< img src="https://thepienews.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/0363-CAMPUS-FRANCE-ALUMNI-DAYS-04-06-26-CAROLINE-BLEUX-PHOTOGRAPHE-_L5D3246-scaled.jpg"alt ="" > Talking to The PIE News following this year’s France Alumni Day Awards, Donatienne Hissard, director general of Campus France, stated the country continues to take advantage of a highly international research study community however acknowledged that maintaining its competitiveness will require both drawing in brand-new talent and making it simpler for researchers to build long-term careers.
“France stays a strong location for scientific talent,” said Hissard, pointing to initiatives such as ‘Select France for Science’, which has currently enabled around 60 scientists to move their work to France after leaving the United States, along with the ‘Make Our World Great Again’ fellowship supporting postdoctoral research in environment change and biodiversity.
France presently hosts more than 25,000 international doctoral candidates, representing around 40% of all PhD trainees, making it the world’s fourth-largest location for international doctoral researchers.
Nearly one in four scientists in France’s public research study institutions is global, while nearly two-thirds of scientific publications involve global cooperation. The largest groups come from China, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria.
However, Hissard cautioned that France can not afford to be contented. School France is therefore wanting to expand its recruitment efforts beyond traditional markets, with countries such as India showing strong development.
The variety of Indian doctoral students in France has actually increased by 17% over the previous 5 years, highlighting what Hissard referred to as “considerable growth capacity” in emerging markets.
Along with recruitment, improving the experience of global scientists once they arrive has actually become a progressively important focus.
Campus France’s current method places greater emphasis on linking higher education with research, innovation and industry, highlighting sectors including artificial intelligence, health, environmental transition and advanced technologies. The agency is likewise working more carefully with universities, research laboratories and employers to produce clearer pathways from study into research careers and work.
Yet administrative barriers stay among France’s greatest obstacles.
While digitalisation has actually streamlined numerous visa and residence treatments, lengthy processing times can still dissuade worldwide researchers.
Campus France is working with universities, prefectures, diplomatic missions and other federal government firms to improve coordination and streamline researchers’ arrival and settlement.
“Our goal is to make this experience as easy and seamless as possible while providing stronger assistance throughout, guaranteeing that France is not only an appealing destination but also an inviting and sustainable location to build a clinical or academic profession,” stated Hissard.
The organisation also highlighted current procedures including France’s multi-year Skill Residence Permit, which enables highly qualified researchers to live and work in France for approximately four years while simplifying employment procedures and allowing accompanying family members to work.
“France provides an unique balance: strong academic flexibility, an exceptional quality of life, a central area in Europe, a broad labour market and, compared with many contending destinations, a relatively economical expense of living,” discussed Hissard.
France provides a special balance: strong scholastic liberty, an exceptional lifestyle, a main location in Europe, a broad labour market and, compared with lots of contending destinations, a relatively inexpensive expense of living.
Donatienne Hissard, School France
The focus on scientific movement was reflected throughout this year’s France Alumni Day Awards, which celebrated alumni whose professions demonstrate the global impact of French college.
Among the receivers of the Young Scientific Skill Award was scientist Fiona Remage, whose profession has taken her from France to the UK before going back to begin a brand-new research study role at Université de Rennes.
Having invested practically 15 years in the UK, Remage said returning to France had actually constantly been a long-lasting ambition.
“I’ve always felt at home there,” she stated. “When my existing manager called me advertising a position in France that completely matched my abilities and research interests, I leapt at the chance.”
Now working in meta-research, Remage focuses on enhancing research study reproducibility and promoting open science, arguing that the sector needs to move beyond the “publish or die” culture that rewards quantity over quality.
“The rapid rise of AI risks magnifying these concerns in a system where amount is valued over quality,” she said. “We’re attempting to promote alternative approaches and worths that actually prioritise the quality of research.”
She also praised the collective culture she has actually found within French academia, describing more powerful support for scientist advancement and greater opportunities to engage across organizations.
Another Young Scientific Talent recipient, hydrogeologist Farida Boube-Dobi, stated France’s globally connected research study environment had enabled her to develop collaborations that extend well beyond her own organization.
Her work combines field information, satellite images and ingenious mapping techniques to enhance understanding of groundwater resources across the Sahel, supporting climate resilience and water security in among the world’s regions most susceptible to environment change.
She credited both strong clinical mentoring and worldwide networks with assisting establish her career, while highlighting the importance of dedicated financing for women in STEM.
“The Schlumberger Foundation’s Professors for the Future program has actually played a key role in supporting my postdoctoral research study in France,” stated Boube-Dobi.
“Such programs develop concrete chances for females researchers to establish their professions, gain international experience and add to scientific fields where their point of views are greatly required.”
Looking ahead, Hissard stated success for Campus France will ultimately be determined not just by increasing international enrolment, especially at doctoral level, but also by France’s capability to become a long-term home for scientists whose scholastic freedom or profession opportunities are under risk in other places.
“Our aspiration,” she said, “is to make France a place where clinical research study and academic flexibility can thrive under the very best possible conditions.”