On Saturday April 26, the VIU Board under the Presidency of Ambassador Umberto Vattani approved the request of two universities to join the VIU consortium. The Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) of Quebec and the University of Lausanne (UNIL) in Switzerland have become the new Members of the Venice International University joining a network that by now comprises a total of 13 prestigious universities from all over the world: Duke University and Boston College (USA), Tsinghua University and Tongji University (China), Waseda (Japan), Tel Aviv University (Israel), Ludwig Maximilians (Germany), European University of St. Petersburg, Ca’Foscari Unviersity of Venice, University of Padova and IUAV (Italy).
The Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) is one of Canada’s top universities in terms of research intensity (funding per faculty member). It brings together 150 professors, over 700 graduate and postgraduate students, and a hundred postdoctoral researchers at four centers in Montreal, Québec City, Laval, and Varennes. The Institute is dedicated to fundamental and applied research, graduate studies, and the training of researchers. In keeping with its mission and objectives as a research university, the Institute specifically gears its activities towards Quebec’s economic, social, and cultural development, as well as the transfer of knowledge and technology stemming from all its fields of study. (http://www.inrs.ca/)
The University of Lausanne (UNIL) is a research institution composed of seven faculties where approximately 13,000 students and 2,300 researchers work and study. The UNIL is focused on Medicine, Life Sciences, Geosciences, Environment, Business, Humanities and Social Sciences. Emphasis is placed on an interdisciplinary approach, with close cooperation between students, teaching staff and professors. As well as its achievements in research, the UNIL is renowned for its innovative teaching and for the strong support it offers to young researchers. In addition, its state-of-the-art infrastructures are acclaimed by the UNIL community as one of the many factors that make this an ideal place for study and research. (http://www.unil.ch/)