History

1920 Creation of a petroleum laboratory.
The primary role of petroleum-based energy production emerged during World War One. As the Pechelbronn sedimentary basin represented most of French oil production, the advantages of combining the activities of the University of Strasbourg and the advances of a local industry became clear. A petroleum laboratory was created in 1920. Its purpose was to entrust grouped establishments with technical studies on oil, so that chemists, geologists and engineers could coordinate their work and share their experience. The first classes were held at the Institute of Chemistry and were taught by Mr. Muller and Mr. Gault. There were six students from different backgrounds and nationalities. The Pechelbronn company provided financial support.
1922 Creation of the Petroleum Institute in Strasbourg, by ministerial decree. The institute had three sections: chemistry, geology and mining. Most of its resources came from a tax charged on each ton of crude oil extracted from the Pechelbronn "mines". In addition, the Strasbourg Chamber of Commerce provided financial support to the students.
1924 Creation of the École nationale supérieure du pétrole et des combustibles liquides (higher national school of oil and liquid fuels), by agreement between the University of Strasbourg, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Commerce, and placed under the authority of the latter. The first school director was Henri Gault. It was regulated by two decrees:
  • a decree signed by the Ministry of Education, linking the school to the Strasbourg University of Science from a scientific and academic standpoint: for the first time, in addition to its training assignment, an engineering school was made responsible for promoting and fostering scientific research,
  • another decree entrusting administration of the school to a director, assisted by a board of directors chaired by the director of the National Bureau of Liquid Fuels (recently founded in order to give France a general oil policy). This structure gave the new school possibilities for action that were much greater than those of a regular university.
1925 Official inauguration of the new ENSPCL building at the University of Strasbourg.
For the first 15 years of its existence, the school attracted students and researchers from all over Europe, especially such men as Hugel, Weiss, Louis, Salomon (works for the International Electrotechnical Commission), Jung (geology), Schneegans, Vlès, Vellinger and others.
1930 The highly conventional structure of the school was no longer suited to the increasing number and growing urgency of the works expected of it. Discussions began on creating a national oil institute.
1931 Creation of the École des applications mécaniques des combustibles liquides (EAMCL), the school of mechanical applications for liquid fuels, headed by the engineer general Paul Dumanois, in the premises of the Higher School of Aeronautics, on Boulevard Victor in Paris.
1936 The name of EAMCL was changed to the École nationale des moteurs à combustion et à explosion (national school of combustion and ignition engines).
1939 On September 1, 1939, the residents of the University of Strasbourg are given 24 hours to pack their bags and find a home somewhere else in France. The university is moved to Clermont-Ferrand, in the buildings of the Chemistry and Industrial Technology Institute.
1931 Creation of the École des applications mécaniques des combustibles liquides (EAMCL), the school of mechanical applications for liquid fuels, headed by the engineer general Paul Dumanois, in the premises of the Higher School of Aeronautics, on Boulevard Victor in Paris.
1936 The name of EAMCL was changed to the École nationale des moteurs à combustion et à explosion (national school of combustion and ignition engines).
1939 On September 1, 1939, the residents of the University of Strasbourg are given 24 hours to pack their bags and find a home somewhere else in France. The university is moved to Clermont-Ferrand, in the buildings of the Chemistry and Industrial Technology Institute.
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1940 The "geology" and "drilling" sections are set up, headed by E. Vellinger in Toulouse where, following of the discovery of the Saint-Marcet natural gas field (by the team of D. Schneegans, geologist), a department specialized in oil prospecting was created at the university.
1941 Classes resumed at the École Nationale des Moteurs à Combustion et à Explosion after a two-year interruption due to the war, on the premises of a primary school located Rue Saint-Jacques, then at the École Polytechnique in 1942, and in 1944 the conference room of the society for promoting national industry, on Rue de Rennes.
1944 Creation of the Institut français du pétrole.
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1945 The ENSPCL chemistry department, headed by Mr. Weiss, moved back to Strasbourg.
1946 The two schools were connected to IFP Energies nouvelles. Courses were taught in Paris (engines, prospecting), Toulouse (drilling and production), Strasbourg (chemistry) and Saint-Maur (oilfield development).
1947 Move to Rueil-Malmaison.
1954 Creation of the École nationale supérieure du pétrole et des moteurs (ENSPM) (higher national school of oil and engines) by merging the École Nationale Supérieure du Pétrole et des Combustibles Liquides and the École Nationale des Moteurs à Combustion et à Explosion (decree dated October 13), headed by Paul Dumanois. ENSPM is tied to the Fuels Department of the Ministry of Industry.
1957 The School moved to a new building, Dahlias, specially designed for it. It was to stay there until 1992.
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1963 Creation of the Center for Petroleum Economics.
1975 To meet the industry's continuing training needs, the school created ENSPM formation industrie - IFP Training.
1978 1st graduate research degree in Petroleum Sciences.
1989 Creation of the 1st English-language program, in Petroleum Economics.
1992 The School, with close to 300 students, moved into the Tamaris building.

