From mid-September to the end of November, the International Relations and Academic Partnerships Department (DRIPA) of IMT Atlantique is returning to the international stage. It will be present at numerous international fairs, particularly in South America and Asia, as well as in Europe and Africa, to promote the school and its courses, recruit students and even meet alumni.
The promotional campaign for IMT Atlantique began with the European Association for International Education (EAIE) which took place in Barcelona in mid-September. It is continuing this autumn through a dozen or so education fairs that will give the institution increased visibility. Such education fairs also present opportunities to pursue negotiations with governmental organisations (embassies and ministries) and other funding bodies in order to position IMT Atlantique as an institution of higher education for high-potential international students, and to make it easier for future IMT Atlantique students to obtain scholarships, as was the case a few days ago with the Peruvian government at the Pronabec fair.
"If the pandemic has given a boost to online fairs and other webinars, which was an avenue we were already using before Covid, we are pursuing them with certain ASEAN countries in particular," explains Stéphane Roy, head of the international relations department, who will soon be at the University of Belgrade to establish new contacts. "The fact remains that the exchanges are more fruitful in person, especially when it comes to individual meetings with students preselected to follow our courses."
These international missions are also part of the dynamic promotion of higher education institutions by the Campus France agency, a key partner of the school, within the framework of the Choose France Tour in India (from 11 to 16 October), Pakistan (from 31 October to 4 November), Ethiopia and Tanzania (from 14 to 19 November) as well as in China and Nigeria (from 23 to 26 November). Some of these education fairs will involve first-time appearances by IMT Atlantique.
ExpoPosgrados in Bogota, Colombia (1-2 October) and EuroPosgrados in Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico (5-8 November) are also key events where students flock.
Participating in the EHEF fairs in Jakarta and Surabaya in Indonesia (from 5 to 8 November) to meet candidates, will also allow IMT Atlantique to meet the FICEM partner universities and to discuss new training and research projects within the French-Indonesian consortium. Within the scope of the Institut Mines-Télécom, IMT Atlantique will also participate in coordinated recruitment campaigns in Brazil and Colombia (from 22 to 30 October).
"We are a very pro-active engineering school at these fairs, which are obviously not chosen at random," emphasises Bérénice Brochard, who is in charge of the promotion of international training. "We chose them because they take place in countries where there is a strong demand or identified needs for certain subjects related to our master's of science and also the recruitment of students for the engineering programme. It's a privileged contact with potential future students!"
These fairs are only one part of the promotion of the programmes to international students, which also relies heavily on the recruitment agents with whom IMT Atlantique has privileged links and the referencing platforms that position its programmes among the best.
For those who are willing and able to do so, do not hesitate to meet us at these different fairs.
In the meantime, discover the testimonies of our international students in videos.
by Pierre-Hervé VAILLANT
