UTSEUS: A Franco-Chinese Engineering Institute Fostering Global Talent

UTSEUS is a Franco-Chinese institute inspired by the French engineering education system, with the aim of training high-level engineers with an international and trilingual vision, capable of solving complex problems.

The school was founded in 2006 by Shanghai University and the UT Group, which includes the Universities of Technology of Compi￨gne (UTC), Troyes (UTT) and Belfort-Montb￩liard (UTBM). It is one of the first Franco-Chinese engineering institutes. UTSEUS offers three Bachelor's specialties: mechanical engineering, computer engineering, and materials science, as well as a Master's specialty in mechatronics. The administrative team consists of 24 Franco-Chinese individuals. All 21 FLE teachers and teacher-researchers are French-speaking. Additionally, the UTs send 80 teaching missions per year and over 200 professors from Shanghai University intervene in the school. Currently, UTSEUS is the largest Franco-Chinese institute with 1061 Bachelor students and two small Master's cohorts.

Over the past 16 years, the school has undergone three phases of development. In the first ten years, it played a preparatory role. Students were well prepared in French and fundamental sciences for three years in China before pursuing their engineering degree in the UTs. In total, over 2000 students followed this 3+2.5 scheme to be sent to France. Even during the difficult period of COVID, the school managed to maintain a flow of 100 students sent each year, which is quite exceptional. Then, the school was able to develop its own double-degree Master's program, localized in Shanghai. The current phase is to obtain CTI accreditation to be able to deliver the engineering degree ourselves.

Regarding training schemes, students can either follow a Bachelor's + Master's engineering training program lasting six and a half years, entirely in China, or a Bachelor's degree in China, followed by an engineering degree in France, lasting 5 and a half to 6 and a half years, depending on the equivalence of their international exchange and their Bachelor's degree project. Furthermore, a co-supervised doctoral program is in the process of being set up.

To date, we have graduated 3112 Bachelor students, of whom 1765 simultaneously obtained their engineering degree. The employment rate and salary levels are very satisfactory. Most of our graduates continue to work in the engineering field, in China, France, or other regions of the world.

In addition to training Chinese students, we have developed several international programs. A 6-month French program 'Science and Humanity in China' for Bachelor level students, mainly from UTs, and a 6-month English program 'International Engineer' for Master's level students. Over 1000 French students have come on exchange thanks to these programs. Recently, we launched a new Master's double-degree program dedicated to foreign students. UT students can spend their final year of engineering with us, followed by an internship in China to obtain their Master's degree from Shanghai University. With the reopening of China in 2023, we hope that more international students will be able to come to Shanghai for exchange or graduate studies.

In addition to training, another mission of UTSEUS is to promote scientific collaboration. In fact, we are the only Franco-Chinese institute with an international CNRS laboratory. In 2019, we launched the METISLAB LIA laboratory with INSA-Lyon in the field of medical engineering, imaging, and signals. Another innovative initiative is the joint recruitment of 3 distinguished professors by Shanghai University and UTs to develop scientific activities based in Shanghai. In terms of scientific production, UTSEUS has published 75 articles in international journals over the past 3 years, some of which are of very high level, which is quite impressive for a Franco-Chinese institute, given that we have a small team of teacher-researchers.

As an engineering school, close ties with industry are essential. We have strategic industrial partners, including French companies located in the Shanghai region. Many activities such as courses, exhibitions, visits, and innovative competitions proposed by our industrial partners are integrated into our training, as well as internship and employment opportunities.

Finally, we summarize some miscellaneous activities in the last slide, such as the summer school in France to discover French culture, the UT Alumni Association in China, the exhibition at major industrial forums, and the visit of the French Minister of Higher Education, among others.