International students return to school
Friday, September 06
The University of La Réunion, the largest overseas university establishment, stands out for its high level of internationalization with 1303 students of 70 different nationalities enrolled for the 2023-24 academic year and already 494 new registrants of 36 nationalities for this year. On Friday, September 06, the institution organized a dedicated welcome day for these ever-increasing number of international students, a sign of the attractiveness of its training offer abroad and the dynamism of its exchange programs.
This year, the reception of international students has several highlights:
- Thematic round tables;
- Games to get to know Reunion Island;
- And a welcome evening.
A tailor-made welcome
This back-to-school event, a special time for exchanges, aims to give these students from all over the world all the keys to succeed in their academic year. The priorities of the institution, the university faculties and services as well as the leisure activities and activities available on their campuses are presented. The quality of the welcome is one of the priorities of the institution, which saw its Welcome to France label renewed, with a second star. This label distinguishes establishments which offer accessible and quality information to international students, dedicated reception facilities, support in teaching, and a fulfilling campus life.
Indeed, the university has implemented many initiatives aimed at making the stay of its international students a success: linguistic integration campus to promote their success in their studies, Thursday campus tour operation to discover it, networking with "international ambassador" students, Buddy System sponsorship, activities throughout the year in partnership with student associations, etc. ... The establishment makes every effort to offer international students a unique university experience.
An ever more inclusive university
Nearly 2 million euros obtained in support of mobility policy
Highly prized by European and African students, the university is seeing its appeal grow among Canadian, American and Indo-Pacific students (India, Indonesia), thanks to the various exchange programs it has been developing for several years now (ISEP, DAAD, BCI, PPI, etc.), and the visibility obtained thanks to the Bienvenue en France label.
Working actively to intensify student mobility on the Africa-Asia axis, it has distinguished itself by obtaining various calls for projects to support this mobility.
This is the case with Africa, where it is continuing its 3 "cross-mobility" programs. Initiated by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in order to strengthen mobility and exchanges between the African continent and France, this strategic program aims to contribute to the scientific advancement of the two countries by financing short-term exchange visits for graduate students in thematic areas of mutual interest. It will allow 1 South African student, 3 Malagasy students and 3 Rwandan students to complete a semester of university studies in each of the host institutions, recognized in the home institution.
Otherwise, Our establishment stands out nationally by rising to 5th place in the ranking of French higher education establishments awarded the ERASMUS+ 2024 “Mobility of students and staff in higher education” program.It has just obtained €733 to support these student and staff mobility projects with South Africa, Morocco and Lebanon, and has seen its Franco-Indian consortium project selected for an amount of €532, thus confirming its expertise in terms of setting up and monitoring mobility projects.
Continuing its expansion towards the east, the university has finally launched a new mobility program: INDONESIAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MOBILITY AWARDS (IISMA). Developed with Indonesia, this program brings together 17 other institutions. It finances the outgoing mobility of Indonesian students to European countries and Canada. Operational from this academic year, it will allow 6 Indonesian students to undertake a 4-month study mobility at ESIROI, the university's engineering school.
A university attracting talent
The University of La Réunion will also have the pleasure of welcoming a winner of the prestigious Eiffel scholarship program, which aims to attract the best foreign students to master's and doctoral level degree programs in French higher education institutions and to train future international decision-makers in priority fields of study such as economics and engineering sciences. Also joining the institution are the 9 excellence scholarship recipients of the HORIZON Excellence Scholarship program. This program, initiated by the university in 2016, is open to:
students with a Master 1 or 2 degree obtained from universities in 16 partner countries in the Indian Ocean region, who wish to do their Master 2 at the University of La Réunion. Intended to promote joint thesis supervision, this program is financed from own funds.