At a ceremony held in Paris on Friday November 24th, representatives from the University of Cambridge and from Sciences Po signed a Memorandum of Agreement to formalise and strengthen the partnership between both institutions.
The stated aim of the document is to develop research links in disciplines including Politics, History and Public Policy, with a strong expectation that the collaboration will develop to encompass other areas of mutual interest.
Covering an initial three-year period, the agreement includes the provision of matched funds by Cambridge and Sciences Po to enable academic workshops and symposia, and to pay for travel grants, short-term research visits, and visiting professorships at both Sciences Po and Cambridge.
Other bilateral activities within its scope include the encouragement of student mobility, and access for Cambridge PhD students to the Sciences Po Teaching Fellowships programme at Sciences Po campuses in Reims, Menton or Le Havre, where lectures are done in English.
One specific outcome of the agreement between Cambridge and Sciences Po will be the organisation of a public conference on “The Future of Europe”, to be held in Paris in 2018, and led by specialists in European studies from both institutions.
Signing on behalf of the University of Cambridge, Professor Eilís Ferran, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Institutional and International Relations, said: “This Memorandum of Agreement builds on strong existing relationships between our two world-leading universities. It offers us a formal mechanism to strengthen our partnership at a time when collaboration between academic institutions is more crucial than ever before.”
Mr Frédéric Mion, President of Sciences Po, said: “There is a need to maintain and deepen cooperation among excellent academic institutions in Europe. It is the right time to continue strengthening our ties with a world-class University such as Cambridge by developing jointly this innovative and ambitious research partnership in the social sciences. The Memorandum of Agreement is built on that firm conviction. ”
Sciences Po was founded in 1872 as the École Libre des Sciences Politiques to educate the French governing class in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War. Today it is one of France’s leading research universities in the social sciences and humanities. It has seven campuses across France, and a record of excellent research in law, economics, history, political science and sociology.
Agreement will enable closer research ties and funding of joint projects
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