The Collège de France is a public higher education institution. Since the 16th century, the Collège de France has had a two-fold mission: to be a forum for cutting-edge research and teaching. The Collège de France is committed to fundamental research, in partnership with the CNRS, INSERM and several other major institutions, but what differentiates it is that it teaches “knowledge in the making in every field of literature, science and the arts”.
It was established in 1530 by King Francis I of France, as an imitation of the Collegium Trilingue in Louvain, at the urging of Guillaume Budé. Of humanist inspiration, this school was established as an alternative to the Sorbonne to promote such disciplines as Hebrew language, Ancient Greek (the first teacher being the celebrated scholar Janus Lascaris) and Mathematics.Initially called Collège Royal, and later Collège des Trois Langues (Latin: Collegium Trilingue), Collège National, Collège Impérial, it was named Collège de France in 1870.
What makes it unique is that each professor is required to give lectures where attendance is free and open to anyone. The school's goal is to "teach science in the making" and therefore the professors are chosen from among the foremost researchers of the day, with no requirement other than that of being at the top of their fields. They are chosen from a variety of disciplines, in both science and the humanities.