A strengthened academic partnership policy in Canada and the United States

The school’s Objectives and Performance Contract (COP) for 2022-2026 defines English-speaking countries as a priority for AgroParisTech and plans to develop and strengthen our cooperation with them. With this in mind, Laurent Buisson, Executive Director of AgroParisTech, Alexandre Pery, Head of Research, Innovation, and Technology Transfer, Mayra Agudelo, Project Manager for International Relations, Incoming Mobility and Partnerships for the Americas, and Alia Dellagi, Professor of Plant Pathology, traveled to Canada and the United States in April to develop an academic partnership policy, discuss research collaborations, set up a new international dual degree program, and offer even more international opportunities for students.

AgroParisTech’s international strategy for 2030 takes these guidelines into account and aims to develop an academic partnership policy that meets the community’s expectations, including the establishment of new international dual degrees. These degrees meet several needs at the same time:

• Offering long-term mobility and qualifying opportunities to our students, thereby enhancing our school’s appeal to French students
• Attracting excellent international students to our programs and facilitating access to certain scholarships
• Consolidating or building our academic relationships on a balanced partnership basis

This strategy also aims to develop the international dimension of our research activities, as exemplified by the International Associated Laboratory (LIA) with Laval University, with which we are a partner.

The AgroParisTech delegation had the opportunity to visit several institutions and their facilities, as well as meet academic and administrative staff. For some, agreements were signed or renewed, while for others, the visit provided an opportunity to initiate discussions for potential future agreements.

Canada

• Laval University: LIA agreement in place, other research agreements under discussion
• McGill University: framework agreement signed
• Polytechnique Montréal: dual engineering degree agreement signed
• University of Guelph: framework agreement signed

The visit to Montreal also provided an opportunity to organize the second meeting between the Executive Management and international alumni, in collaboration with the AgroParisTech Foundation and UniAgri Canada. The event was a great success and attracted a large number of participants.

AgroParisTech / Signature de l'accord-cadre entre AgroParisTech et McGill University

United States

AgroParisTech / Rencontre avec les enseignants-chercheurs, le personnel des Affaires Internationales et des étudiantes de la Faculté des sciences de l'agriculture de Penn State

No academic mobility agreements have been signed or renewed. However, the institution already has agreements with Michigan State University (MSU) and Penn State University, as well as a research collaboration agreement with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, all three of which were visited during this mission. The mission also established initial contact with the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a view to exploring research and mobility exchanges.

The participants were enthusiastic about welcoming our students for research internships. Researchers and teachers will benefit from these partnerships by collaborating on research topics, theses, and joint publications.

Discussions on academic agreements and research collaborations demonstrated various synergies between the research areas of AgroParisTech and those of the universities visited. These discussions will continue in order to enable students and scientific staff to benefit from these international partnerships.