The President of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Frédérique Vidal, extended her New Year’s wishes for 2015 to the academic community. The ceremony took place on Thursday, January 22, at the Faculty of Law and Political Science in Nice.
The year 2015 is an important year for UNS. It marks the 50th anniversary of the university, founded in 1965. On this occasion, Olivier Vernier, a professor of legal history and institutions, created a traveling exhibition entitled “Histories of Modern Universities.” This exhibition can be discovered at the Faculty of Law, in the “salle des pas perdus.”
Another major event marks the beginning of this year. It is the creation of the University Côte d’Azur (UCA), a community of universities and institutions that will bring together all the actors of higher education and research in the Alpes-Maritimes territory. This project will represent a potential of 35,000 students and 5,000 people involved in research. Thus, the UCA will be one of the 25 major university and scientific clusters that will now shape the French landscape of higher education and research. It will be capable of competing with major global universities.
The JEDI Project of UNS
“The law of July 2013 required each site to organize cooperation among all research and higher education institutions. Therefore, we created University Côte d’Azur, which is essentially the community among the university, art schools, the university hospital center… to work together on a number of topics. For example, on joint research projects, on international deployment. We needed to create a strategy in terms of development and research. This project presents three major challenges: health, welfare and aging, smart territory, and the digital challenge,” explains Frédérique Vidal, President of UNS.
“The government has launched a future investment program. The selection has begun, and we have submitted the project, allowing us to obtain funding to deploy the strategy we’ve established together. It is the initiative of excellence. The project we are carrying is the JEDI project, Joined, Excellent and Dynamic Initiative,” she continues.
The President of UNS insisted on the importance of breaking down the walls between disciplines and linking them since UNS is a multidisciplinary university. “For example, we will then set up joint research projects between the university and the hospital, particularly regarding brain science and cognition. We will also work with Villa Arson to establish a doctoral degree in art, which does not currently exist.”
