INSA Euro-Méditerranée welcomes its first students in Fes

Fes, 16 September 2015. The Euro-Mediterranean Institute of Technology (INSA Euro-Méditerranée), primary establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes (UEMF), welcomed the first engineering students during an opening ceremony that took place in the presence of the Moroccan Minister of Higher Education, Mr Lahcen Daoudi, the Special Advisor to the French Secretary of State responsible for Higher Education and Research, Mr Jean-Paul de Gaudemar, Mr le Wali of the Fes Boulemane region, France’s General Consul in Fes, the President of the UEMF, the President of the INSA Group, all the directors of the INSA centres, as well as the parents of students and industrial partners.

Of the 1,700 applications submitted, only the 70 best students were selected. This first promotion of students is comprised of young women (46%) and students of diverse origins from the Euro-Mediterranean space and Sub-Saharan Africa. The students, who have an excellent academic level (Moroccan baccalaureate in mathematical sciences, physical sciences, French baccalaureate and international baccalaureates), will study at INSA Euro-Méditerranée for two years before studying for a third year in one of the six engineering schools of the INSA Group in France.

Graduates of INSA Euro-Méditerranée will be holders of a double university degree that is recognised by both the Moroccan and French States, as well as by the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE). The new Institute is integrated into the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes and will be located in the heart of its eco-campus, where the first buildings will be opened at the beginning of the 2016 autumn term. The UEMF plans to welcome more than 6,500 students in the future, of which almost 1,600 will train as engineers.

INSA Euro-Méditerranée is the first international centre of the Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA), the leading French group of engineering schools, from which almost 10% of France’s engineers graduate. INSA Euro-Méditerranée was jointly developed by the UEMF and the INSA France Group and is built upon a consortium of universities from several countries in the region, and an official agreement between the Ministries of Education and Higher Education of Morocco, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Tunisia.

Emanating from the wish of His Majesty, King Mohamed VI, the UEMF is a project labelled by the Union for the Mediterranean in 2012, which emphasises the reinforcement of the integration between the two shores of the Mediterranean by means of the regional dialogue, intercultural exchange, and cooperation concerning higher education, research and innovation in Europe, in the MENA region and in Sub-Saharan Africa.

On the other hand, the President of the Polytechnic School of the Paris Saclay University, Mr Jacques Biot, and the President de Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes, Mr Mostapha Bousmina, signed a cooperation agreement on 15 September in the head office of the Moroccan Embassy in Paris, in the presence of the Ambassador, Mr Chakib Benmoussa and Mohamed Kabbaj, Chancellor of the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes.

By means of this agreement, the Polytechnic School and the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes express their shared desire to develop the academic links and facilitate university cooperation. The agreement thus promotes the welcome of students from the UEMF into the Polytechnic School, in particular at Masters level, and encourages collaboration in terms of research and teaching (especially by creating a common Master’s about renewable energies, student mobility and online education).