A pilot project open to the whole area of Paris since October 2002

1. Le Bureau d’Accueil des Chercheurs Etrangers (BACE) • A pilot project open to the whole area of Paris since October 2002 • A complete set-up for the welcoming of Foreign researchers • A multilingual team • A Mobility Center member of the European Network • of Mobility Centers • A structure at the service of international cooperation and enhancing the attractiveness of research in Paris • An observatory of scientific mobility

2. BACE motto: « Anticipate to better accompany scientific mobility » The three links in the chain of welcoming • Administrative help and welcoming before and during the stay • Accommodation • Social and cultural integration

3. Welcoming and assistance to researchers before their arrival in Paris • The welcoming of the researcher starts before the arrival in Paris. As the preparation of the stay begins, the researcher receives from BACE all the necessary information via internet: • The necessary steps to do before the arrival (request of scientific visa) • The necessary steps to obtain a social security cover for the researcher and his family if they accompany him • Information about baby-sitting or schooling for the children • The opening of a bank account if he needs it before his/her arrival • All the practical issues linked with the practical organisation of the stay whatever the length of the stay

4. The welcoming of the researchers at their arrival and during their stay • The BACE accompaniment is more requested at the arrival and during the settling in: once in Paris, the administrative help and in the various steps linked to everyday life are very much asked for. The services the most asked for are: • Help to obtain a « scientific » resident’s permit • Information about social security or private medical insurance for the researcher, his spouse and children • The necessary insurances for his stay: complementary health insurance, housing insurance, school insurance… • Schooling of children • Opening of a bank account • Opening of lines: phone, Internet, electricity… • Transport registration • Medical services This accompaniment of the researcher and his family carries on during the whole length of his stay

5. The BACE’s extra • The aim of the BACE activities are also to facilitate social and cultural integration of foreign researchers in mobility • Twice a year, four session of French classes are organised • Once a month, a bilingual cultural programme is lead by lecturers to discover the history and French culture • A big party gathers all the BACE members once every trimester • From January to June, the cafés du vivant are a place of debate with scientific and political personalities • About fifty sports activities can be done in the Cité internationale • The Echos du BACE, a bilingual newsletter keeps the members informed of the BACE activities and actualities

6. Housing Since September 2003, more than 260 accommodations dedicated to researchers have been renovated in the Cité internationale, with the financial help of local authorities (Regional Council). • An application form for accommodation has been set up on the Cité website :researchers can book from abroad the type of accommodation they want without any other paper to send in advance. • A special software for managing the requests (workflow) has been conceived to circulate the information between BACE and the different houses of the Cité and allows a quick management of the requests. • The address of the form is http://workflow.ciup.fr/citeu/site/login.php?langue=en

7. An example A Greek researcher is looking for an accommodation in Paris. What does he need to do ? • Fill in the online form on : http://workflow.ciup.fr/citeu/site/login.php?langue=en 2 to 3 months before his arrival in France: • dates of the stay, • type of accommodation required (studio, T1, T2) • aim of the stay • The application is checked for by the BACE • The application is seen first by the Fondation Hellénique • If they answer yes, he will stay there • If they answer no, the application will then be seen by all the other houses of the Cité. • Other houses from the Cité can send a proposal by email to the researcher with all the details regarding the accommodation • The researcher can accept or refuse the proposal by email • Once he has accepted he will need to pay the deposit directly to the house

8. Practical information • Description of the accommodation: the studio are one room flats including a kitchen and a bathroom: Small studio for one person: between 656 € to 790 € Small studio for two persons: between 696 € to 880 € large studio for one person: between 718 € to 895 € large studio for two persons: between 780 € to 895 € T2 : 870 € to 1072 € • The prices vary according to the length of the stay and to the size of the accommodation. • The prices are all inclusive: water, electricity, the cleaning of the room, access to internet and to a phone (the person pays his bills). • All the flats are completely furnished (including basic kitchen equipment)

9. Housing outside the Cité internationale • In the previous example if we do not have any accommodation available in the Cité, we can contact our partner “Science Welcome” and after asking the researcher we can pass his application form to Science Accueil (Science Welcome). • Science Welcome's contacts with housing agencies, private citizens, associations and people responsible for the running of residences enable them to maintain an up-to-date file of furnished lodging to let, situated near the main scientific centers. They can propose all types of furnished accommodations: rooms in the owner's house, small and large apartments, houses. Rent prices vary in accordance with the location and surface. • Through this partnership with Science Accueil, at the moment we have a database of 300 accommodation in Paris. • This service is free of charge for researchers, it is the BACE that annually pays the fees to Science Welcome.

10. Housing through agreements established with research institutes • Those agreements allow the research institutes to offer privileged welcoming conditions to their researchers. The agreement is based on 2 parts: • A welcoming part that assures the institute that all the researchers he receives will benefit from the assistance and accompaniment of BACE before and during their stay. • An accommodation part that allows the establishment to book for the year a number of accommodation for researchers in the Cité. • Examples of our partnerships : l’Université Paris IV-Sorbonne, l’Université Paris VI - Pierre et Marie Curie, l’Université Paris-VIII Saint-Denis, le CNRS, l’Inserm, l’Institut Pasteur, l’Institut Curie, l’ENS Ulm, le CEA, l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, l’Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, le Cancéropôle d’Ile-de-France.

11. BACE in numbers • At the end of 2005, over 1500 researchers have benefited from the welcoming of the BACE • 994 researchers have been accommodated thanks to the BACE

12. Towards an observatory of scientific mobility in ParisData 2005 • Figures calculated for 1500 researchers welcomed by the BACE in 2005 • 91 nationalities are represented, the five most represented countries are: Brazil, Italy, Spain, China, Germany • They work in over 110 research institutes and universities of the area. • Researchers working in the field of exact sciences are a majority: physics(14 %), mathematics (12 %), biology (10 %) • The age group between 25-40 years old, represents 60 % of researchers • 66 % are male researchers • 40 % of the researchers are coming with their family (spouse only or spouse and children) • Shorts stays from a few days to 2 months are the most important (42 %).An important number of researchers also stay between one year and two years (29%).