 24-hour courses) or 6 ECTS credits (for 48-hour courses). 6-credit courses are taught over the course of a semester at a pace of 3h/week, and represent 75 student-hours (typically 50 contact hours and 25 hours of private study). 3-credit courses are taught either 1.5 h/week during the whole semester, or else 2.5 or 3h/week during half a semester.

• M2 internship: 30 ECTS.

Award of the ECTS credits is subject to approval of a written report and of a viva voce examination by a board of examiners set up by the MPRI's Studies Committee.

• External courses.

Out of the 30 course ECTS credits necessary to obtain the MPRI degree, at least 18 must come from M2 MPRI courses. Up to 12 ECTS may be chosen among courses from other Master's programs, subject to the approval of the MPRI Studies Committee. When a course from an external Master's program is used to validate the MPRI degree in this way, the number of ECTS it is worth within MPRI is decided by the MPRI Studies Committee. Note that it may differ from its original ECTS value.

Study directors

Every student at M2 MPRI is affiliated to one of the MPRI partner institutions (see management for the list of partner institutions). Each partner institution has a dedicated MPRI study director (see contact for the list of study directors). The study director supervises students affiliated with the corresponding institution, and also serves as a point of contact for students, together with the MPRI director(s).

Administrative server

The administrative server (formerly “pedagogical server”) is used to keep track of which student is registered to which course, enter grades, and indicate choices of internships. At the start of the year, students are registered on the administrative server by their study director, and receive an account. Students use this account to enter their choice of courses by the end of September (see the calendar), subject to the approval of the study director. Similary, students enter their choice of internship on the server by the end of January.

Grading

Student assessment for M2 courses will take the form of a written examination and/or an oral examination and/or a project. Student assessment may also include a mark obtained within the framework of continuous assessment.

Teachers enter grades on the administrative server. Each student can see their own grades on the server. Note that grades entered by teachers are technically not final. Final grades are validated by the Studies Committee. However, they are very unlikely to change. The Studies Committee will only act in case that a serious issue is identified.

The final MPRI jury typically occurs shortly after internship defenses, in early September. Final grades and attestations for validating the MPRI program are usually available by mid September. Until that time, partial attestations reflecting current grades are available on request by contacting the MPRI director(s).

New in 2025-2026: In previous years, after all grades were entered, a harmonization algorithm was run. Its purpose was to adjust grades to compensate for courses where grades may be too low or too high. The Studies Committe has decided, on an experimental basis, not to harmonize grades in 2025-2026. This is in keeping with feedback from a number of students and teachers. It avoids the undesirable situation where grades were altered “after the fact” by the harmonization algorithm. The lack of harmonization also gives teachers more power to determine grades themselves. MPRI management (mainly, the Studies Committee) will assess the success of this experiment at the end of the academic year.

Information for students

Finding an internship

Students are of encouraged to take steps towards finding an internship during the first trimester, aiming to have found an internship by January. Possible avenues for finding internships include looking at the list of internship offers (see below), or talking to teachers, many of whom may be able to offer internships. Students may also contact their MPRI study director, or any other point of contact they may have, such as tutors or the study director of their home institution. Other sources of internship are also accepted.

Important: a student's choice of internship is subject to approval by their study director. Minimal criteria include: (1) the internship should be in computer science; (2) it should contain a substantial research component; (3) it should last at least 4.5 months, between March and August; (4) students should be available to defend the internship in early September. Also note that an internship supervisor may be the main supervisor for at most one MPRI internship per year. It is advisable to have a back-up proposal in case your first choice is not approved, although this is not compulsory.

Administrative process

Students should submit a choice of internship on the administrative server by January 31. Students must fill in an internship agreement before beginning the internship. The relevant forms are available on request at the MPRI secretariats within the institutions where the students are enrolled (see contact). These forms will typically need to be agreed upon and signed by the student's home institution, and the institution where the internship happens. This process may take time. It may be wise to start the administrative process at least a month before the planned start date of the internship.

Students doing their internship abroad should start taking the necessary steps well in advance, because the office of internships has to request the prior approval of the French state health insurance office (CPAM).

For students enrolled at Université Paris Cité: students must return to the secretariat a copy of the internship agreement filled in, signed and stamped by the body with which they will be doing the internship. They must enclose a photocopy of their student card as well as a certificate of civil liability insurance providing cover for the whole length of the internship in case of accident WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE INTERNSHIP WITH THE COMPANY/PUBLIC BODY. The students and the body with which they will be doing the internship will each be given a copy of the internship agreement signed by both the person in charge of the MPRI course and the head of the university.

Evaluation

Internships are evaluated on the basis of an internship report, and an oral defense.

Each student report is assigned a reviewer, who is a member of the MPRI Studies Committee. This assignment is displayed in the planning (link below). The reviewer may ask for external expertise, and must fill the reviewer evaluation form.

Internship reports

Internship reports must be submitted by students on the administrative server by August 20. Reports or their modifications that are submitted after the deadline may or may not be considered by the committee. If they are considered, there will be a penalty on the final mark.

The report must start with a 2-page summary with the following outline: TEX file (PDF version).

