Activities

Supporting the French engineering schools' development and projects for 40 years

CDEFI has been guiding and supporting French schools of engineering in their development and projects for almost 40 years.
To carry out the missions it is responsible for, CDEFI relies on five thematic working groups, which are in charge of investigating all topics they are entrusted with according to the Conference priorities.

Each member of CDEFI can join four out of the five working groups and follows their activities during the year:

• Education and Society or Research and Innovation
• International and Development
• Human Resources and Funding
• Higher Education and Research Organization

The members of these working groups meet once every two months. 

International and Development

The mission of the International and Development Commission is to support engineering schools in their international development, to guide them in terms of strategic orientations and practical decisions. The members of the International and Development  Commission can exchange experiences and benefit from shared reflection about such topics as the opening of campuses abroad or the evolution of legislation on foreign students’ welcoming and French students’ mobility.

The International and Development Commission also aims at building strong relationships with professionals. The French schools of engineering identity is indeed based on a close collaboration with companies. As an institutional player, the CDEFI must reinforce this tie by developing its relations with professional organizations. 

The CDEFI also operates international programs, including the FITEC programs.

Education and Society

The members of the Education and Society Commission examine, on one hand, all topics related to engineering education: curricula, teaching methods, teachers, types of training, including lifelong learning and work/study training programs, etc.

On the other hand, the Education and Society Commission feeds the debate on social topics: equal opportunities, gender equality, higher education accessibility, ethics, student’s life and learning conditions, sustainable development, etc.

Last, the Education and Society Commission aims at conveying the brand image of French schools of engineering locally, nationally and abroad.

Human Resources and Funding

The members of the Human Resources and Funding Commission examine all topics related to autonomy, financial resources and business models of higher education and research institutions.

The Human Resources and Funding Commission also reflect about the new stakes of financial resources’ assignment for schools of engineering and helps them to understand and measure their training costs.

Research and Innovation

Research is a fundamental and strategic line for the development of schools of engineering.

The Research and Innovation Commission is therefore in charge of defending the viewpoint of schools of engineering making sure that they are involved in the definition of the National Research Strategy. The Research and Innovation Commission also acts so as to make research activities of schools of engineering more attractive, through framework agreements with the greater research organisms and an active participation in the research alliances. 

Higher Education and Research Organization

The members of the Higher Education and Research Organization Commission are in charge of all topics related to attractiveness and competitiveness of territories, to sites policies of higher education and research and to schools networking and grouping strategies. 

The Higher Education and Research Organization Commission also examines the schools of engineering governance models and reflects about how to value the schools of engineering position in the higher education territorial network.

Programs

On behalf of the engineering schools, CDEFI develops and/or pilots various programs and projects in order to answer problems encountered by institutions of higher education and research in different topics such as the professional integration of doctors, equity between women and men, and the international mobility of students and teachers.