Franco-Chinese Collaboration : IEMN – SICCAS – SIMIT – ECNU

This collaboration dates back to 2005 and was strengthened in 2008 following the visit of M. Rémiens to China, which was supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had as objective the identification of research activities of mutual interest to SICCAS, SIMIT, ECNU and IEMN/CNRS. Special emphasis was given on “smart materials” and “MEMS, NEMS applications”. This visit proved to be successful in identifying projects of common interest and was followed by a Franco-Chinese Workshop organized at IEMN in June 2009. The following topics were identified for a potential collaboration among the parties involved: (1) smart materials (metamaterials, multiferroics, ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials); (2) MEMS and BIOMEMS; (3) Micro waves devices and characterizations; (4) Carbon nanotubes. The Chinese partners and, in particular the ECNU, emphasized the need for creating a Joint International Laboratory and offered, laboratory and office space and an investment of one million Euros for new equipment.
A follow-up Workshop was organized in November 2009 in Shanghai where IEMN/CNRS representatives interacted with their Chinese counterparts and defined in more detail the contents of their joint research projects, as well as the associated funding and manpower. Since a key component for a successful research partnership is the involvement of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, meetings were also held with the ECNU President and Vise-President for Education, as well as prospective students to address these point. An MOU describing the partnership was also signed by the Chinese representatives on this occasion and is currently in the process of being finalized.