At the Sorbonne Nouvelle our exceptional openness to the world results from a synergy created by the drive to address three major objectives. 

To develop the welcoming tradition at our university where nearly a third of students are from abroad (more than half at doctoral level), to work with professors and researchers from all over the world and to contribute to a globalized university system in which France assumes an extensive role that also includes the provision of assistance to refugee students and academics. 

Openness to the world also plays an important part in our pedagogical and scientific mission, which is strongly rooted in multilingualism and multiculturalism. It promotes internal diversity and drives change in our teaching practice and training programmes by enriching them with international perspectives. It has also enabled us to provide all of our students and staff with the opportunity to avail of mobility across a network of 400 partner universities and to lay the foundations for a future European campus. Finally, our strong international presence extensively contributes to an ambitious drive to gain recognition for the scientific and pedagogical value of teaching programmes provided by our institution and the career development prospects they afford. This is already reflected by our position in rankings for Literature, Languages and Humanities, notably the QS World University Ranking which has placed the Sorbonne Nouvelle second among French institutions in three fields: Communications Media Studies, Languages, and English language and Literature.

Over the next few years, strengthening our engagement with Europe will be a major priority in a strategy that will increase the number of joint international diplomas, promote cotutelles and extend agreements already established with such renowned universities as the Freie Universität in Berlin, Ca’Foscari in Venice and the Complutense in Madrid to doctoral students. These agreements have already led to the creation of recognized international degrees including the Bachelors in Franco-German Intercultural Studies, the Masters in French and Francophone Studies and the LAGLOBE Masters (with the University of Salamanca, the University of Stockholm as well as academic and non-academic partners in Latin America).

In parallel with our development in Europe, we aim to strengthen our partnerships in the Americas, Maghreb and the Middle-East, China and Oceania. We will also be paying particular attention to Sub-Saharan Africa in order to maintain our presence in this region. In so doing, the Sorbonne Nouvelle will notably build on the Sorbonne Alliance network, which it joined in 2020, and its involvement in the Campus Condorcet. Through the provision of an extended offer of online training, we will develop relations with our partners, notably in the context marked by the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Within the framework of the professionalization of Bachelor/Master/PhD training programmes, we will strengthen outgoing mobility for students, teacher-researchers and administrative staff and encourage internships. We also aim to optimize the appeal of our institution through the systematic provision of teaching in English and other languages.

Welcoming incoming international students, who notably provide our students with an opportunity to develop their cultural skills, remains a major priority for the Sorbonne Nouvelle. With a view to optimizing the integration of these international students, the Sorbonne Nouvelle, which was awarded 2 stars by the ‘Bienvenue en France’ certification programme in 2020, has provided a one-stop information service, student accommodation on the future campus in Nation, and English language training for administrative staff in contact with the public.