The University of Lille has a strong focus on internationalisation built on strategic alliances.

The University’s European and international policy is central to its overall project and vision. Together with its partners, it develops structured programmes combining research and teaching, from Bachelor’s to doctoral level. It has placed strong emphasis on initiatives for the joint supervision of doctoral theses and put in place services, units and research laboratories in collaboration with European and international partners. It also encourages mobility among its students and staff.

The University of Lille has established partnerships around the world, with particularly strong links to Latin America and Asia. In order to support its projects in these zones, promote its programmes and offer local contact points for its partners, the University plans to open offices in these key regions. The first was established in Belo Horizonte in Brazil in 2019, and others will follow.

The University’s international ambition is reflected in institutional networks and agreements, including its participation in the European University Association (EUA), the university agency for Francophonie (AUF) and the body responsible for promoting the French higher education system abroad, Campus France. Since 2020, the University of Lille has been a member of the European network SGroup, which encourages excellence in higher education in synergy with the needs of society.

It is also a member of several exchange programmes for international students: with the United States (International Student Exchange Program – ISEP), Quebec (Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire France-Québec) and Europe (Erasmus+). It collaborates with many other countries through a large number of bilateral agreements and has developed structural partnerships with several university consortiums.

Located in a region that faces multiple challenges but also has strong potential when it comes to scientific, economic and social innovation, the University of Lille came together with the University of Ghent and KU Leuven in Belgium and the University of Kent in the United Kingdom to create the 3i University Network. This was done within the scope of the I-SITE project, which seeks to strengthen the link between the University and its ecosystem. And so the objective underpinning this network is to get researchers, local authorities, socio-economic actors and civil society representatives to work together in response to shared challenges in the Hauts-de-France region, Flanders and Kent.

To support its strategy of inclusive excellence, the University has developed the InclusU alliance. With participation from seven European universities and placing inclusion at the heart of their vision, InclusU is a strategic alliance to develop transnational cooperation in education, research and community engagement. The alliance works as an incubator for innovative projects on issues of vulnerability and inclusion. Together, the seven partners respond to national and international calls for projects. Consolidating this cooperation, the InclusU alliance made a successful bid to the German government through its German partner, the European University Viadrina, and also to the Programme Investissements d’Avenir in France. Its partners have benefited from Erasmus+ support for a project on digital inclusion (DIAL4U) and secured funding for several research networks, including one on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations in Europe. Its activities are linked to the I-SITE cluster working on vulnerability and inclusion.