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Executive Master of Public Administration

The EMPA programme, held over the course of one year, consists of four modules and one specialisation. Environmental and digital topics are integrated in every course curriculum, and public policy workshops or case studies enable participants to apply new methods and approaches to the course content.

Overview

Intended Participants

Intended for aspiring leaders with real-world experience in economics, public policy, or management, the EMPA gathers a cohort hailing from various geographical and professional horizons.

Objectives

At the end of the EMPA programme, participants will have acquired a deep understanding and applicable knowledge related to:

The various political dimensions of public action including both politics and policy
The major contemporary challenges and issues facing democratic societies.
Public policy transformation and change management in organisations that deliver public services
Economic challenges of the welfare state and the green transition
European issues, in particular the effect of EU policies on national public policies

Among other practical skills, graduates will be able to:

Make informed decisions by understanding an increasingly complex political, geopolitical, economic and social environment
Strengthen your strategic leadership skills to manage teams, manage crisis, drive change, lead reforms within public administrations
Design, implement & assess effective public policies tailored to diverse contexts
Combine a solid academic approach in social sciences with practical knowledge about public decision-making

Programme

The EMPA programme, held over the course of one year, consists of four course modules and one course specialisation. Environmental and digital topics are integrated in every course curriculum, and public policy workshops enable participants to apply new methods and approaches to the course content.

Organisational behaviour, power dynamics (sociology of organisations) and change management
Leadership, decision-making and communication skills
Digital transformation and policy: Generative AI and the future of work, skills, and performance
Environmental transformation and policy, including sustainable public management
Methods of policy and organisational innovation: design thinking, agility, collective intelligence, etc.
Social dialogue

Policy analysis and policy making: actors, institutions, instruments and processes
Comparative policy reforms, theories of change in public action, state and society interactions
European public policy and governance
Lobbying and influence
Focus on some public policies: the welfare state, cities and urban policies, gender policies, etc.
The governance of the internet and the digital democracy

Economic policy and regulation
Global market economics
Public finances, debt, and competition
Performance and economic issues of health systems
Economic challenges of the green transition

Politics of evaluation in democratic societies
Quantitative methods and statistics (including cost/benefit analysis) / Qualitative & Mixed methods
Experimental and behavioural approaches
Digital and AI policy innovation

Participants choose from one of the following custom tracks, allowing them to gain experience in a particular area of expertise:

Teaching Staff

Pierre Moscovici

EMPA Honorary President, First President of the French Court of Auditors, Alumnus of Sciences Po

Pierre Moscovici is the First President of the French Court of Accounts, a role he has held since 2020. He holds postgraduate degrees in advanced macroeconomics and philosophy and graduated from Sciences Po Paris and ENA. He served as a Member of the European Parliament, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Minister of the Economy and Finance. From 2014 to 2019, he was European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs. He is an Affiliate Professor at Sciences Po Paris, and a Visiting Professor at Columbia University and the College of Europe. In 2016, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour and an Officer in 2021.

William Genieys

Programme Director

William Genieys is a CNRS research professor in sociology and political science at the Center for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), Sciences Po. Influenced by Juan Linz (Yale), he developed a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to the study of elites. In 2013, he received the Prix d’Excellence Scientifique from AFSP and the Mattei Dogan Foundation. In 2025, his book «A Gouvernment of Insiders. The People who Made the Affordable Care Act Possible», the culmination of his theorization of unelected governmental elites in liberal democracry, won the IPPA Best Book Award and the Louis Bronlow Book Award from the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA-USA). Author of more than ten books, including Sociologie politique des élites (2011), The New Custodians of the State (2010), and with Darviche Elites, Policies, and State Reconfiguration (2023). His articles have appeared in Comparative Politics, Governance, European Journal of Sociology, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, among others. He led major projects, including OPERA (ANR) and ProAcTA (ANR/ DGF). He now launches the program Deviant Elites in American Democracy (DEAD).

