Catholic Institute of Higher Studies

The Catholic Institute for Advanced Studies, also known as ICES, is a private institution of higher education of general interest (EESPIG) 1 founded in 1990 on the initiative of the Diocesan Directorate of Catholic Teaching in the Vendee And local authorities (mainly department and region). Located in La Roche-sur-Yon, in the Vendée department, the institute has the "L'Ecole Universitaire" brand since 19932; He is a member of the Académie catholique de France and is administratively dependent on the Rectorate of Nantes.The Catholic Institute for Higher Studies (ICES) opened in La Roche-sur-Yon in 1990 as an antenna of the Catholic University of the West (the Western Faculties). In 1993, the Higher Council of the Catholic University of the West granted this institution its independence. François Garnier, bishop of Luçon, became the institutional guarantor of the institution, assuming responsibility for maintaining his ecclesial membership3. Designed by French architect Denis Laming, ICES comprises a main building, erected between 1990 and 1991 and supplemented by an additional wing in 1994. In 1997, the construction of the Jean-Paul II University Library completed plans Of the architect 4. In 2000, under the impulse of Hervé Grollier, Denis Laming realized the integration of a student residence in the disused convent of the Sisters of the Christian Schools of Mercy, adjacent to the main building. Today, there are eight courses in classical education (biology, law, history, languages, modern and classical letters, mathematics-computer science, physics-chemistry, political science) Second cycle5.