In Montpellier on June 25 and 26, where our colleagues from the French EURAXESS network hosted these days, we were able to visit the brand new Service Accueil International Etudiants/Chercheurs (SAIEC) in the very premises of the COMUE. This service further strengthens the close cooperation established between the Euraxess Service Centres and the ‘Service des Etrangers’ de la Préfecture de Montpellier. The SAIEC thus becomes the second example of such a rapprochement, after the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris with its Welcome Desk since September 2017, which now centralises the reception of foreign students and researchers at the start of the academic year, from September to November, on a multi-service reception platform.

Perhaps we owe such connections to a long-established dialogue with the Ministry of the Interior and the Prefectures? It should be recalled that France is at the origin of the scientific-research procedure, which has been particularly simplified and accelerated in favour of the international mobility of scientific talent from third countries (outside the EU). Proposed by FnAK in 1998 to the Ministry of Research, at the latter’s request, this procedure was naturally reinforced by the rise of the French EURAXESS network (about forty Service Centres and Contact Points) and their necessary cooperation with the ‘Service des Etrangers’ in the Prefecture. Transposed throughout Europe since 2005, thanks to the Researchers Directive, the procedure is now adopted by the European EURAXESS network.

What will be the next French EURAXESS Service Centre to follow in Paris and Montpellier?
Which European country will be able to draw inspiration from this new French initiative in favour of researchers in international mobility?