Bâtiment Duchesse de Ségovie
 
 
1996 Beginning of training via apprenticeship.
2002 Creation of 1st program as part of the dissemination policy.
2008 Creation of the first teaching and research chair.  
2010 Setting up of the IFP School Facebook page and YouTube channel.  
2011 Launch of the School’s LinkedIn page.
2012

Creation of the School’s annual fund, the Alumni Fund, in partnership with the Fondation Tuck. This fund is dedicated to raising private funds from IFP School graduates to finance Excellence Scholarships and innovative educational projects.

2014 Launch of IFP School’s Twitter account.
Launch of the MOOC “Tomorrow’s mobility: sustainable technologies for the automotive sector”, supported by TotalEnergies and the SEO. The last editions of 2018 and 2020 were also designed with the collaboration of IFP Training and Vedecom.
2015

Launch of the MOOC “Oil and Gas: from Exploration to Distribution” on the oil and natural gas chain, in collaboration with TotalEnergies and IFP Training.

2016 Creation of a Advanced-master degree in Petroleum Data Management (today Geo Data Management of Energy Mix)
2017 Creation of the Sustainable Campus Initiative, which aims to encourage and support initiatives on the IFP School campus that will help to disseminate sustainable development behaviors and best practices.
2018 Creation of the chair on Electricity and Digital Transition (ETD) thanks to the support of the Association pour la Formation dans l’Industrie.
2019 Creation of the chair "Electric, Connected and. Autonomous Vehicles for Smart Mobility" (ECAV).
March 2019 Launch of the MOOC “Energy Transition: Innovation Towards a Low-Carbon Future” with the support of the TotalEnergies Foundation and in association with the Fondation Tuck.
July 2019 Creation of the chair on "Carbon Management and negative CO2 emissions technologies towards a low carbon future” (CarMA) thanks to the support of TotalEnergies in association with the Fondation Tuck.
September 2019

Launch of the Master’s degree program Petroleum Projects and Offshore Technology, in partnership with the National University of Singapore.

November 2019 New academic partnership between the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Yamoussoukro (INP-HB), IFP Training and IFP School for the creation of the École supérieure du pétrole et de l’énergie (ESPE) in Ivory Coast.
2020 Co-accreditation for the three research-oriented Master’s degree programs.
February 2020 Launch of the Master’s degree program in Oil and Gas Engineering in partnership with the Institut National du Pétrole et du Gaz (INPG) of Senegal.
March 2020 Creation of the Lab e·nov, IFP Energies nouvelles’ digital culture laboratory.

Lab e·nov
 
October 2020

Launch of IFP School’s Instagram account.

Start of the academic year for the first 45 students enrolled in the brand new Master’s degree programs "Petroleum Upstream Techniques and Economics" and "Petroleum Downstream Techniques and Economics" at the École supérieure du pétrole et des énergies (ESPE) of the Institut Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB) at Yamoussoukro (Yvory Coast), in collaboration with IFP Training.

November 2020 Launch of IFP School Voices webinars dedicated to the trends and innovations in the energy and sustainable mobility sectors.
Mars 2021 Creation of a chair focused on electrolyte thermodynamics (EleTher) thanks to the support of the Association de Formation pour l’Industrie (AFI).
November 2021 IFP School awarded the 2022 HappyAtSchool label.
November 2022 IFP School has just been awarded the "4Digital" label for digital excellence by the Conférence des grandes écoles (CGE) for four years.
December 2023 IFP School ranked 5th best engineering school in France according to the 2023 HappyIndexAtSchool.
January 2024 Launch of the Advanced-master degree - Mastère Spécialisé "Hydrogen Project and Engineering".
March 2024 Launch of the MOOC on H2 Production