Australian Curtin University and the French research institution École Nationale Superieure de Techniques Avancées Bretagne have sealed a two-way mobility agreement for their doctoral students working of defence research.
The Collaborative Doctoral Program will enable PhD students at both institutions to conduct research at the partner university for up to a year.
“These relationships have intensified since the Naval Group contract was signed”
The new partnership builds on an ongoing exchange agreement that allows students from ENSTA Bretagne to study at Curtin for a period between three and 12 months.
The areas of research collaboration covered by the program will be those supporting the defence industry, including multi-disciplinary research across robotics and AI, human factors engineering, corrosion engineering and marine acoustics.
“The agreement with ENSTA Bretagne is an opportunity for Curtin to again demonstrate its world-leading research capabilities at an international level in order to make a meaningful contribution to the defence industry,” Curtin University deputy vice-chancellor Chris Moran said in a statement.
“At the same time, Curtin will benefit from the shared expertise and achievements of the visiting ENSTA Bretagne PhD students and researchers in what is a mutually enriching arrangement.”
Moran added that the collaboration was timely, given the recent signing of an A$50bn agreement between the Australian government and the French company Naval Group on the delivery of Australia’s Future Submarine Program.
The ongoing collaboration between Australia and France on defence have contributed to strengthen the collaboration between the two institutions, ENSTA Bretagne director Pascal Pinot said.
“These relationships have intensified since the Naval Group contract was signed, making Curtin a partner of choice, especially for our doctoral students,” he said.
“Our fields of expertise are very close to those of Curtin and we are counting on this collaboration to further strengthen them, to the great benefit of doctoral students who will also mix French and Australian cultures throughout their careers.”
