In 2020, Institut Polytechnique de Lyon benefited from an Erasmus+ grant to carry out, until July 2023, international credit mobilities (MIC) in several countries outside the Erasmus+ programme: Canada, Cambodia, Morocco, Russia and the USA.
The aim was to develop partnerships to give students access to different and complementary themes, industrial contexts and production methods, and to strengthen educational collaborations with partner institutions.
The IPL schools identified specific academic partners in each country and were able to organise incoming and outgoing mobility for students, teachers and staff with the Université de Sherbrooke, the Université de Montréal, the Institut de Technologie du Cambodge (ITC), the Ecole des Hautes Etudes de Biotechnologie et de Sante (EHEB) in Morocco, California State University in the United States and the State University of Information Technology, Mechanics and Optics in St Petersburg (ITMO) – although mobilities to Russia had to be stopped a few days after its start because of the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Participants report that they had an enriching experience, both personally and professionally: the exchange of best practices between institutions has helped to identify synergies to be put in place and new opportunities for collaboration. This has led, for example, to the signing of an ECAM-ITC double degree, and to an increase in the number of research placements in chemistry for CPE students: in the last 15 exchanges, 5 students have or will go on to pursue a doctorate.
We would therefore like to extend our warmest thanks to the Erasmus+ Agency for its trust and for granting us these opportunities within the framework of the MICs. We will continue our mobility actions for academic exchanges and internships in Europe and outside Europe with the Erasmus+ program.