Clément Lacouette-Fougère

Professor at Sciences Po Paris, Member of the Executive Committee of the Health Chair, Assessment of Public Policy Specialist, Expert at the French Court of Auditors

Clément Lacouette-Fougère is an Associate Researcher at the Health Chair of Sciences Po. He teaches at the School of Public Affairs and also lectures at the Paris School of International Affairs. Additionally, Clément Lacouette-Fougère co-leads a seminar on expertise and public action evaluation at Sciences Po Saint-Germain-en-Laye and teaches at ESCP Business School as well as École Polytechnique. At Sciences Po Executive Education, he serves as co-director of the Executive Master in Public Policy Management. Clément Lacouette-Fougère is also a member of the scientific committee of the journal "Politiques et Management Public", a board member of the Société Française d’Évaluation (SFE), and an expert advisor to the Cour des Comptes.

Anne Epaulard

Economist at French Economic Observatory (OFCE – Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques), former advisor at France Stratégie

Amélie Férey

Research Fellow and Head of the Defense Research Unit at Ifri's Security Studies Center (IFRI, French Institute of International Relations)

Marc Ringel

Director of the European Chair for Sustainable Development and Climate Transition at Sciences Po, Director of the Deutsch-Französishes Institut, Energy and Climate policy expert

Axelle Bagot

Co-founder & CEO of Leadership Lab International, Lecturer at Harvard, Brown University and Sciences Po Paris

Charlotte Halpern

Researcher at Sciences Po's Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) and Director of the Institute for Environmental Transformations

Charlotte Halpern holds a DEA and a PhD (2006) in Political Science and is a researcher at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics at Sciences Po. Her research focuses on the transformations of governance and public policies in Europe and South America, environmental policies and ecological transition, mobility, and urban infrastructure. In addition to her own research topics, she is a member of the scientific council of Ihédate and the steering committee of CIERA, contributes to research activities including the "Energy Transition(s)" seminar (CEE), the "State and Public Policies" axis (CEE), is a member of the steering committee of CIERA, has been elected to the unit council of CEE (since 2017), the Scientific Council of Sciences Po (since 2016), and is co-representative of Sciences Po at the Centre for Earth Politics (University of Paris and Sciences Po). Within Sciences Po Executive Education, she serves as the Academic Director of the Executive Master in Territorial Governance and Urban Development.

Olivier Borraz

Research Director at the CNRS, Professor of sociology at Sciences Po, Director of Sciences Po Crisis Lab and former Director of the Centre for the Sociology of Organizations (CSO).

Sociologist and Research Director, Director of the Crisis-Lab at Sciences Po, expert on risk governance and crisis management

Richard Balme

Director of Sciences Po’s Centre for International Studies (CERI).

Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po Executive Education as well as the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), he teaches Policy Analysis, Comparative Politics, and Global Governance. His research focuses on environmental and climate governance.

Practical Information

272 hours over 12 months, plus 16 hours of collective tutoring
The Sciences Po degree is an institution-specific diploma equivalent to 5 years of higher education
Upon completion of an Executive Masters at Sciences Po, you become part of the extensive Sciences Po alumni community, with lifetime membership to the Sciences Po Alumni Association included in your tuition
Our courses can be adapted to accommodate various accessibility requirements. Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss any necessary adjustments.

Pedagogical Approach

The EMPA’s curriculum follows a face-to-face teaching, to which online educational materials are added. Face-to-face modules run for up to five days and are spread out over the course of seven weeks. This allows you to continue working as you reflect gradually and strategically on your future career plans. A knowledge check is planned at the end of each module.

Admission Requirements

At least a Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent qualification
Relevant professional experience required
English language mastery (level C1/C2)
Exemptions may be considered for those who do not meet the academic and/or professional experience requirements

Admissions Process

Initial application review for programme suitability
Interview invitations to suitable applicants
Admissions decisions and notification

Partners

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