Université de Lorraine’s European strategy with its partners on the lorrain site

Boost our European impact with active participation in formal European partnerships

We aim to participate actively in networks contributing to the production of research and higher education policies, increase the influence of the Lorraine site upstream of policies, and European policies outlines, reinforce our support to research, innovation and education projects applicants downstream.

With the France 2030 REIL project (Reinforcing the European Impact of the Lorraine academic site), coordinated by the Université de Lorraine with its partners from the national organisations present on the site (CNRS, INRIA, INRAE, INSERM), the UL aims to strengthen its European dynamic by developing a strategy of European influence and by reinforcing the support offered to applicants when responding to European calls for projects.

Strengthen strategic partnerships

The Université de Lorraine is notably member of two strategic partnerships: the Université de la Grande Région (UniGR), which promotes research and training in the cross-border area with Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, and the European University EURECA PRO, which focuses on sustainable development objective 12 “Responsible consumption and production”.

In the mid-term, the goal is to establish European institutional strategic partnerships, based on training, research and the mobility of students, researchers and academics.

European influence

The Lorraine site’s European influence is built on a European Strategy Committee made up of leading scientists covering 6 strategic fields (Natural Resources and Environment; Energy, Decarbonisation; Society; Industry 4.0 and Digital; Health; Materials Value Chain), which echo the major European thematic priorities, and on the team of European Policy Officers (EU PO) covering all these strategic fields. Each EU PO is specialised in one or two of the 6 strategic areas mentioned, in line with the themes currently making up Horizon Europe’s pillar 2. These EU POs have a transversal vision of the dynamics created by European research and higher education policies and programs, whether in research and innovation under the various Horizon Europe pillars, or training under Erasmus+.

Support for European project applicants

The aim is to encourage our community on the Lorraine site to develop their activities on a European level. To achieve this, we are creating a favorable environment based on the trust and reliability of our administrative teams’ expertise in this field. Since 2024, a new development phase has been underway, involving recruitment, training and reinforcement with additional skills. This support relies in particular on two departments currently being expanded as part of the REIL project:

• The project support office, responsible for assisting project teams when responding to a European call for projects and during the implementation phase of their project;
• The financial justification unit, in charge of financial monitoring and producing the financial documents required by European funding bodies.

Raising awareness among the Lorraine site community

To significantly increase the number of people involved in European projects, a collective training program is being deployed to acculturate our community to European issues:

• the directors of research units on the Lorraine site, to provide them with the means to articulate European policies and the site’s European strategy with the strategy and scientific orientations of their laboratory;
• teacher-researchers and researchers, from their very first years on the Lorraine site, to develop a culture and interest in Europe;
• teachers-researchers and researchers who already have European experience, to encourage them to become more involved (European influence, coordination of a European project, etc.).