Bordeaux-Waterloo, international starts at undergraduate level!

On the 26th January 2018, a signing ceremony was held in Bordeaux to celebrate the official launch of a joint Bachelor exchange program in biobased chemistry.

This joint academic exchange program in biobased chemistry, will enable students from Bordeaux and Waterloo to follow courses via online training modules, and then partake in an exchange semester at the partner university, thus completing a truly international training experience. This new Bachelor program is particularly innovative not only for its use of technology in its teaching methods, but also for its offer of international possibilities at an undergraduate level.

With the signing of this Franco-Canadian Bachelor, Prof. Feridun Hamdullahpur (President University of Waterloo) and Prof. Manuel Tunon de Lara (President University of Bordeaux), shared their thoughts concerning the partnership and also the necessity of a hand in hand approach for innovation and internationalization.

What are the reasons for the success of the Bordeaux-Waterloo partnership? 

FH: This partnership was positive from the start – with key players who got together and shared some really interesting and exciting ideas. From there, perseverance, determination and vision were the key drivers to making this initiative very successful.

What does the launch of this Bachelor in biobased chemistry mean for the partnership?nbsp;

MTDL: This joint academic exchange program represents an important milestone in the development of our partnership. Our collaboration is now extending to the field of education. This requires an even closer alliance as it implies adapting to another academic system with input from faculty members.

"This project clearly participates in the achievement of our objective to train our students as global citizens".

(M. Tunon de Lara)

How would you explain the importance of internationalization in accompanying and strengthening innovation?nbsp;

FH: Internationalization is absolutely key in any new project developed at the University of Waterloo. Every new initiative must satisfy the three “I” rule: Internationalization, Innovation and Interdisciplinarity. With internationalization comes complications, yet the beauty is that we learn so much from each other, from our experiences, from seeing things differently… Therefore when you develop a program based on international cooperation, innovation is already embedded.

"Global challenges must be approached with a global set of tools and this is what our partnership is about".

(F. Hamdullahpur)

The Waterloo delegation, which included Prof. Terry McMahon (former dean of science, academic coordinator of the Bordeaux-Waterloo partnership), made the most of their trip by visiting the joint laboratory, “Laboratory of the Future” (LoF) and the Institute of Optics as well as participating in meetings about innovation/partnerships and research collaborations. The months ahead thus promise many new projects…