Affiliation and Academic and Scientific Partnerships
June 27 2022AgroParisTech is a Grande École that operates under the authority of the French Ministry of Agriculture and is part of Paris-Saclay University. It is continuing to pursue a strategy of regional alliances through partnerships with local universities and their Initiatives of Excellence (IDEX).
Additionally, AgroParisTech is a member of ParisTech and Agreenium.
Affiliation
The French Ministry of Agriculture and Food develops and implements the French government’s policies in the fields of agriculture, food, the fisheries sector, and forestry.
A Ministry at the Heart of European Initiatives and Global Challenges
A major contributor to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy, the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food is closely involved in European affairs. On an international scale, it defends the interests of producers and the agrifood industry and promotes the French food model.
A Ministry Committed to Working With Farmers to Further the Agroecological Transition
The French Ministry of Agriculture and Food is working to help transform production models to foster more resilient and self-sustaining practices. It helps farmers make the switch to organic farming and reduce the use of pesticides and veterinary antibiotics. The Ministry is in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular through the French “4 per 1000: Soils for Food Security and Climate” initiative.
A Ministry Working to Achieve for Healthy, High-Quality, Safe, and Accessible Food for All
One of the core missions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food is to monitor and ensure the quality and safety of farm and agrifood products. It oversees food policy in a context of high societal expectations: local sourcing, promotion of quality, food donation, the fight against waste, etc., all of which are priority objectives of France’s National Food Plan.
A Ministry That Fosters Education, Research and Continuing Education in All These Areas
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food is a ministry centered around life sciences, anchored in France’s regions, that steers policies in favor of agriculture and forestry; agricultural education and training in life-science professions; agronomic, biotechnological, and veterinary research; animal and plant health and protection; food policy; agri-food industry policy; social policy for farmers and farmworkers; and maritime fishing and aquaculture policies.
Partner Universities
Established on January 1, 2020, by decree of the French Ministry for Higher Education, Paris-Saclay University is the successor to Paris-Sud University, which was founded in 1971, and the “Paris-Saclay University Community of Universities and Institutions” (Communauté d’universités et établissements).
Paris-Saclay University earned the 16th overall spot in the ARWU 2022 world rankings published each year by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (which ranks the world’s most productive universities in terms of research), and is also ranked 1st in France overall and 1st in the world for mathematics.
Paris-Saclay University is home to:
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5 Teaching and Research Departments (faculties): Law, Economics, and Management, Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Sports Science
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3 University Institutes of Technology: Cachan Institute of Technology, Orsay Institute of Technology, Sceaux Institute of Technology
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1 university engineering school: Polytech Paris-Saclay
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4 Grandes Écoles: CentraleSupélec, AgroParisTech, the Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, and the Institut d’Optique Graduate School
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2 associate member universities: Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), and Université d’Evry
Together, the institutions offer a complete and varied range of high-level Undergraduate, Master’s and Ph.D. programs, all backed by state-of-the-art research. As an institution that is resolutely open to the rest of the world, Paris-Saclay University is a member of the European Alliance for Global Health (EUGLOH).
17 Graduate Schools in different thematic fields and 1 Institute for the Sciences of Light (ISL)
Together, Paris-Saclay University’s Graduate Schools and the ISL cover three broad sectors: science and engineering, life and health sciences, and the humanities and social sciences. These coordinated collections of Master’s degrees, research and education programs, and doctoral schools bring together teams whose activities are organized around a well-defined theme, discipline, or mission.
As a knowledge-centered university, the University of Lorraine works to foster knowledge-sharing for everyone. From theoretical research to the humanities, it creates cross-disciplinary ecosystems to drive innovation and accelerate the transfer of knowledge to practical applications.
Located at the heart of Europe, the University of Lorraine works with a network of partner universities in the “Greater Region” (SaarLorLux) and throughout the world. Thanks to time spent abroad by its researchers, faculty, and students and the international focus of its courses, it boasts an ever stronger international reputation.
