Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France (Université Polytechnique des Hauts-de-France)

To promote economic conversion and democratize access to higher education, Valenciennes has played, well before other French universities, the professional training card supported by fundamental and applied research.

In the early sixties, Valenciennes, then the 13th French agglomeration, tried to escape the danger of coal-steel monoculture. To attract new industries, train their supervisory staff and allow young people from low-income families to access higher education, this region "wrested" from the ministry the creation in 1964 of a branch of the Lille Faculty of Sciences , by a common will of all local partners.
The university embryo is developing rapidly through second (1971) and third cycles (1975) with a professional vocation, created from young research laboratories in relation with the industrial world and the national economic circles.
A network of efficient research laboratories and transfer workshops allows the University of Valenciennes to actively participate in the economic conversion of Hainaut-Cambrésis.