Rice University and Université Paris Sciences & Lettres (PSL), two of the world’s leading urban research and higher education institutions, have signed a strategic partnership for research and innovation on major global challenges and opportunities. The announcement was made May 13 in Paris.
With this ambitious collaboration, the two universities aim to advance research in the fields of energy and climate; quantum computing and artificial intelligence; global health and medicine; and urban futures.
Rice and Université PSL share a multidisciplinary approach in the field of the humanities, arts and sciences; the excellence of their undergraduate education; and, with the Rice Global Paris Center, proximity to the center of Paris and other international hubs.
It is their common research priorities that led to the coming together of these two institutions and their researchers, the universities' presidents said. The partnership will spur conferences on the four research priorities, the first of which will take place May 14 at the Rice Global Paris Center.
Subsequently, a biannual call for projects will select joint research projects that will be financially supported by the two institutions. The engagement between these two major universities will allow new research and education topics to emerge to meet the needs of the future.
“We are honored and excited to partner with Paris Sciences and Lettres University and join forces to advance bold innovation and find solutions to the biggest global challenges of our time,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said. “The unique strengths and ambitions of our faculty, students, scholarship and research are what brings us together, and our passion and hope to build a better future for all is what will drive our partnership agenda. Representing two distinct geographic, economic and cultural regions known for ingenuity and excellence, Rice and PSL’s efforts will know no bounds.”
“This is a global and cross-disciplinary partnership that will benefit from both a bottom-up, research-driven dynamic and a top-down commitment at the highest level,” PSL President Alain Fuchs said. “The quality and complementarity of the researchers from PSL and Rice who mobilized for this event give us reason to believe that this partnership will get off to a rapid and productive start. It will offer a strong framework to all the PSL schools for developing collaborations within their areas of strength and their natural partners at Rice.”
Université PSL, which combines 11 of the most elite research institutes and universities in France into a single entity, brings a unique community of 2,900 world-class researchers and 140 research laboratories to the partnership, while Rice matches the same academic breadth and excellence and adds to the mix distinct research opportunities because of its location in Houston, leaders said. The coastal city, considered the most diverse metropolis in the United States, is known as the energy transition capital of the world, the home to the Texas Medical Center, the globe’s leading health care complex, and for its pioneering history and leadership in space exploration and industry.
(Video by Brandi Smith and photos by Daniel Nicolaevsky.)
