FUA / AUF
The French Speaking University Agency
www.auf.org
The programme provides active support to French
departments, language centres and French-language
degree programmes, instructor-researchers and
student researchers, to develop teaching and
research about French and in French, about its
partner languages and, lastly, about intercultural
communication in development. Its action is based
on the work of seven networks of researchers, a
didactics collective and vehicles for information
and think-tank sharing.
Research Networks and Inter-Network Collective
◗ Research Network Diversity in Cultural and Artistic Forms of Expression, and
Globalisation
/>◗ Research Network Studying French in French-Speaking Countries
/>◗ Research Network Lexicology, Terminologie, Traduction
/>◗ Research Network Children’s Literature />◗ Research Network French-Language Literature from Sub-Saharan Africa and
the Indian Ocean />◗ Research Network Obser
vation of French and National Languages
/>◗ Research Network Sociolinguistics and Language Dynamics
/>◗ Inter-Network Collective on Language Didactics
Fostering appreciation for the
French language in universities
and promoting cultural diversity
are two complementary
objectives. Both involve bringing
to fruition the French language’s
inventiveness and means of
production, while also bringing

aims to make a significant
contribution to promoting
peace and democracy and
supporting the rule of law
and human rights.
Aspects of Rule of Law and Democracy
3
This topical programme run by the Francophone University Agency (Agence
universitaire de la Francophonie, AUF) is being implemented as
a series of
multilateral actions
in education and research, relating to the aforementioned
objectives. In addition to the support provided to 11 French-speaking university
degree programmes
and 3 open distance educational programmes, 4 research
networks also receive support from the Francophone University Agency:
Basic Rights Network
◗ Coordinator: Monsieur Ghislain OTIS
School of Law
University of Laval (Canada)
E-mail:
Web site:
Rule of Law Philosophy Network
◗ Coordinator: Monsieur Stéphane DOUAILLER
University of Paris VIII (France)
E-mail:
Web site:
.org
Right to Healthcare Network
◗ Coordinator: Monsieur Pierre LUNEL

and Research
Support for Information and Communication
5
Reducing the Digital Divide by Improving the Connectivity
of Universities in the South
/>◗ Designing and running a network of French-speaking digital campuses, under
joint management with a host university. They offer a variety of educational
programmes (workshops, distance learning) in scientific and technological
information, and a high-level digital working environment. The 42 digital work
areas have been established in French-speaking universities offering education
to the broadest audience possible.
Developing a Policy on
Scientific Content in the French Language.
o -
-
◗ Funding for electronic scientific periodicals on tender basis (35 periodicals).
◗ Electronic dissemination of scientific content: search international databanks,
provide basic documents, digital library.
◗ Inventory of university teaching resources (4 500 sets of course material).
◗ Publication of university teaching manuals and summary works covering basic
subject matter (200 works).
◗ Funding for online courses by instructors from the South and the East.
Fostering Research (Research Networks, Watchtower), and
French-Speaking Representatives on International
Committees
(Standardisation, Regulation)

◗ Creating a research network on ICTs for instructional use.
◗ Participation in international standardisation and governance bodies.
◗ Information Society Watchtower.

Support for Information and Communication
7
> “University Governance and the Development of the Caribbean
(Martinique, 2005),
> “African Universities in a Globalised World of Changing Universities”
(Yaoundé, 2005),
> in partnership with the World Bank: “Universities in French-Speaking Africa
and the Use of Knowledge to Serve Development: Learning from Success
Stories” (Dakar-Saly, 2005).
•
An international conference, organised in conjunction with the World Bank
and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will focus on the topic : “Higher
Education at the Heart of Development Strategies in French-Speaking Africa:
Better Understanding the Keys to Success” (Ouagadougou, June 2006).
2. Strengthening exchange through movement for individuals and networking
between institutions.
◗ mobility for students, teachers and researchers (scholarships, teaching
assignments, etc.):
/>The AUF grants 2.500 international mobility scholarships each year to help
the neediest universities, so that they may develop their scientific resources.
Encouragement is given for mobility involving applicants from the South to
establishments in the South or North, or applicants from the North to
establishments in the South.
The Francophone University Agency (AUF) offers a range of scholarships:
• for students (60% of the mobility programme): masters, doctorate,
internships (vocational, etc.);
•
for teachers and researchers (40% of the mobility programme):
post-doctoral research, scientific refresher courses, educational refresher
courses, teaching assignments, participation in scientific events.

