Center for Interdisciplinary French Studies at UW-Madison

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Welcome to Montpellier AGRO-M

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Would you like to enhance your graduate education by having an opportunity do research and study in another country for spring semester? Would you like to focus on cross-cultural environmental and conservation studies? Would you like to gain knowledge about a foreign country and have long-lasting effects on your future career opportunities and trajectories?

We are looking to train global scientists with concrete technical skills and a broad perspective on how science works within specific social, regulatory, and political contexts. By working in alternative cultural and political contexts, you will gain cross-cultural competence and learn to apply interdisciplinary tools to solve real-world problems. This experience will improve your ability to form collaborations and work effectively in an international environment.

The University of Wisconsin – Madison is excited to announce that it has received funds from both the French Foreign Ministry's Franco-American Cultural Exchange (FACE) program and the U.S. National Science Foundation to support graduate student exchanges with institutions in Montpellier, France. UW students will have the opportunity to live and study in Montpellier – a beautiful, 1,000 year old city in southwest France near the Mediterranean Sea. Like Madison, it is a popular medium-sized university city and the seat of local government.

Who should apply?

We encourage applications from those interested in the broad group of disciplines that connect to environmental studies (including but not limited to plant sciences, climate change, microbiology, rural sociology, conservation biology, economics, land use and urban sprawl, watershed management). Our goal is to help students explore innovative approaches to environmental issues and their scientific and political solutions in the context of working abroad. This exchange program is optimal for students at early and mid-levels of graduate study, although we will consider applications from senior graduate students with a well-developed proposal for research in Montpellier that will advance their graduate program. Each student's program will be individually tailored to complement and advance their UW graduate work.

What is the structure of this program?

Our lead partner in Montpellier is Agro-M in Montpellier. Agro-M is a small, elite agricultural university that offers a semi-structured Masters program for professional students. Agro-M has distinguished faculty who generally have active research programs and multiple institutional affiliations in Montpellier. The departments are comparable to UW’s College of Agriculture (e.g. Soil Science, Plant Protection, Forest Ecology, Wildlife Ecology, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Rural Sociology, Urban Planning, etc.). Exchange students can choose to take several modular (one-at-a-time) courses at Agro-M for UW credit (these are mostly in French, though a few are in English). While first and second year students will generally be expected to take courses for their program, more advanced students may prefer to focus on research.

The second element in this exchange is your independent research. Our exchange draws on an unusually broad set of educational and research institutions in Montpellier, ranging from large universities to specialized government research institutes. For more specifics, see the web sites listed below.   We will work together with you and your advisor to match you with a host advisor in Montpellier. Your research project there should complement, enrich, or extend your UW graduate research; for students in some MS programs, your Montpellier research may be your Masters project.

What about funding?

Support levels vary and range from a base $4,500 stipend (without tuition, mainly for those taking classes) to a 50% Research Assistantship for the semester (~$7,125 plus tuition waiver and $900 to cover travel, mainly for those focused on research). All participants will receive international health insurance, assistance in planning travel, securing a visa, and related paperwork for study abroad.

In addition, Agro-M can provide for students in its programs:

* a one-half of market price housing subsidy if you live in university housing

(Note:   market rates for off-campus apartments are ~€420 per month compared to University housing costs of about €210 per month.   However, some UW students in Spring 2006 found the Agro-M dorms had an "undergraduate" atmosphere)

* a meal ticket that provides access to meals on campus at about 33% of campus-based fair market costs (meals at €2.80 instead of €8.40)

Note:   This is a reciprocal exchange program meaning that French students coming to UW are enrolled at Agro-M and vice versa. You therefore need to pay tuition or have an assistantship or fellowship that includes a tuition waiver.

Do I need to speak French?

Yes, at least some. If you are planning to take classes and get the most from your international experience, you will need reasonably fluent written and spoken French. If you are only doing research, you may be able to get by with elementary French, depending on the lab (most French scientists speak good English). Selected participants will undergo a French language assessment.

Application Decisions

We want to select students early enough to allow those selected to take an intensive French courses and/or other courses that may be relevant. We plan to announce our decisions shortly after the deadline fall semester 2007 .