When geopolitical tensions are reshaping alliances and fragmenting international cooperation, science has emerged as one of the last reliable bridges to carry nations toward shared solutions. The University of Arizona stands among the institutions helping to secure that bridge for the future. 

U of A President Suresh Garimella joined with university presidents from around the world at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, or CNRS, headquarters in Paris on Oct. 29 to explore new avenues for collaboration among International Research Centers, or IRCs. As much a diplomatic as a scientific convening, the gathering fostered discussions spanning shared priorities from health and quantum innovation to climate resilience and sustainable development. These exchanges underscored the essential role of partnerships transcending borders, political cycles and disciplines.

The U of A was the first institution selected by CNRS to host an IRC, an innovative model of scientific diplomacy that now connects leading universities on five continents to tackle humanity’s most urgent scientific challenges. Established in 2021, the France-Arizona Institute for Global Grand Challenges, or FAI, cultivates international collaborations across three priority areas: the habitability of Earth and beyond, the food-energy-water nexus and the future of human health in a changing climate. The IRC structure, designed around permanence, shared governance and co-funded research, has quickly become a global framework for sustaining collaboration in times of volatility.

"Global partnerships grounded in excellence and trust are essential to addressing the world's greatest challenges," Garimella said. "Through our collaboration with CNRS, our university demonstrates how we can work across borders even in times of geopolitical uncertainty to deliver solutions that uplift all of society."

Arizona innovation, global collaboration

From its unique vantage point in the Sonoran Desert, the U of A offers one of the world's most distinctive research platforms, from its one-of-a-kind living laboratory Biosphere 2 to decades-long leadership in space and optical sciences and deep expertise in arid-region agriculture, water resources and critical minerals.

"The CNRS team recognized early on that the University of Arizona brings not only infrastructure and expertise but a collaborative spirit that invites global partnership," Garimella said. "That combination of discipline and curiosity, combined with a sense of urgency, defines how we do research and seek to make an impact that benefits the world."

"The challenges we face, from water scarcity to climate resilience, are planetary in scale," said Joaquin Ruiz, director of Biosphere 2 and executive director of the France-Arizona Institute. "At Biosphere 2, we see every day how international collaboration accelerates discovery. The IRC gives us the structure and global partnerships needed to turn that knowledge into real-world solutions."

The collaborative approach has now become a global benchmark, illustrating how the IRC model strengthens scientific mobility, empowers early-career researchers and builds the next generation of global scientific leaders. Faculty from both the U of A and CNRS have launched new joint projects, graduate fellowships and mirrored Ph.D. programs. 

"The IRC creates a scientific ecosystem where researchers move easily across borders, ideas evolve faster and students see themselves as part of a global scientific community," said FAI deputy director Régis Ferrière, professor in the U of A Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. "It allows us to work on grand challenges at the scale they demand, internationally, collaboratively and with a long-term vision."

Ruiz and Ferrière were awarded the National Order of Merit – a French equivalent of a British knighthood reserved for individuals who made considerable contributions – for their leadership in fostering interdisciplinary research between the two nations. 

A growing network of International Research Centers

Since the launch of the France-Arizona Institute, CNRS has expanded its IRC network to include several of the world's top universities, including the University of Tokyo (Japan), Imperial College London (United Kingdom), University of Chicago (U.S.), University of São Paulo (Brazil) and Université de Sherbrooke (Canada). Soon, it will be joined by the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

Garimella discussed how the partnership ties into all of the university's strategic imperatives – success for every student, research that shapes the future and engagement with communities to create opportunity. Joint fellowships, dual-degree programs and exchange programs open new pathways for students and early-career scholars to gain global experience, contribute to high-impact discovery and become ambassadors of global science. By connecting U of A's expertise in climate science, agriculture, health and space to a worldwide network, the university multiplies its capacity to generate solutions with real-world impact. This includes joint initiatives in climate-health science, agrivoltaics, Earth habitability and sustainable food systems. Collaborations through the IRC address challenges affecting communities in Arizona and elsewhere, from water scarcity and sustainable food systems to the consequences of living on a warming planet.

The Paris meetings mark the start of a new phase of collaboration, expanding the IRC's research clusters and leveraging the university’s role as the network’s founding partner, Garimella said.

"We’re now working to scale the model, expanding our research in habitability on Earth and beyond, advancing agrivoltaics innovation, promoting climate-health science and creating even stronger pathways for students and faculty," he said. "Our goal is to ensure the U of A remains a catalyst for global collaboration and a source of ideas that make life better everywhere."