Robert Varady, acting director of the Udall Center at the UA
The University of Arizona and the French National Research Center have created a framework that will allow researchers at both institutions to collaborate in a number of areas.
The four-year agreement between the UA and the CNRS establishes a Joint International Unit on Water, Environment and Public Policy, and will link researchers with common interests in these areas. The UMI, the French acronym for Joint International Unit, is one of only four such units in the U.S. and will be based at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. Its initial support and funding comes from three of CNRS’s six divisions: Social and Human Sciences, Environment and Sustainability, and Earth and Space Sciences. The other divisions are math, physics, earth sciences and astronomy; chemistry; and life sciences.
"The core of the arrangement is exchanges: faculty, researchers and students heading both ways, with the idea of partnering on research they could do together," said Robert Varady, acting director of the Udall Center. Approximately 15,000 university and laboratory scientists in France have connections to CNRS.
"There are two words that describe the commitment: international and interdisciplinary," said Graciela Schneier-Mandanes, a deputy director at CNRS and a member of the faculty at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. "We think the UA is an extraordinary place for interdisciplinary research on water, and that’s why we’re here."
Schneier-Mandanes is a visiting scientist at the Udall Center and at the department of geography and regional development, the Water Resources Research Center and the Center for Latin American Studies.
Last year she briefed the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., about the UA. That led to the embassy asking Varady to visit. While in Washington, Varady invited the director of the CNRS sustainability and environment division to Tucson.
The arrangement has already born fruit. Three French scientists already have visited the UA and others are expected. Already a French resource economist and a UA researcher have paired on a CNRS call for proposals.
"The UA would not have been eligible to apply for the grant since it was only intended for CNRS researchers," Varady said. "What the UMI does by proxy is make the UA a part of the CNRS system."
At the same time, UA researchers are expected to work with French and European colleagues overseas.
UA and CNRS officials are hoping to schedule a formal inauguration ceremony this fall in Tucson.
Robert Varady
Udall Center Acting Director
520-626-4393
Robert Merideth
Udall Center Editor
520-626-4393