Get a Taste of International Relations

he University of La Réunion is both a francophone overseas university in the Indian Ocean and a European ultra-peripheral university. Developing partnerships with foreign universities—one of the University of La Réunion’s strong points—is a guarantee of dynamism and openness to the outside world. In all, more than 70 agreements have been closed with universities the world over.

The University’s cooperation policy radiates through 4 concentric geographical circles. The priority zone includes neighbouring universities (Mauritius, Madagascar, The Comoros). The second zone is the “Greater Indian Ocean” including universities along an arc from Australia from South Africa via India, Djibouti, Mozambique, etc. The third influence circle includes mainland France and the rest of Europe, which the University of La Réunion naturally belongs to. Lastly, the fourth circle, more remote, includes North American (Canada, United States) and Asian universities.

As a result of its situation in the Indian Ocean and its population’s cultural diversity, Réunion Island is the ideal place for those wishing to discover the life and civilizations of peoples in the zone. To choose the University of La Réunion for one’s studies is to choose openness to a world of cultures, as our motto says, but also to study with quality teaching staff in a very favourable working environment. No surprise the University of La Réunion each year receives some 500 foreign students not only from Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Madagascar, The Comoros) but also from European and North American countries experiencing one or two semesters in a novel or original francophone environment.

At the same time, some 100 Reunionese students go abroad each year to acquire new competences and perfect their knowledge of a foreign language. Student mobility is organized in the framework of ERASMUS (European universities) or ISEP and CREPUQ programmes (North American universities). Students can also take advantage of bi-lateral agreements closed with Indian, Australian and South African universities. There are also other job-oriented mobility programmes (LEONARDO) including minimum 13-week placements in major European companies operating in the agronomy, tourism or civil engineering sectors.