HEC Paris and the MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge have become academic collaborators. The two prestigious institutions have joined forces to develop a comprehensive cooperation strategy. The agreement aims to foster exchange and collaboration through educational, research, professional and cross-cultural activities among students and faculty.

The collaboration creates a double-degree program between the HEC MBA or MSc and MIT Sloan’s new Master of Science in Management Studies (MSMS) to begin September 2009, allowing selected HEC students to double the benefits of their management education.

In addition to the degree a student exchange program for the respective MBAs to do one semester of studies in the other institution to be launched in the 2009-2010 academic year is under discussion.  Plans for a faculty exchange program which will involve visiting professors from each institution and joint research in disciplines such as strategy, product development and leadership are also being considered. The faculty exchange program would include facilitation of joint doctoral committees to supervise doctoral theses at each institution.

For Dean David C.Schmittlein, the alliance is a natural extension of MIT’s ongoing efforts to strengthen ties with leading management institutions worldwide. “More than ever, the world needs new leaders in management” he says. “Our partnership will provide students and professors with the global perspective they need to succeed.”

Dean Bernard Ramanantsoa explains the agreement’s strategic significance: “This intercontinental partnership provides both institutions with the opportunity to produce truly international leaders.”

“Participants come away with two degrees and access to alumni networks from top schools on both sides of the Atlantic,” says Valérie Gauthier, Associate Dean of the HEC MBA Program who will follow up the agreement. “Not only do HEC participants gain valuable experience living and studying abroad, our school raises its profile in the US and around the world.”