Coming Together: the Sorbonne University Alumni Network
Sorbonne University is launching an online campaign to unite its 400,000 alumni.
The objective: create a network between the university and its graduates to enable collaboration, with the goal of meeting the challenges of the 21st century. Arnaud Magnin, Director of Alumni Relations, outlines the network’s ambitions.
How will the alumni campaign unfold in November and December?
Arnaud Magnin: Our university now has 400,000 alumni. Most of them are graduates of the two former universities that merged in 2018: Pierre et Marie Curie University and Paris-Sorbonne University. In November, we are launching an online campaign to introduce our former students to Sorbonne University and announce the creation of an alumni network that is free and open to all, regardless of their academic course or location. An online survey will be active through December, which will enable us to better identify the collaborations that we will be able to develop with our community.
Why is setting up such a network essential for Sorbonne University?
A.M.: As full members of our community, just like our students and staff, our alumni share common values and interests with us and work in sectors of activity that converge with our objectives. As such, it seems obvious that we should contact them as a priority to develop collaborations in all of our missions. This collaboration should benefit our alumni as much as the university, as well as society. With the presence of many international alumni, this network will also contribute to raising the visibility of Sorbonne University around the world.
Soirée inaugurale du club des docteurs
What are the goals of the inaugural evening of the Doctors' Club?
A.M.: In the education and research structures of Sorbonne University, many alumni come back to our campuses to give courses, share their experiences or support our students in building their professional careers. Our alumni develop research projects with their former thesis directors, for example, or create their business with our services, our laboratories or our partners. The objective of the alumni network is to give an even greater strength and visibility to these actions, but also to create new opportunities. In particular, this involves developing the interdisciplinary initiatives that we have at Sorbonne University where the variety of our academic researchers is very broad.
How do you see the relationship between Sorbonne University and its alumni?
A.M.: We want to work together on the objectives that drive us collectively. Sorbonne University wants its alumni to always have access to the knowledge it produces, through events and content designed especially for them. Knowledge is what connects us. We must also be able to support them in their career development, just as they must be able to support us in the development of joint research projects. We need them in the guidance and professional integration of our students. And the support they provide to our student body enables them in return to find future collaborators.
How are you going to build this network?
A.M .: On the website, our alumni will be able to follow each phase of the construction of this network, which is based on a major tool: the creation of clubs. We invite those who would like to get involved to contact the Alumni Relations Department so that we can help them create geographic, professional, thematic or disciplinary clubs. We have already created clubs abroad as well as the Doctors' Club. We are in the process of co-building a Biotech club with colleagues from the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering and a Jacques Doucet, Arts and Heritage club with colleagues from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. All Sorbonne University staff who want to start a club can of course contact us.
November is also the launch of the Alter Ego series, right?
A.M.: For alumni, the desire to get involved is based on the memories and experience they had during their career and the relationships they have had with those who educated them. Many alumni testify to their attachment to teachers, researchers and administrative staff with whom they have worked during their studies.
As such, we wanted to highlight these meetings through a video series: Alter Ego. These videos will bring together, , a graduate and a staff member of the university based on a theme that is important to them.
Contact the Alumni Relations Department by email (alumni@sorbonne-universite.fr)
Alter Ego, quand les rencontres font bien les choses ! #1 Aurélie Jean, scientifique numéricienne et entrepreneuse, alumna Sorbonne Université (2005) et Lucile Julien, professeure émérite de physique à Sorbonne Université.
This video was filmed at the end of 2019, before the pandemic.