The agreement not only strengthens HU's visibility in the French-speaking world, but also creates direct access to a unique institution that conducts world-class research and embodies social responsibility through public science. The centrepiece of the agreed cooperation is the reciprocal exchange of visiting scholars.
Up to three invitations per year can be issued on both sides. These visits serve to promote networking, the exchange of innovative research approaches and the organisation of joint events - including public lectures, seminars and workshops. For 2026, the anthropologist, sociologist and physician Didier Fassin, the legal scholar Samantha Besson and the linguist Luigi Rizzi have already been invited to the HU as visiting scholars.
The administrator of the CdF, Thomas Römer, visited Humboldt-Universität on 2 July 2025 to sign the agreement. Yoan Vilain, Presidential Representative for International and European Affairs at HU, welcomed the guest and signed the partnership agreement on the HU side. On 3 July, Römer was then a guest at the Faculty of Theology, where he gave a public lecture on the story of Joseph as one of the leading international experts on the Old Testament.
The Collège de France, founded in 1530, is part of the University of Paris Sciences et Lettres, with which a more extensive cooperation was agreed in June 2025. Together, the new agreements pave the way for a deeper institutional partnership and also contribute to academic diplomacy in the Franco-German context.