N°30 I quarterly I july 2013 CNRS Networks | 35 w Extension to Morocco… …and Award CNRS Strengthens Ties with China BY Claire Debôves w This past April, CNRS signed three new cooperation agreements with China during the French President’s visit to that country, in the presence of France’s Minister of Higher E ducation and Research Geneviève Fioraso and her Chinese counterpart Wan Gang. According to Patrick Nédellec, director of the CNRS office in China, these agreements “strengthen the strategic partnership with a country that CNRS researchers visited almost 1300 times in 2012.” The first agreement covers the launch of the International Associated Laboratory (LIA) SALADYN for geophysics on “Sediment transport and landscape dynamics” in the deserts of Central Asia. Secondly, a letter of intent was signed for the creation of the first French-Chinese LIA in humanities and social sciences entitled “Post-Western Sociologies and Fieldwork Research in France and in China.” As a sign of the rapidly-expanding cooperation between the two countries in this field, an International Research Network (GDRI) is also being set up to study and compare economic development between China and E urope. Lastly, it was agreed to renew the “Sino-French research center in Life Sciences and Genomics” in Shanghai, involving France’s CNRS, INSERM, and Pasteur Institute. An offshoot of this important tool of bilateral cooperation, in the form of an International Joint Unit (UMI), is being considered for 2014. For many years, China has seen spectacular growth in its research capacity. As CNRS’s second most important partner in Asia behind Japan, China generates increasing interest from the scientific community, either for developing cooperation projects or for attracting PhD students and postdoctoral fellows to France. Improved conditions for receiving international students, an objective highlighted in the minister’s senatorial speech on April 24, 2013, should further encourage this trend. Cooperation Agreements Contact information: CNRS office, Beijing. Patrick Nedellec > patrick.nedellec@cnrs.fr q F rench Minister of Higher Education and Research Geneviève Fioraso with her Chinese counterpart Wan Gang (to her left). georgia-tech i w The Georgia Tech International Joint Unit, focused on telecommunications and innovative materials research, is located on two sites: one in Metz (eastern France), the other in Atlanta (US), at the Georgia Institute of T echnology. T he establishment of a close ccoperation with Morocco was decided during President François Hollande’s visit to Rabat last April. A letter of intent was signed on this occasion in the presence of the two countries’ Ministers for Higher E ducation and Research. With partnerships in three continents, the UMI will help further promote knowledge and increase scientific exchanges. Projects on this new site will focus on technologies for energy recovery, storage, and efficiency, such as photovoltaics. Specifics of this partnership will be drafted throughout the year. w Abdallah Ougazzaden, director of the Georgia Tech International Joint Unit, was awarded the 2013 Steven A. Denning Award for Global Engagement. This annual event honors top faculty members at Georgia T ech for their exceptional accomplishments in advancing the Institute’s strategic vision. The award acknowledges that professor Ougazzaden exemplifies Georgia T ech faculty’s commitment to supporting research, education, and economic development at the global level, and that he “tirelessly promotes Georgia T ech in France and throughout E urope.” q The Georgia Tech Lorraine campus, European branch of the Atlanta Georgia Institute of Technology. © A. CHEZIERE/CNRS Pho tothèque cnrs involve ment in china 23 French-Chinese public cooperation structures out of 40 70% of joint French-Chinese publications, headed up by chemistry, physics, and sciences of the universe 16 full-time researchers and 14 researchers on long-term missions in 2012 © P. Nédell ec
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