nearly 700 establishment heads in 60 countries.
Support for Information and Communication
9
3. Promoting excellence in the sciences for French-speaking universities and
researchers in the South.
There exist, in a number of Southern university institutions, places where
excellence has been achieved in the sciences, to an international standard.
The AUF’s aims also include promoting that excellence so that it can be spread
and shared at both the regional and international levels.
◗ Support for regional excellence centres (PER):

The AUF’s support in this area is intended to improve universities with high
scientific value in the South, help them mobilise a regional skills network in
the sciences and share the resources available to them.
University cooperation programmes in other regions, particularly in the
North, can also take part, and are invited to contribute to the high-level
scientific sharing underway and the influence it has on the region around it.
16 excellence centres were given support between 2003 and 2006, with most
(10) found in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean region.
A new application period will be opened in 2006.
◗ Support for inter-university scientific projects (PCSI):
http://www
.auf.org/article106.html
Every 2 years, based on an international call for applications, the AUF
supports research and/or educational projects with an impact on
development in the South. The projects are carried out by a network of at
least three universities from different countries, at least one of which must
come from the South. The programme encourages the participation of
young people and women.
75 projects, currently being funded, come from the last international call for

• provide services relating to information and communications technologies,
• network development players from all horizons.
Its partners are those who make development a reality: governments, international
organisations, local governments (decentralised cooperation), enterprises and
trade communities.
Support for Information and Communication
11
Support for Information and Communication
The partnerships give rise to such concrete outcomes as:
◗ cooperation contracts (delegated actions), for which organisations of all kinds
may call upon it:
• supporting reforms in higher education in Africa, in partnership with the
World Bank,
• developing a university degree programme in IT at the University of
Georgia, in partnership with the Yonne General Council,
• revamping education in the sciences in Cambodia, through a partnership
with the Rodolphe Mérieux Foundation, etc.
◗ experimentation with original cooperation methods designed and proposed by
training and research institutions to better respond to changes in development
today (innovative actions):
• helping institutions from Northern Africa and the Middle East participate in
the European Union’s financing programmes (partners: the European Union
Commission),
• supporting universities and researchers in the scientific and technological
Diaspora based in North America:
> building a regional educational network on the agro-food industry in the
Middle East,
> mobilising “volunteers – senior citizens” to serve cooperation in the
sciences, etc.
◗ encounters between companies that invest in developing countries and the

instructors and consortiums of French-speaking universities from the North
around scientific or vocational education programmes leading to degrees. The
best students may enter doctoral programmes in the universities belonging to
the consortia.
Sustainable development, defined as
“
development that meets the
needs of the present without
jeopardising the ability of future
generations to meet theirs
” is the
objective assigned to all of our
societies by the international
community. Development of that
kind is not viable unless conceived
of in a spirit of solidarity and sharing
with the neediest populations.
Institutes
The 3 Institutes of the French-Speaking World:
• Administration and Management in Sofia:
/>• Entrepreneurship in Maurice:
/>• Tropical Diseases in Vientiane:
/>were designed to contribute to the development of countries in the regions
where they were established
. They offer vocational or doctoral (Master’s)
education in innovative areas and come in response to specific regional needs.
Instruction is provided mainly by lecturers (professors and researchers) from
French-speaking countries on assignment, or experts from the region’s
professional and business community.
Research Networks


TO CONTACT THE PROGRAMME:
Environment and Solidarity-Based Sustainable Development
15
Conception : Signatur
e Graphique 01 49 29 43 20 • Juin 2006
Agence universitaire de la Francophonie