Aix-Marseille University

Aix-Marseille University is a public research university in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, created in 2012 by the merger of the University of Provence, the University of the Mediterranean, and Paul Cézanne University. Teaching in law and the humanities at Aix dates to a university founded in 1409. The merged university is France's largest by enrollment and operates as a comprehensive multi-campus system in the two cities.

It comprises faculties covering arts and humanities, law and political science, economics and management, science and technology, and health. Graduate research is concentrated in Mediterranean studies, physics and astrophysics at Luminy, marine science, and clinical medicine through the Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Marseille. CNRS and Inserm joint laboratories and thematic doctoral schools organize research training.

About 80,000 students enroll, including more than 10,000 international students from more than 140 countries and a large master's and doctoral share. Academic and research staff number several thousand. Medievalist Georges Duby taught at Aix, and the older law faculty counts Adolphe Thiers among its graduates.

Graduate study follows the French two-year master's and three-year doctorate, with supervision inside research units rather than a single graduate college. The year is two semesters, and doctoral contracts are the usual stipend. Students divide time among historic Aix, Marseille's city and hospital sites, and the Luminy campus beside the Calanques.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, Aix-Marseille University lists 1 doctoral program, in physics. Aix-Marseille University holds rank 365 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.