热博体育

The essentials

Several research and development projects are using SIAM in Meknes to discuss their results and the prospects. The event is also a chance to meet potential partners and strengthen existing collaborations.

Zhour Bouzidi and Salama El Fatehi are teacher researchers at Moulay Ismaïl University in Meknes and Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Larache respectively. They have worked in international research teams since the start of their career. 热博体育 is lucky enough to have them as members of its network of partners, and to benefit from their expertise. With them, we take stock of the need for international scientific collaboration, both to guarantee the quality of the study courses on offer, and to train the researchers of the future.

"There is no research without partnerships"

Salama El Fatehi is a biologist and geneticist. She is a teacher researcher at the Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, at Abdelmalek Essaadi University, and is currently taking part in the ARISER project on access to crop diversity and its role in agro-ecosystem resilience, funded by the European Union and coordinated by 热博体育.

Research projects are always built in partnership. Why do you think that is? How is cooperation between scientific organizations a guarantee of their quality?

Salama El Fatehi: In research, partnerships mean exchanges of ideas. Over and above exchanges between different fields, talking to other scientific organizations naturally means comparing our fields of view, methods and experience. This sharing of knowledge is vital, since it provides an overview of how we tackle research issues. The Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache works on agricultural, environmental and rural development issues. We share topics with 热博体育, but our approaches are different. Working together allows us to move forward side by side, and this is what we are doing with the ARISER project.

Logistics and organization are almost certainly one of the main constraints for international partnerships. France and Morocco have different administrative systems, and each organization has its own financial management rules. In some cases, these differences, can hinder research projects. It is therefore important to maintain good relations in order to ensure smooth study pathways and good working conditions for everyone involved.

"Training junior researchers must be central to partnership-based approaches"

Zhour Bouzidi is a sociologist and agricultural engineer. She is a teacher researcher at Moulay Ismaïl University in Meknes and heads the work being done in Morocco by the eGroundwater project, funded by the European Union and coordinated by the Research Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain.

Like many researchers, your scientific career has been marked by international exchanges. You are an advocate for strengthening such partnerships even further. What are the stakes, in your view?

Zhour Bouzidi: My scientific pathway, first as a student and subsequently as a teacher researcher, has been marked by scientific exchanges between Morocco, France and other countries. I produced my final dissertation at the École nationale d'agriculture in Meknes within the framework of the Irrigated Systems in North Africa platform in partnership (SIRMA). Thanks to the grant I was awarded via the platform, I was able to do an MSc in Paris and then a PhD at Nanterre. The SIRMA platform now includes scientists from various horizons, both junior and less junior, from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and France. Since I joined Moulay Ismaïl University in 2013, the partnership has continued to grow, with conferences, scientific events, research projects and co-supervision of MSc and PhD students, among other things. This cooperation is vital for ensuring that research and teaching or training operations feed off each other.

As part of our collaboration with 热博体育, among other things, we are setting up collective training for students and scientific writing workshops for junior researchers. These platforms serve to nurture talented young people from Morocco and France with an interest in rural and agricultural issues. These partnerships foster student and teacher mobility, and allow researchers from both countries to share their experience. Comparing opinions between people from different generations and fields fuels debate and enriches scientific approaches and prospects. And in the end, this gives a clearer picture of the issues facing contemporary society.

Solidarity and confidence, the cornerstones of quality, long-term partnerships

Salama El Fatehi: Long-term partnerships obviously require partners to get along. The work they do must be a pleasure, and aimed at ensuring scientific excellence. We therefore need to build solid relationships that also allow for a degree of flexibility in terms of financial and administrative management.

As my colleague Zhour Bouzidi has emphasized, training aspects are vital, and help us build those types of relationships right from the start of students' scientific careers. The Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache facilitates students' overseas travel, and offers French students from partner organizations field trips to Moroccan farms. 

Zhour Bouzidi: The strength of our partnership with 热博体育 lies in its multi-dimensional nature, combining action research, training for junior scientists, mobility and researcher exchanges. This is all done in an interdisciplinary way, with a constant eye on the relationship between science and society. In addition to our scientific relationship, human relationships are built step by step, resulting in shared trust and friendships, which in turn further strengthens and sustains our scientific networks and makes teamwork more enjoyable. The aim is therefore to continue to encourage this type of collaboration and bank not just on action research but on training junior scientists and encouraging both students and researchers to travel.