Boasting 17 faculties, schools, and institutes, as well as 73 research structures, the University of Montpellier is home to a vast community of knowledge in the fields of science, technology, fitness and sports, medicine, pharmacy, law, political science, economics and management. With over 50,000 students and 4,800 staff members, the University of Montpellier is currently one of the largest French Universities, and is one of the founding members of the Charm European University Alliance.
The University of Montpellier has earned a strong international reputation for its research expertise and its educational offering—which the continuation of the I-SITE program of excellence has only confirmed—as well as for its capacity to innovate in a wide range of scientific fields related to major societal challenges, chief among which are food safety, environmental protection, and human health. It is a leading university in international rankings: 3rd worldwide in ecology in the Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, in the top 200 in the overall Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities, and the leading French university in the Reuters ranking of the World’s Most Innovative Universities.
As a responsible university, the University of Montpellier is particularly committed to the issues of gender equality and the fight against all forms of discrimination, environmental challenges, scientific integrity, and the relationship between science and society.
The University of Clermont-Auvergne is dedicated to ensuring the success of students and to fostering a new approach to research that supports innovation and creativity in order to fully contribute to the development of economic and scientific drivers in its region.
The University of Clermont-Auvergne’s teaching and research units are grouped together in large clusters to form 6 distinct institutes.
Formerly known as the French Guiana University Center, the University of French Guiana became an independent university on January 1, 2015. It is the product of a major institutional shift that led the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research to grant full autonomy to the French Guiana University Center for its development project.
Firmly rooted in its region, the university’s course offering works to meet the socio-economic challenges faced in French Guiana: tropical health, biodiversity, natural resource development, intercultural awareness, multilingualism, social inclusion, etc.
It is by focusing on tomorrow that the University wants to build its future. And this future can only be created by offering courses adapted to young people and by developing partnerships between the University and the rest of society.
The University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne is a multidisciplinary university that offers a comprehensive “health” program. Located across several sites, it is a local university on a human scale.
With a welcoming and vibrant atmosphere, it offers an ideal environment for studies, student life, and research.
As a university that prizes both research and teaching, it showcases an academic vision that is centered around four major clusters with strong scientific expertise:
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an international interdisciplinary cluster in Agriscience, Environment, Biotechnology, and Bio-economy (AEBB) to build the agriculture of the future in a region with a strong agricultural and wine economy;
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a Health cluster, championing scientific niches of excellence and rich and varied medical and paramedical training;
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a Digital and Engineering Sciences (SNI) cluster centered around high-performance computing, industry 4.0, materials, and technological transformations;
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A Humanities and Social Sciences (SHS) cluster, including a new focus on performing arts made possible by the creation of a new Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences (Maison des Sciences Humaines – MSH).
By developing an attractive educational offering that meets current and future socio-economic needs in areas as diverse as health, law, literature and science, the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne is committed to the orientation and professional integration of its students, while aiming to provide them with a truly world-class education.
Internationally Renowned High-Level Research
URCA is known and recognized for its innovative research, and has 31 accredited research teams, 4 doctoral schools, and numerous technological platforms.
In partnership with Grandes Écoles and national French research institutions, it develops high-level research and technological or service innovations through major scientific projects, cutting-edge technological resources, and partnerships with socio-economic players (companies, foundations, associations, local governments). Additionally, it supports the emergence of new research themes to facilitate new discoveries and future inventions.
The University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne encourages its laboratories to develop international partnerships and facilitates the hosting of guest researchers (as well as time abroad for its own researchers) through partnership agreements with over 20 countries around the world.
A Player in Regional Development
The University effectively contributes to the development of the Champagne region through the division of its activities on five sites: Reims (main site), Troyes (second-largest in terms of recruitment), Charleville-Mézières, Châlons-en-Champagne, and Chaumont, which benefit from the support of local and regional governments.
Located at the crossroads of the Greater Paris region, Rhineland, Northern Europe, and Italy, URCA’s strategic location favors European and international exchanges, facilitated by the numerous highway connections and high-speed rail service, placing Paris and Roissy airport just a few dozen minutes away from the University.
