Top French school hopes for more exchanges
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Ecole Polytechnique / Courtesy of Ecole Polytechnique collections
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Frank Pacard, Ecole Polytechnique’s vice-president for academic affairs and research
By Rachel Lee
Ecole Polytechnique, also known as l’X, is one of the world’s most prestigious educational establishments in France, dedicated to educating students in science and technology.
Since about 10 years ago, l’X has cultivated strategic partnerships with Korean universities for academic programs, common research projects, entrepreneurship and exchange of faculties and students.
So far, 36 Korean students have received an opportunity to study at the institution.
Vice-president for Academic Affairs and Research at l’X Frank Pacard, who came to Korea last month to meet his counterparts, talks to The Korea Times about their past and recent cooperation with the Korean institutions and future opportunities for students in both France and Korea.
Pacard, an Ecole Polytechnique graduate, also earned an engineering degree at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, followed by a Ph.D in Mathematics and an HDR research accreditation. He is the author of more than 60 scientific articles and supervises several research projects.
Recognized for his work at the crossroads between geometry and analysis of partial differential equations, he was inducted as a member of the Institut Universitaire de France in 2004 and was a guest speaker at the prestigious 2010 International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad, India.
He has also been head of the Franco-Brazilian Mathematics Network, which promotes scientific collaboration between France and Brazil, since 2011. Pacard joined l’X in 2010 as a professor of Mathematics and Director of the Laurent Schwartz Center for Mathematics.
Q: Tell us about the recent cooperation with Korean educational institutions.
A:
Ecole Polytechnique has partnership agreements with three Korean universities: Seoul National University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Kyung Hee University.
We signed our first partnership agreement with SNU in 2005. Professors of both institutions are looking at opportunities to develop common scientific meetings in the data-science field. We also signed its first partnership agreement with KAIST in 2009, followed by a double degree agreement the same year.
For more than 10 years, Ecole Polytechnique has offered a summer school program to students from Kyung-Hee University, Korea. This unique opportunity to discover France and the research and teaching environment at Ecole Polytechnique has convinced some of the students to apply for the Ecole Polytechnique. “Technological innovation, engineering and entrepreneurship” Masters program.
To help Korean students to attend to this program, Ecole Polytechnique and Kyung Hee University have offered a double masters agreement since 2004. Most of the Korean students graduating from this masters program continue their studies at Ecole Polytechnique in a Ph.D program.
Q: What is the purpose and aim of cooperation?
We are convinced that, in a globalized world, it is crucial to offer the opportunity for our respective students to study abroad at top-level institutions.
We consider there is a huge potential for mutual exchanges with the Korean universities, because the Korean students are really keen on studying abroad and French students are also interested in developing relations with Korea.
Korean students represent the third Asian student community in France, after China and Vietnam, and almost all of them study humanities. The challenge for us is to attract Korean students in the field of science and technology and to send French students on internships and Master’s programs in Korea.
Our cooperation in Korea also aims at developing collaboration between our respective research departments.
Q: Thirty-six Korean students have received an opportunity to study at the l’X. What were the criteria for selection, and what are they going to learn and experience from it that is different from other institutions?
We are the leading science and technology university in France, combining top-level research departments, extremely selective teaching programs and a technology-based innovation center.
At Ecole Polytechnique, Korean students find high-level multidisciplinary programs working closely with companies.
Our original multidisciplinary model, based on science and engineering, ensures close integration between our three progressive graduate-level programs (Ingenieur Polytechnicien, Masters, and PhD) and our research departments, with courses including in-depth development of behavioral and interpersonal skills.
With an exceptional ratio of students per professor (about four to one), we offer a unique experience to its international students, from their admission to their career follow-up.
About 90 percent of students live on campus. Because of its small size, l’X can provide very dedicated services, such as individual academic coaching or alumni mentoring.
This unique environment, combined with the high level of the students who go through a very selective process, Ecole Polytechnique attracts students from some of the world’s most distinguished faculties.
To organize the selection of international students for the Ingenieur Polytechnicien program, we organize 15 examination centers worldwide, located at partner universities or French institutions. Once selected, international newcomers have access to intensive language courses, scientific tutoring and alumni mentoring to facilitate their social, academic and cultural integration.
Moreover, they receive dedicated assistance to obtain financial support and prestigious fellowships, from international, domestic and regional sources.
L’X points out funding opportunities, gives support and advice (success rates, feedback from beneficiaries) and applies on their behalf for certain scholarships.
Q: Are French students interested in studying in Korea? If yes, what attracts them to come here?
For the time being, very few students from Ecole Polytechnique apply each year for a program at a Korean University. This is because our international cooperation was initially developed in Europe and North America, so the network we have developed there makes those destinations attractive for our students.
One of the goals of our trip in Korea was therefore to identify partner universities for outgoing mobility. We have started to develop non-degree mobility and we strongly believe that the students it involves, who are pioneers, will contribute to the development of the network in Korea.
For example, KAIST has already welcomed students from Ecole Polytechnique for research internships. The idea would be to further promote those internships in areas such as robotics or technological innovation.
Q: What is your view on the school curriculum standard in Korea compared with established European educational institutions?
First, we notice that the higher education system in Korean is really close to the “Grandes Ecoles” system in France. In France, institutions such as Ecole Polytechnique are indeed called “Grandes Ecoles” and differentiate themselves from the traditional university system by being extremely competitive and selective.
Students access Ecole Polytechnique through a very selective exam.
This selective procedure is a specificity that we share with the Korean higher education system because college entrance in Korea depends on high ranking in objectively graded examinations.
Despite this similarity, the school curriculum standards are different from the European higher educational system.
The European universities have standardized their curriculum according to the model called ‘LMD’: three years of undergraduate studies, two years of masters, and three years of Ph.D.
In that respect, the curriculum system of higher education institutions in Korea follows more closely the Anglo-Saxon system, with a four-year undergraduate level.
Q: Tell us about future collaboration/project with Korea.
During our visit in Korea, we have identified several research areas of common interest with our Korean partner universities. The next step now is for professors of both institutions to work together to define the content of scientific collaboration.
Jacques Biot, president of Ecole Polytechnique, has been invited to participate to the KAIST Forum on April 11-13, 2016.
He will visit our industrial and academic partners in Korea and renew or further develop our agreements with KAIST, Seoul National University and Kyung Hee University.