< 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, said the country continues to benefit from a highly worldwide research environment but acknowledged that keeping its competitiveness will require both drawing in new skill and making it simpler for scientists to build long-lasting careers.
“France remains a strong location for scientific talent,” stated Hissard, pointing to initiatives such as ‘Pick France for Science’, which has actually currently allowed around 60 scientists to move their work to France after leaving the US, along with the ‘Make Our Planet Great Again’ fellowship supporting postdoctoral research in climate modification and biodiversity.
France currently hosts more than 25,000 global doctoral prospects, representing around 40% of all PhD students, making it the world’s fourth-largest location for worldwide doctoral researchers.
Nearly one in four researchers in France’s public research study organizations is international, while practically two-thirds of clinical publications involve global cooperation. The largest groups come from China, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria.
Nevertheless, Hissard cautioned that France can not pay for to be contented. School France is for that reason looking to widen its recruitment efforts beyond traditional markets, with countries such as India showing strong growth.
The variety of Indian doctoral students in France has increased by 17% over the previous five years, highlighting what Hissard referred to as “significant development capacity” in emerging markets.
Alongside recruitment, improving the experience of global researchers once they show up has become an increasingly crucial focus.
Campus France’s present technique locations greater emphasis on connecting higher education with research study, development and market, highlighting sectors consisting of expert system, health, eco-friendly transition and advanced innovations. The agency is also working more carefully with universities, lab and companies to produce clearer pathways from study into research professions and work.
Yet administrative barriers stay among France’s most significant challenges.
While digitalisation has actually streamlined many visa and residence procedures, lengthy processing times can still prevent worldwide scientists.
Campus France is dealing with universities, prefectures, diplomatic objectives and other government agencies to improve coordination and improve researchers’ arrival and settlement.
“Our goal is to make this experience as basic and smooth as possible while providing more powerful assistance throughout, guaranteeing that France is not only an appealing destination but likewise a welcoming and sustainable location to build a clinical or scholastic career,” said Hissard.
The organisation also highlighted current measures consisting of France’s multi-year Talent House Authorization, which allows highly certified researchers to live and work in France for up to four years while simplifying employment procedures and making it possible for accompanying relative to work.
“France uses a special balance: strong academic freedom, an excellent quality of life, a central area in Europe, a broad labour market and, compared to numerous completing destinations, a fairly cost effective expense of living,” described Hissard.
France provides an unique balance: strong academic freedom, an outstanding lifestyle, a main place in Europe, a broad labour market and, compared with numerous completing destinations, a reasonably budget-friendly expense of living.
Donatienne Hissard, School France
The focus on clinical movement was shown throughout this year’s France Alumni Day Awards, which commemorated alumni whose careers demonstrate the worldwide effect of French college.
Among the receivers of the Young Scientific Skill Award was scientist Fiona Remage, whose career has actually taken her from France to the UK before going back to begin a new research study function at Université de Rennes.
Having invested nearly 15 years in the UK, Remage said going back to France had actually constantly been a long-lasting ambition.
“I have actually always felt comfortable there,” she said. “When my existing supervisor contacted me advertising a position in France that completely suited my abilities and research interests, I leapt at the chance.”
Now working in meta-research, Remage focuses on improving research reproducibility and promoting open science, arguing that the sector must move beyond the “publish or perish” culture that rewards quantity over quality.
“The fast increase of AI risks magnifying these problems in a system where quantity is valued over quality,” she stated. “We’re attempting to promote alternative approaches and values that actually prioritise the quality of research study.”
She likewise applauded the collective culture she has discovered within French academia, describing more powerful support for researcher advancement and higher opportunities to engage across organizations.
Another Young Scientific Skill recipient, hydrogeologist Farida Boube-Dobi, stated France’s globally linked research study environment had enabled her to build cooperations that extend well beyond her own institution.
Her work combines field data, satellite imagery and ingenious mapping techniques to improve understanding of groundwater resources throughout the Sahel, supporting environment strength and water security in one of the world’s regions most susceptible to environment change.
She credited both strong scientific mentoring and worldwide networks with assisting establish her career, while highlighting the value of devoted funding for women in STEM.
“The Schlumberger Structure’s Professors for the Future program has played a key role in supporting my postdoctoral research study in France,” said Boube-Dobi.
“Such programs create concrete chances for females researchers to establish their careers, gain global experience and contribute to scientific fields where their point of views are considerably required.”
Looking ahead, Hissard stated success for Campus France will eventually be measured not just by increasing international enrolment, particularly at doctoral level, but also by France’s capability to become a long-lasting home for scientists whose academic flexibility or profession opportunities are under danger somewhere else.
“Our aspiration,” she said, “is to make France a location where clinical research and academic freedom can flourish under the best possible conditions.”