Academic cooperation
Academic cooperation serves as a catalyst for the mobility of students and researchers, fostering diversity of viewpoints and facilitating the integration of the French-US academic communities. It plays a pivotal role in the development and coordination of a collaborative French-US academic network.
Students and researchers’ mobility
To tackle the challenges, academic cooperation actively promotes the international mobility of both researchers and students through a range of programs. Key aspects of our cooperation include French-US Bilateral Funds for university partnerships, which combine high-level training and research.
The France-Berkeley and France-Stanford bilateral funds are instrumental in supporting scholarly exchanges in Northern California. These funds provide fundings to support research collaborations between French and American institutions, thereby cultivating long-lasting partnerships and the promotion of French research internationally.
Additionally, Berkeley’s Institute for European Studies holds "Center of Excellence" status, underscoring its mission to advance French research in the humanities and social sciences (HSS).
Campus France USA coordinates the mobility of students enrolled in American institutions to French universities and Grandes Écoles. It offers a wide range of open and customized grants for students and young researchers. Some of these grants are specific to host institutions, such as the Écoles Normales Supérieures in Lyon and Paris, the various Sciences Po campuses (Dijon, Le Havre, Menton, Nancy, Paris, Poitiers, Reims) or the University of Aix-Marseille.
The Chateaubriand program and the Jefferson Fund are specifically sponsored by the French Embassy in the United States.
French academic cooperation is also involved in setting up double-diploma programs. On a broader level, French students wishing to study in the United States can benefit from exchange programs within their own institutions. These programs are bilateral and negotiated directly between universities. They are intended for undergraduate students and postgraduate students pursuing master’s and doctoral programs.
Email: david.dopaco@frenchculture.com
European programs
One of the specific features of French academic cooperation is the mobilization of various European programs.
French universities serve as hubs for researchers involved in European projects. Some of these funding opportunities are specifically designated for researchers outside the European Union, with a particular focus on strengthening ties between US and French universities.
The Horizon Europe program brings these initiatives together, and is based on two pillars.
1- The European Research Council offers American researchers the opportunity to join a French research group for up to five years to contribute to the development of excellence projects. Competitive grants are provided to researchers based on their career stage. It is also possible for local universities to join French universities through synergy grants.
2- The Access ERC program by the Agence Nationale pour la Recherche offers attractive postdoctoral fellowships for young researchers from American universities who wish to conduct their research in France for two years and subsequently apply for ERC funding.
Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions are a postdoctoral excellence program based on a transfer of skills between a researcher and their host university. Researchers based in the United States can be offered the opportunity to spend two years in a French research laboratory, to acquire specific skills and provide a new expertise to their host university.
California is also one of the main partners in the Erasmus Mundus program, which supports the development of international masters’ programs.
Email: david.dopaco@frenchculture.com
Support for French language departments
The role of academic cooperation extends to assisting universities’ language departments in the development of their teaching programs and research endeavors.
Support for French departments is part of our educational and linguistic mission.
Our actions are aimed at strengthening the instruction of French language within universities (through the organization of seminars and the creation of professional programs and diplomas for students enrolled in French departments). Training sessions and job fairs are regularly organized to help students integrate into French and American professional worlds.
You can find information about our educational and financial support programs through the following links:
Email louise.lecam@frenchculture.org
David Do Paço holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. A specialist in urban and global history, he took up his position as university cooperation attaché on September 1, 2023. His previous experience includes teaching and research at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, the Institut Universitaire Européen, Sciences Po, where he directed the departmental seminar on the history of Europe, and Columbia University, where he held the Chair in East-Central European Studies.
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