A comprehensive commitment to acoustics education and research has earned Le Mans Université, France, the designation as France’s “Institute of Acoustics - Graduate School” (IA-GS). The University is the home to Laboratoire d'Acoustique de l'Université du Mans (LAUM), a laboratory of about 150 academics and researchers staff dedicated to acoustics. It is also the home to a very strong acoustic engineering-focused École Nationale Supérieurs d’Ingénieurs du Mans (ENSIM), and a dedicated Master of Acoustics, including in particular an International Master’s Degree Program in Electroacoustics that is focused on educating students who want to pursue careers in audio engineering and sound reinforcement. From September 2018, it will also include an International Master’s Degree Program in Wave Physics and Acoustics. More than 400 students are enrolled in acoustic programs in Le Mans Université. All postgraduate lectures are given in English.

On the same campus, the European Technology Institute for Music Professionals (ITEMM) is a free-standing school for designers and builders of musical instruments.

Programs within “Institute of Acoustics - Graduate School” include physical acoustics (e.g., thermoacoustics, sound propagation in granular and porous media, transduction, acoustic metamaterials, duct acoustics, acoustics of traditional and electrical musical instruments) and structural dynamics (e.g., modal analysis, vibration isolation, acoustic “black holes”). It is also the home of the Acoustics Hub Program that provides the opportunity to leading researchers from all over the world to collaborate and develop research projects in the field of acoustics through the funding of repeated research visits creating a place of residence for researchers in acoustics, a sort of “Villa Medicis” for the Acoustic community, where interactions, collaborations, discussions, brainstorming sessions, favor efficient and high impact collaborations that benefit both students and faculty.

The lifestyle in Le Mans is also worthy of comment. The quality of life is superb due to the abundance of independent merchants and housing options available in Centre Ville, Cité Plantagenêt (the medieval part of town dating back to 1100), and the surrounding areas. The quality of the municipal transportation via light rail trams and busses means that access to a private automobile is entirely unnecessary. The thrice-weekly open market and a remarkable number of excellent restaurants are surprisingly affordable, yet Le Mans is directly accessible from the two Parisian International Airports and Gare Montparnasse, in the heart of Paris, is only 55 minutes away via TGV.