To prepare future engineers for a professional environment marked by globalization, and to show them the relevant agricultural, economic and cultural realities, PURPAN encourages as much international exposure as possible.
The school is an Erasmus + charter holder, meaning it undertakes to respect the fundamental principles of European programs and their values, and to make the international dimension an integral part of its strategy.
The program encourages mobility in Europe and around the world for students (periods of study or internships), teaching staff and all staff of higher education establishments.
The program’s priorities are promoted at PURPAN as follows:
- Raising awareness of eco-responsible travel
- Information on inclusion-related support (disability, rural revitalization zone, urban district, CROUS level 6 and 7 scholarship holders and CAF family quotient below €551).
- Transformation of processes including the program’s digital developments.
It also facilitates partnership actions through cooperation projects, knowledge alliances, upskilling projects and joint master’s programs.
PURPAN manages an Erasmus + consortium for outgoing student mobility and teaching and training mobility on behalf of JUNIA ISA and ISARA.
Summary
PURPAN is in active contact with more than 100 European partners.
This network benefits from all the partnerships fostered by collaboration within the France Agro³ circle.
Student mobility
Over the last 30 years, more than 1000 students have gone to study in Europe under the Erasmus + scheme, to further their knowledge of agriculture, food science and the environment. Since January 2021, despite the COVID pandemic, more than 150 students have been funded.
Since 2022, the Erasmus + program has made it possible to fund study visits outside Europe, subject to signed institutional agreements. 11 PURPAN students benefited in the first year.
From 2009 to 2019, 186 students were supported during their internship in Europe. Since 2021, the program has covered more students. 100% of students doing an internship in Europe (over 260 students) are funded by the program, with an average amount of over €2000 per internship.
All students have health and civil liability insurance at no extra cost as part of the compulsory periods they spend abroad.
Teaching and training mobility
Similarly, research professors wishing to enrich their expertise, share it and develop their networks have the opportunity to carry out teaching assignments at partner universities.
Staff can also train and share their professional expertise by taking part in European staff week events.
The Erasmus + program helps fund all or part of these periods abroad (for more information, please contact our Grants department).
Erasmus + also co-funds the accommodation and travel expenses of staff from European companies who take part in our courses.
Photo of PURPAN research professor Cendrine Auguères’ trip to Cambodia in 2022.
Specific actions
PURPAN participated in the KA2 FoodSTEM project through INP Toulouse with:
– Four Cambodian universities (Royal University of Agriculture – Phnom Penh, University of Battambang, Institut Technologique du Cambodge – Phnom Penh and Royal University of Law and Economics – Phnom Penh);
– The University of Liège in Belgium;
– INP – ENSAT Toulouse;
– SupAgro Montpellier.
This project enabled agri-food science and management courses to be created for Cambodian universities and food safety laboratories and kitchens to be equipped to produce new products.
PURPAN took part in this project, sharing its expertise and knowledge in training future entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector, as well as in the design of an agri-food technology hall.
In October 2023, 27 students from the “International Trade in Agriculture and Food Products” DA spent a week in Spain focusing on the export of certified wine. The study trip was supported by two online sessions, enabling students from PURPAN and partner universities in Padua and Tarragona to get to know each other before they met, and to learn from the experience.
This scheme, funded by Erasmus +, is the result of over a year’s work by Cendrine Auguères and the University of Tarragona. PURPAN’s “Erasmus +, grants and support” team, made up of Marie-Odile Bisch and Béatrice Rose, also played an important role in this project
Other funding for international mobility
There are other grants for students wishing to go abroad for an internship or academic exchange of any duration. Several organizations contribute to the funding of these grants:
– The Occitanie region supports all recipients of CROUS grants regardless of their grant level. It helps families on the basis of their family quotient. It also offers funding without income conditions to all students with disabilities, internships and study stays in Catalonia, internships in certain regions of the world linked to the Occitanie Region’s international policy (e.g., Germany, Japan, Morocco, Canada, etc.), as well as apprentices.
– The Ministry of Agriculture offers grants for internships abroad once during the student’s studies, or grants for studies in certain universities in Argentina and Brazil.
