Abu Dhabi enjoys more links with France

Landmarks like the Louvre and Paris-Sorbonne University are just a start of a fruitful partnership between the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and France. Now the relationship between the UAE and France is being further strengthened with a new student exchange programme launched recently The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and the Foundation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (Science Po) and Institut d'Etudes Politiques De Paris, will offer for the first time an internship programme for six top-performing undergraduate Emirati students with the aim of promoting the cultural and scientific cooperation between the two countries, while supporting an open dialogue between civilisations. Exchanging ideas Article continues below Speaking to Gulf News on the initiative, Dr Mugheer Al Khaili, director general at ADEC said: "The UAE has hosted students from the UK, US and France as part of an exchange programme and would like to attract more of those students as well as send our own. The aim is to exchange ideas and knowledge, and to present our UAE culture to other students. We are looking to develop further links with other countries, and intend on sending more students for both short and long educational stays." In efforts to encourage top performing students with a GPA over 3.0, Mona Al Mansouri, division manager, guidance and scholarship, higher education sector, and her team at ADEC, selected three male and three female Emirati students from UAE University (UAEU) and Sorbonne Abu Dhabi. "We looked at top performing students across seven universities, namely in UAEU, Zayed University, Higher Colleges of Technology, the Petroleum Institute, Sorbonne and NYU. As part of the criteria, we selected students with high grades studying political studies and law, since their trip to France includes gaining knowledge in the field of politics. "The trip will introduce them to the European political environment, and the European Union (EU), as well as to discuss a set of global and regional issues," said Al Mansouri.