Creation of UTTOP

The ENIT and the IUT of Tarbes unite to create the University of Technology Tarbes Occitanie Pyrénées, the 4th University of Technology in France.

ENIT was established in 1963 from the political will to support an industrial region with an adapted professional training tool. Today, it is well-established in the landscape of engineering schools.

The IUT, first established in 1970, has built a rich and coherent technological training offering at the local level in both secondary and tertiary sectors.

The project of creating the University of Technology Tarbes Occitanie Pyrénées stems from a common observation between ENIT and IUT:

• A geographical evidence: the two institutions share the same campus, they have pooled equipment and resources.
• A thematic and values-based evidence: a shared spectrum of professionalizing and technological training, the maturity of the stakeholders, and their common will to serve their territory and promote scientific and technological culture.
• Also evident in their shared approach around the relationship with the industrial and economic sector in both education and research.

• Evidence of a project that fits into the logic of ongoing institutional mergers in the French higher education and the necessary internationalization of courses and campuses.

This project has been supported and endorsed by all institutional actors: the City of Tarbes, the Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Agglomeration, the Department of Hautes-Pyrénées, the Occitanie Region, the State, the University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier, ENIT, and the IUT of Tarbes.

Two years after the project launch, Decree No. 2023-1094 of November 24, 2023, confirms the creation of a University of Technology in Tarbes, the 4th in France, bringing together ENIT (National School of Engineers of Tarbes) and the IUT (University Institute of Technology).

UTTOP aims to bring together stakeholders in education, research, and innovation by establishing a technological institution combining the IUT of Tarbes and ENIT.

This institutional evolution is based on an ambitious scientific and educational project, which was submitted as an application dossier in the framework of the 3rd wave of the "ExcellenceS" call for projects of the France 2030 Program. The "NUTTeO" (New University of Technology in Tarbes in Occitanie) project, firmly rooted in the industry of tomorrow, focusing on environmental transition, resilience, and the factory of the future, has been selected and has obtained national funding of €7.5 million over 10 years. Moreover, to further strengthen this significant momentum for the region, the Occitanie Region has committed to providing up to €1 from the Region for every €1 granted by the State.

The creation of the University of Technology aims to increase the range of education, research activity, and innovation in connection with the region and its companies, and to welcome new audiences and partners, thereby enhancing the attractiveness of higher education in Tarbes. The IUT and ENIT currently host nearly 3000 students. In 10 years, the new university aims to welcome an additional 1000 students in initial Bachelor's and Master's programs, including 400 international students, to increase the number of graduated engineers each year (+600 during the project period), and to raise the number of doctoral candidates to 120 (from 75 today)."