Research Organizations
INRAE, the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment was founded on January 1, 2020. It is the result of the merger of INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, and IRSTAE, the French National Institute for Research in Science and Technology for the Environment and Agriculture.
INRAE—the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment—is the leading research institute in the three key areas in its name, and its work contributes to overcoming the challenges associated with each of them. INRAE offers new strategic orientations to foster the emergence of sustainable agricultural and food systems through research, innovation and support for public policies. INRAE’s ambition is to provide solutions for life, humans and the Earth.
Through the merger of INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, and IRSTAE, the French National Institute for Research in Science and Technology for the Environment and Agriculture—two institutions renowned for the quality of their research and their expertise—INRAE has generated a critical mass of researchers and pooled major infrastructures (including observatories, technical platforms, and data repositories), some of which are one of a kind in Europe. This new position allows INRAE to offer significant added value in various fields, such as water sciences, territorial approaches, biodiversity conservation and restoration, risk anticipation and management, and digital agriculture.
The French National Center for Scientific Research is among the leading research institutions in the world. To meet the major challenges of the present and the future, its scientists explore life, matter, the Universe and the workings of human societies. Internationally renowned for the excellence of its scientific research, the CNRS is a reference in the world of research and development, as well as for the general public.
CIRAD is the French agricultural research and cooperation organization working for the sustainable development of tropical and Mediterranean regions.
Alongside its partners, the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (CIRAD) endeavors to build knowledge and solutions and invent resilient farming systems for a more sustainable, inclusive world. In order to achieve sustainable development goals, it leverages science, innovation, and education. It makes its expertise available to everyone, from producers to public policymakers, in order to foster biodiversity protection, agroecological transitions, food system sustainability, health (of plants, animals, and ecosystems), and sustainable development and resilience to climate change for rural territories.
Founded in 1984 as a Public Industrial and Commercial Institution (EPIC) with the merger of technical institutes and tropical agricultural research institutes, CIRAD operates under the joint authority of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. As such, it works to further France’s science diplomacy interests.
Operating in approximately 50 countries, CIRAD relies on the expertise of its 1,650 staff members, including 1,140 scientists, and a global network of approximately 200 partners.
IRD is a French public research institution operating under the joint authority of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It takes an original approach to research, expertise, education, and knowledge sharing for the benefit of regions and countries, making science and innovation one of the key drivers in their development.
Academic Partners
The University of the French Antilles is a French Public Scientific, Cultural, and Professional Establishment (EPCSCP) resulting from the transformation of the University of the French Antilles and French Guiana (created on March 1, 1982) by the French law of June 25, 2015. Spread across two distinct territorial entities—Guadeloupe, which is a French overseas department, and Martinique, which is an overseas local government entity—it is home to over 12,000 students.
The University of the French Antilles is structured around interdisciplinary departments and units and two autonomous regional university centers: the “Guadeloupe Center” and the “Martinique Center”.
The interdisciplinary departments and units carry out their activities across the two university centers.
The École des Ponts ParisTech is a French Grande École. Since 1747, it has trained high-level engineers, future managers, and researchers capable of meeting the challenges of society and transforming it. Beyond civil engineering and land management, which have long been the source of its prestige, the École develops cutting-edge programs and research related to the challenges of the energy transition.
The École des PontsParisTech offers a very high-quality general engineering program.
The École’s Graduate School, underpinned by the excellence of its 12 research laboratories develops Master’s and Ph.D. programs in mechanical and civil engineering, materials science, nuclear engineering, mathematics, information technology, environmental sciences, urban planning, transportation, economics, and sociology.
The École des PontsParisTech and its subsidiaries also offer career-oriented initial and continuing education programs (in particular, Specialized Master’s Degrees) that are strongly tied to different sectors of the economy.
As such, it is a key player in continuing education for senior executives in its areas of expertise.
