ECNU renews Prosfer with ENS Group.
2014 is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France, and the 12th anniversary of Prosfer, a joint cultivation project of post-graduates between ECNU and the ENS (Ecole Normale Supérieure) Group. In November, ECNU held “50th Anniversary Sino-French Relations·ECNU France Week” activity series to celebrate the occasion. The ceremony to renew the agreement of Prosfer was one of them.
ECNU offers an portrait to every president of ENS Group.
On November 11, the Five-university Joint Meeting as well as the Ceremony to Renew the Agreement of Prosfer, was held in Shanghai to continue the all-round cooperation and broaden the field of cooperation between the two parties.
Presidents of the five universities accept an interview at the press conference held after the ceremony.
Representatives from both sides attended the ceremony, i.e. the four presidents of the ENS Group (i.e. Marc Mezard, President of ENS Paris, Pierre-Paul Zalio, President of ENS Cachan, Jean-François Pinton, President of ENS Lyon, and Patrice Quinton, President of ENS Rennes), Bernard Nedelec, Deputy Consul-General of the French Consulate General in Shanghai, Tong Shijun, Chairman of ECNU’s University Council, Chen Qun, President of ECNU, Zhang Ning, Deputy Secretary-General of China Scholarship Council (CSC), etc.
At the meeting, a supplementary agreement was signed between CSC and the ENS Group. What’s more, ENS Rennes, a newly established university in 2014, became a newly added member to the Agreement.
Prosfer, an implementation of ECNU’s international strategy, was officially launched in November, 2002, with the permission of (MOE), to jointly cultivate master’s degree candidates and doctoral candidates in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, European Studies (International Relations, Sociology, History, Philosophy), Life Sciences, etc. And the Sino-French Joint Graduate School was established in June, 2005. According to the renewed Agreement, the cooperation of the two parties has been broadened to Computer Science and Pedagogy.
Tong Shijun (R), Chairman of ECNU University Council, chats with Marc Mezard, President of ENS Paris, at the banquet held for the ceremony.
Chen Qun (R), President of ECNU, chats with Pierre-Paul Zalio, President of ENS Cachan, and Jean-François Pinton, President of ENS Lyon, at the banquet.
As one of the successful examples of international cooperative program in post-graduate education, Prosfer has been highly recognized and accredited by both the Chinese government and French government. Since its establishment 12 years before, the Program has cultivated 355 master’s degree candidates and 115 doctoral candidates among whom the Ph.D students have published 220 papers and 1 monograph as well as 19 patents.
During the past 12 years, two parties have also cooperated in a number of researches in depth in many areas; for example, the establishment of 11 cooperative platforms of scientific research, i.e. the establishment of “Joint Institute for Science and Society” between ECNU and ENS Lyon in 2009. Meanwhile, the ENS Group has sent over 120 renowned experts and scholars, even including academicians, to give lectures in ECNU.
A group photo of both sides.
During “ECNU French Week” (November 5-11), ECNU has held a series of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, for example, the opening of Sino-French academic symposium, forum and meeting, the “French Film Week”, Photography Exhibition of Panoramic France and so on. During the “French Week”, ECNU and EMLYON Business School signed a MOU to “Build a Joint Asia-Europe Business School".
Written by: Shi Yangyang
Edited by: Liu Jinyu
