The MobinterSH program, organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Université Paris Cité (UPCité), is a unique grant initiative that promotes international experiences for students and strengthens global connections in academic programs.
What projects?
MobinterSH offers funding each year to support short-term student mobility projects abroad as part of their degree programs. These projects are designed to combine academic learning with international and intercultural experiences.
They can take different forms such as :
- Study trips or research fieldwork abroad
- Collaborative projects with foreign universities
- Seminars or workshops with international partners (in situ or/and online)
Funded projects include a short stay abroad with students accompanied by a faculty member.
Priority is given to projects aligned with the Faculty’s internationalization strategy.
In 2024, MobinterSH supported eight mobility projects with partner institutions in Belgium, Spain, Italy, Morocco, and the UK.
Who can apply?
The project must be submitted by an academic staff member, for instance a teacher, of the Faculty and must involve a group of students from the Faculty.
Students who are interested in setting up their own project are strongly encouraged to do so. They should contact one of their lecturers to support and submit the application.
International higher education institutions should first reach out to a teacher from the Faculty at UPCité to initiate and develop a collaborative project.
Priority will be given to projects:
When to apply?
The application process follows a clear timeline:
- January: Call for project proposals opens, with details on selection criteria and the application form published on the program’s website.
- March: Deadline for applications.
- April: Results of the selection process announced.
- May to December: Selected projects are implemented.
Take a look at some of our MobinterSH projects:
Jean-Baptiste Lanne (GHES department): a Franco-Moroccan project designed to introduce students to qualitative methods and the analysis of territorial challenges in the context of global transitions.
This project brought together 15 students from Université Paris Cité’s Master GAED-DynPed program and 15 students from Université Ibnou Zohr’s Master of Development program, supported by five supervisors from France and Morocco. The program took place in Morocco from October 16 to 21, 2023, in the Agadir region, home to Université Ibnou Zohr, with which Université Paris Cité has maintained a cooperation agreement since 2019.
The trip had three main objectives:
- to provide students with on-site training in qualitative methods in geography ;
- to promote intercultural exchange through collaborative Franco-Moroccan survey groups
- and finally, to enhance students’ understanding of the local challenges of global transitions by offering them the opportunity to study a city pursuing an alternative model to mass tourism in a region highly vulnerable to climate change.
Testimonials
“For teachers at UPC and Ibnou-Zohr, the joint preparation of the internship and the supervision of students during fieldwork encouraged fruitful exchanges on the different ways of teaching the conduct of a field survey. These privileged exchanges sparked the interest in extending our collaboration and forging closer long-term links between the UPC and Ibnou Zohr geography departments. This desire is reflected in a shared desire to renew the placement for years to come; but also in the organization in 2025 of a workshop at UPC around the issues of migrant settlements in the city.” (Jean-Baptiste Lanne)
“Working with our Moroccan counterparts is also a wonderful experience because they bring a completely new perspective to the way we perceive space. Investigating alongside them teaches us to constantly adapt to multilingual exchanges, unexpected developments during field conversations, and sometimes unforeseen interview conditions.” (Roman Guichard, M1 GAED Dynped)
“One of the fears I had before heading into the second-semester fieldwork was [my] inability to gather data on a research topic. The work we did in Taghazout helped me put that fear into perspective because we were collectively confronted with our shortcomings, impatience, and frustrations. If, as we saw, fieldwork is anything but easy, predictable, or pre-written, then having a dedicated opportunity to face these methodological biases can only be an excellent idea.” (Margot Lootens, M1 GAED Dynped)
“This trip exposed us to a new approach to geography, focused on different issues and priorities that are essential to understand and study before fully engaging in our Master’s thesis field research. The hands-on learning experience, although brief, was intense and allowed us to gain more knowledge than any theoretical course could have provided.” (Manolo Videau, M1 GAED Dynped)
Cristian Valdez ( EILA department): Providing a group of second-year students in the Applied Foreign Languages (LEA) program with the opportunity to participate in short-term mobility in Murcia, Spain, with the aim of fostering future mobility opportunities.
The goal was to explore the city’s academic and cultural environment while highlighting the benefits of spending time abroad. The students:
Attended a course at the University of Murcia.
Engaged in informal discussions about international mobility.
Practiced their Spanish by interacting with university staff and local students.
Assisted in the successful execution of pre-organized cultural and recreational activities.
Published an online feedback report, available on the dedicated Padlet. This visual feedback outlines the timeline of Cristian Valdez’s project (before, during, and after the trip).
Testimonials
“Internationalization is at the heart of the Mobinter SH program and is part of a strategy to boost outgoing mobility. The funding obtained enabled the establishment of an academic exchange between Université Paris Cité and the University of Murcia (Spain) with students from the English-Spanish Applied Foreign Languages (LEA) program of the EILA department. Through this project, I was able to demonstrate to a group of students the value of participating in international mobility and, consequently, encourage them to engage in such initiatives.” (Cristian Valdez)