The National Institute of Higher Education for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, or “InstitutAgro”, was created on January 1, 2020, by the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the French Ministry of Higher Education. Since January 1, 2022, it has been home to three institutions: InstitutAgro Dijon, InstitutAgro Montpellier, and InstitutAgro Rennes-Angers.
VetAgro Sup is a higher education and research institution operating under the authority of the French Ministry of Agriculture.
With 260 years of history and 10 years of multidisciplinarity that make it unique in France, VetAgro Sup is the only French institution that trains veterinarians, agricultural engineers, and veterinary inspectors, offering a global approach to health issues. Focused on issues related to life sciences, VetAgro Sup conducts training, research, and expert assessment activities on two campuses with a “One Health” approach that stands at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health.
Bordeaux Sciences Agro is a public agricultural higher education and research institution operating under the authority of the French Ministry of Agriculture. Founded in 1962, every year it trains some 600 students, who study in the Agricultural Engineering Program (in initial education, through a traditional academic course of study or the apprenticeship program), in one of the six Master’s degrees jointly accredited with local and national partner universities, or in its Specialized Master’s degree program accredited by the “Conférence des Grandes Écoles.” In France, some 17,000 students are enrolled at the 20 higher education institutions across the country offering agronomy, veterinary science, and landscape design programs. These institutions offer courses in sustainable development, agronomy, food, environment, landscape, veterinary medicine, and land management. Through its local presence and its national and international partnerships, Bordeaux Sciences Agro contributes to the prestige of the Bordeaux university site by being one of the seven founding members of the “University of Bordeaux” IDEX. It also takes part in the activities of regional competitiveness clusters and centers and collaborates with the main players in research and higher education in agronomy and veterinary medicine in France as part of the French Agricultural, Veterinary, and Forestry Institute.
Created on the site of the Potager du Roi, in Versailles, and boasting an extensive history of horticultural education and agricultural production that dates back to the 17th century, the National School of Landscape Design has been a pioneer in defining French landscape schools. It is the birthplace of training for landscape architects in France, and is an internationally recognized hub for education, research, and creation.
With one site in Versailles and another in Marseille on the Mediterranean Institute for Cities and Territories (IMVT) campus, ENSP offers multidisciplinary courses centered around project workshops, immersion in the field, study abroad, an extensive network of public and private partners, and cultural events. All of this makes ENSP a genuine ecosystem where landscaping goes far beyond the confines of the classroom.
Networks of Higher Education Institutions
Agreenium is the Alliance of Education and Research for Agriculture, Food, the Environment and Global Health.
Established on January 1, 2021, the Agreenium Alliance aims to act as a hub for French expertise in research and educational programs on agriculture, food, the environment, and global health at the highest international level.
The successor to IAVFF-Agreenium (the French Agronomy, Veterinary and Forestry Institute), Agreenium’s members (brought together on a voluntary basis) include the majority of the public higher education institutions and research organizations operating under the authority of the French Minister of Agriculture (AgroParisTech, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, ENSFEA, ENVT, INRAE, InstitutAgro, Oniris, and VetAgro Sup), joined by CIRAD, INP-ENSAT, ENSAIA and ENSTIB.
With support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, this new organizational structure, backed by a coordination unit hosted by INRAE, will allow Agreenium to conduct its activities in a more agile and effective way.
The goal is to develop projects under the Agreenium brand and to enhance collaboration through new undertakings and initiatives. The Alliance’s member institutions have elected to pool their resources together to further the following four objectives:
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To lead a community of interest to produce a shared analysis and generate real-world projects.
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To enhance the visibility of higher education and research in their fields.
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To create a platform for structured and ambitious projects, in particular for the digital world and on an international scale.
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To coordinate Ph.D. studies between member institutions.
ParisTech is an alliance of France’s leading engineering schools, working together to create joint education, research, and innovation projects in the fields of science and technology.
The complementary nature of the institutions’ teaching and research fields offers students, researchers, and partners from every background (institutional and corporate) an interdisciplinary offering that is truly unlike any other. Internationally, ParisTech is a key point of contact for many large universities that take place through partnership agreements and targeted joint initiatives.