EPFL and l'"X" sign an agreement during french state visit

The agreement provides that in October 2015, École polytechnique will join the Network of Excellence in Engineering Sciences of the French-speaking Community (RESCIF). Established in 2010 at the Francophone Summit in Montreux on the initiative of EPFL and the Swiss government, the network brings together 15 French-language technological universities (Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Ghana, Haiti, Lebanon, Morocco, Senegal, Switzerland, Togo and Vietnam).

Through RESCIF, the agreement strengthens cooperation between EPFL and l’X in developing the distribution of educational content through French-language MOOCs. Both institutions thus intend to contribute to technological education and innovation, particularly in French-speaking emerging countries. The programme will include some thirty courses by the end of 2015, mostly in French. The areas addressed range from water treatment through urban planning, civil engineering, computer science and basic science. MOOCs will also be provided on very topical issues such as innovation and entrepreneurship, data science and renewable energy. The RESCIF programme is supported by the Rothschild Foundations in Paris and Geneva and the Swiss government through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

In terms of education, this agreement also aims to facilitate the creation of double degree curricula across the two institutions and to enhance the mobility of students and prospective engineers. In the field of research, it will further strengthen cooperation between l’X and EPFL, building on existing collaboration and identifying new opportunities, especially in disruptive technology (environmental challenge science, data science, connected objects), while developing the mobility of PhD students and researchers.

The two institutions also want to bring their activities to boost entrepreneurship and technological innovation closer together in order to support the emergence and development of start-ups - a key strategic priority for both EPFL and l’X.

Patrick Aebischer, the President of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, commented that: “Our two institutions share the belief that education will be critical not only to our future, but also to that of the South. The French-speaking world can be a crucible of innovation and development, and the fact that l’X is joining the RESCIF programme is a great symbol of our commitment to the dissemination of knowledge.”

Jacques Biot, the President of École polytechnique, added that: “I welcome this rapprochement between our two institutions which share a tradition of knowledge production at the highest level of scientific rigour and a commitment to meeting major challenges in science and technology, as well as addressing major economic and societal issues. This agreement will serve to strengthen networking between our research and teaching teams and to enhance student exchanges.”