Reports must be at most 20 pages, including the 2 pages of summary, in a standard format: LaTeX, article, 11pt, A4. Optionally, these 20 pages can be augmented with appendices, detailing for instance some of the proofs. Appendices have no page limit. However, the committee may or may not read the appendices. The report must therefore be understandable without them. Appendices should be clearly marked as such.

Reports may be written in French or in English. Writing quality is judged independently of the language: if you choose to write in English, it is your responsibility to ensure that the report is clear and well-written.

Here is a randomly selected example of a report that has received a good evaluation.

Internship supervisors should also fill an evaluation form by August 20, and send it to the reviewer. See the information for supervisors section below for more details. Students should remind their supervisor of this task.

Internship defenses

Oral defenses will take place in early September, in front of a jury set up by the MPRI Studies Committee. Each presentation will last 30 minutes (20 minutes of presentation + 10 minutes of questions). For the schedule and reviewer assignment information, see:

Please send your slides in PDF before 6PM the day before the defense, to: mpricontact--dir@sympa.lmf.cnrs.fr

Although this practice is discouraged, you may also bring your own laptop with an HDMI connection, with the caveat that it may or may not work properly with the video projector. A backup solution with PDF slides is advisable.

Students should inform their internship supervisor of the date of their defense. Supervisors are welcome to attend. If they attend, the jury will discuss with them at the end of the ongoing series of defenses (which typically lasts between 90 and 120 minutes). They can also attend online. In that case, it is up to the student to set up the video call with them; and you should leave it open afterwards for discussions with the jury.

Defenses are public: other students are encouraged to attend. (Except in the rare case of a defense marked [NOT PUBLIC] in the planning.) For each session, the jury consists of a subset of the MPRI Studies Committee, and the supervisors (if present).

Students requiring some degree of confidentiality and/or the signature of a non-disclosure agreement should contact the Master's Director at least 2 months before the defense.

Information for supervisors

Role of a supervisor

• Supervisors are expected to provide a topic for the intern to work on, and to meet with them regulary. Interns should not have to find their own internship topic. The topic should involve research in computer science. Internships that are limited to implementation for example, with no substantial research aspect, may be graded poorly, or not accepted by the study director of the student (this validation happens before the start of the internship).
• Supervisors should fill a (simple) supervisor evaluation form and send it by August 20. It is not necessary to be formal or very detailed; the goal is to get the supervisor's opinion of the performance of the student. The form should be sent by email in text format, to the reviewer. The reviewer for the internship is indicated in the planning, see the link in the section just above. In doubt, it may also be sent to the MPRI director(s), see contact.
• If available, supervisors are welcome to attend internship defenses in early September, either in person or online. This is not mandatory, but appreciated. If supervisors are present (in person or online), the jury will discuss with them at the end of the current session of defenses (which may include up to 4 defenses), to ask for their opinion of the internship, and potentially ask questions.

Practical information

Internships should last at least 4.5 months, between mid-March and the end of August. Defenses will be in early September.

Administratively, internship agreements are signed directly between the supervisor's institution, and the institution where the student is affiliated. As a consequence, the administrative process depends on the student's school or university. It is typically fairly lightweight, and consists mainly of an agreement that needs be signed by both parties.

A supervisor may be the main supervisor for at most one MPRI internship per year. See the relevant rule here for more details.

If you wish to propose an internship, see the next section.

Internship offers

We provide a server where researchers from all over the world may submit an internship proposal for M2 MPRI students. Please note that these proposals are NOT MODERATED. For internships that take place in an industrial environment, make sure to discuss them ahead of time with your study director to ensure that they correspond to what is expected from an internship.

Previous years

M2 MPRI directors

Email: mpricontact--dir@sympa.lmf.cnrs.fr

For matters related to MPRI, please use the address above rather than contacting MPRI director(s) separately.

• Jean GOUBAULT-LARRECQ, LMF, ENS Paris-Saclay.
  Postal address: Bâtiment 650 Ada Lovelace - Université Paris-Saclay
  Rue Raymond Castaing
  91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
• Brice MINAUD, EPI CASCADE, ENS Paris and Inria.
  Postal address: École normale supérieure
  Département Informatique
  45 rue d'Ulm
  75230 Paris Cedex 05, France
• Sylvain SCHMITZ, IRIF, Université Paris Cité.
  Postal address: IRIF, casier 7014
  Université Paris Cité
  75205 Paris Cedex 13, France

M2 MPRI main secretariat

Thomas Béraud. Email: thomas.beraud-contact@univ-paris-diderot.fr Tel: 01 57 27 68 92. Mail: Université Paris Cité, UFR d'Informatique, Case 7024, Place Aurélie Nemours 75205 PARIS cedex 13.

Contact Study Directors

For M2 MPRI students enrolled at University Paris Cité

For M2 MPRI students enrolled at ENS, Université PSL

For M2 MPRI students enrolled at IP Paris Ecole Polytechnique

For M2 MPRI students enrolled at IP Paris at Telecom Paris

For all remaining M2 MPRI students and students enrolled at University Paris Saclay

For UPMC Master students attending M2 MPRI as auditors