French-Russian University

On July 11-12, 2019, in the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis (UNS), the VI Council of rectors/general directors/presidents of the French-Russian University (FRU) was held under the chairmanship of FRU and UNS President, Professor Emmanuel Tric.

FRU members at the events in Nice were represented by the Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) Vladimir Mau; the Rector of the Russian Foreign Trade Academy (RFTA) of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Sergey Sinelnikov-Murylev; the Director of the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IAER) of RANEPA Aleksandr Radygin; the First Vice-Rector of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) Nur Kirabaev; the First Vice-Rector of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI Oleg Nagornov; the Director of the Art & Science Center of the ITMO University Anastasiya Yarmosh, the Vice-President of the SKEMA Business School Patrice Houdayer, the Deputy Director General of the NEOMA Business School Celine Davesne. The honorary guests of the meeting of the Council were the representative of the Aix-Marseille University Jean-François Marchi and the Head of the Office of the General Consulate of the Russian Federation in Marseille Stanislav Oransky.

Opening the Council, Emmanuel Tric announced the representatives of the FRU participants about the interest of the Aix-Marseille and Grenoble Alps universities in joining a consortium of Russian and French universities. According to the voting results, both universities became new members of the FRU.

The Aix-Marseille University(Aix-Marseille Université) and the Grenoble Alps University (Université Grenoble Alpes) offer students a wide range of disciplines: from literature, sociology and economics to particle physics, engineering, chemistry and medicine. Both universities rank among ten educational institutions selected by the French government to participate in the IDEX project ( Initiative of Excellence). Expansion of the consortium will ensure diversification of FRU academic cooperation directions and strengthening the scientific and interdisciplinary cooperation.

The FRU Secretariat submitted a report on the results of the work performed. During the time that has passed since the last meeting, the participating universities signed agreements on the creation of 4 new educational programs. The number of FRU students increased and their participation in the activity of the consortium also became more vigorous. Council members proposed various initiatives, including the development of student network mobility and creation of the FRU youth forum and an online lecture hall.

On July 12, 2019, meetings of interdisciplinary working groups were held, in which researchers from the French and Russian sides took part. The goal of these groups is to search for problems and tasks at the junction of different areas of knowledge that will become the basis of new interdisciplinary educational programs.

In a closing speech on the results of the Council, RANEPA Rector Vladimir Mau noted the transition of the FRU to a new level of development and highlighted the main priorities of the consortium:

“It is quite apparent that the French-Russian University is getting to a whole new level of its development. First, new French universities that belong to the elite of French university education joined us. In Russia, the interest of universities in joining our agreement has sharply increased. We must now carefully and selectively approach this issue in order to ensure a balance between the Russian and French sides.Secondly, the very nature of the discussion and presentation that we have had reveals a new level of vision of our problems and tasks, both educational and research. I will make a point of the features and principles to which the development of the FRU is related: it is the interdisciplinarity of educational and scientific programs, an orientation towards the UN sustainable development goals.”

The next FRU Council will be held in January 2020 in Moscow during the Gaidar Forum, where various events are also planned within the FRU framework.