And yet another chapter of the ATHENS book: The March Session 2022 just started

Given the current situation at the borders of the European Union, this news give hope: Once again, the ATHENS network made it possible for students from all over Europe to travel to other countries, to discover high-quality courses in another university, and to open their minds to the diversity that surrounds us.

More than 1000 students from the ATHENS partners applied to the session in March 2022. They had the choice between 40 different courses, proposed by the following ten members of the network, which counts 15 universities in total:

• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece,
• Czech Technical University in Czech Republic,
• Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal,
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium,
• Politecnico di Milano in Italy,
• Technische Universität München in Germany,
• University Politehnica of Bucharest in Romania,
• Warsaw University of Technology in Poland,
• Arts et Métiers and Mines ParisTech – PSL for ParisTech in France.

Nearly 200 international students have been accepted in one of the courses organized by one of the participating ParisTech partners: Arts et Métiers and Mines ParisTech - PSL. Together, they offer eight courses, covering a broad variety of topics, from Health and Medicine in Europe to the Life cycle of Energy Systems:

• Nonlinear Computational Mechanics
• Health and Medicine in Europe – Social, Political and Ethical Stakes
• City logistics: supply chain and public policies
• Extrem Value Statistics
• Le langage C++
• Life Cycle of Energy Systems
• Introduction to Musculoskeletal and Osteoarticular biomechanics
• Polymers and composites (properties and durability)

The ATHENS week started festively for the students coming to Paris: They spent Saturday afternoon at Mines ParisTech, where they discovered not only the magnificent building, but also got to know more about ParisTech and the opportunities of studying at one of its excellent schools. Afterwards, they spent some time all together, enjoying some French cheese and wine and chatting about where they are coming from, which course they follow, and what to do in Paris. On Sunday, they participated in guided tours, either discovering the district of Montmartre, the different hot spots of street art, the fall of the Bastille, or the criminal history of the French capital.

However, during the week, the focus of the ATHENS programme lies of course on the courses. In the evenings, the international students can mingle with their French counterparts, who organized some cultural and social activities throughout the whole week. On Saturday, the international students are going back home, their minds filled with lots of new memories and experiences. And who knows, some of them might come back to integrate one of the ParisTech schools, and to deepen their experience in France.

“This is the beauty of the ATHENS programme”, says Alma Catala Luna, the Head of International Relations of Mines ParisTech. “The students come to Paris, Bucharest or Thessaloniki for one week, they explore a beautiful city with lots and lots of cultural offers, they discover new topics, new teaching methods, new professors – and last but not least, they get in touch with a lot of other students from all over Europe and embrace the European citizenship. With the ATHENS programme, we want to raise their curiosity, and engage them to thrive for excellence. It is a great opportunity for the European Engineers of tomorrow to broaden their horizon – both on the personal and professional level.”

The ATHENS network is coordinated by Mines ParisTech on behalf of ParisTech. The school has the pleasure to organize at the end of this year another big birthday: The ATHENS network turns 25 and can’t wait for what is coming next.