The degrees were presented by the Rector of the University of Zagreb, Damir Boras, and Professor Daniel Hagege of the University of Orleans, one of the coordinators of the study programme.
Boras and Hagege said that the cooperation between the two universities was indeed good and that it had gradually developed into "sincere mutual respect and friendship."
Cooperation between the two universities is based on an agreement signed in November 2007, which enables molecular biology students from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology of the University of Zagreb to attend some of the classes at the University of Orleans and do their practical work in French companies. This qualifies them for a master's degree in bioindustry from the University of Orleans.
The programme is supported by the French Embassy in Zagreb.
Ambassador Meunier said that it was the only French-Croatian programme of this kind currently available in Croatia. "This programme best describes what we want in order to strengthen relations between French and Croatian universities. I set great hopes on intensifying youth exchanges to strengthen ties between our two countries, which both belong to the European Union and the Mediterranean area," she said.
Meunier said she was particularly glad that under the Erasmus+ programme the plan was to expand this project to include other partners, namely the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and the University of Technology in Delft. These four universities have proposed a joint graduate programme as part of the Erasmus Mundus programme and we wish them a lot of success, she said.
This autumn the University of Zagreb will award an honorary doctoral degree to Professor Hagege for his contribution to the cooperation between the two universities and the development of scientific research at the University of Zagreb, notably in biochemistry, biology and molecular biotechnology.