François Portier Receives an Eduniversal Teaching Award for the Master for Smart Data Science

François Portier, head of the Master’s in Smart Data Science at ENSAI, was presented with a “Trophée de la Pédagogie” teaching award at the ceremony organised by Eduniversal on 17 September in Paris. This award is presented to heads of degree programs that have received the highest ratings from their students in the Eduniversal surveys.

François Portier, a lecturer at ENSAI, a researcher at CREST and head of the Master for Smart Data Science, was ranked joint 9th amongst French Master’s, MS and MBA programmes, based on the student satisfaction score for the 2025–2026 cohort of the Master’s in Smart Data Science: 4.91 out of 5.

Only 5.2 per cent of programme directors from the 2,350 programmes ranked in the “Best Masters, MS & MBA” ranking and the “Best Licences, Bachelors & Grandes Écoles” ranking received this distinction. 2 per cent of these programme directors achieved a score high enough to receive a trophy on stage, at the Pavillon Wagram, including François Portier.

“This trophy is a tribute to the entire administrative and teaching team of the Master’s in Smart Data Science. Our students’ satisfaction is our best indicator, and this award reaffirms the validity of our approach. The discussions with the other winners during the evening were fruitful and have given us new insights into how to further improve the program, against a backdrop of rapid scientific and technical change.” François Portier

The Teaching Awards and the Eduniversal rankings

The Eduniversal Ranking of the Best Masters, MS & MBA programmes has been in existence since 2002. Its methodology is based on three main criteria: the programme’s reputation, salaries and career prospects upon graduation, and student satisfaction ratings.

Since 2005, the Trophées de la Pédagogie teaching awards have recognised the best programme directors, based on this final criterion.

The Master’s in Smart Data Science has been ranked in the top 6 of the ranking of the best Master’s and MBA programmes in Big Data & Data Science since 2023. In 2026, it was ranked 4th, with a student satisfaction score of 4.91/5.

ENSAI’s Master for Smart Data Science

The Master’s program for Smart Data Science is taught in English. It combines advanced courses in Statistics, Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, including several subjects focused on AI. This one-year specialisation at Master’s 2 level prepares students for careers as highly qualified data scientists across a wide range of professional fields. It can also serve as a gateway to a PhD and a career in research.

Would you like to become a data scientist? Find out more about ENSAI’s Master’s in Smart Data Science