Finding a mentor for the new academic year 2022

Many international mentoring systems are in place in most university cities to facilitate the integration of international students in France. Each year, students volunteer to help an international student as a mentor on his or her arrival in France.

Depending on his/her availability, the mentor can meet an international student at the airport or train station, show him/her around the university campus and the city, accompany him/her to administrative procedures, etc. Different digital platforms allow for the creation of mentor/mentee pairs depending on the higher education institution, languages and other common interests.

The Buddy System from the ESN associations network

Present in France in more than 30 university cities, the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) has developed the Buddy System, a multilingual, intuitive, free and secure web platform to facilitate the connection between international and local students. Registration only takes 5 minutes, and allows an international student to get in touch with a buddy in his/her city of study, to benefit from support services and to participate in events.

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Buddy system, the international mentorship platform of the ESN network

Other mentorship systems

Higher education institutions and student unions offer other mentorship systems on campuses.  In the cities of Montpellier, Nîmes and Perpignan, newly arrived international students can participate in the joint international mentorship scheme organised by the Universities and the CROUS. Contact your host institution in France to find out more on buddy programs. 

International student mentorship schemes are listed in the city factsheets.