Orientation and Integration Week for Exchange Students

January 9 - 13, 2023

Are you a new international student in an exchange program recently arrived at Rennes 2 University?  Meet other new students and find out important information regarding academic and administrative procedures thanks to help from staff of the Rennes 2 International Office. See the full program available here.

Be sure not to miss the general meeting on Tuesday, January 10th. This meeting provides students with an overview of what to expect this semester, a useful list of people to contact in case of questions and more. Numerous visits will also be offered during the week - discover the campus, the city of Rennes, and the Mont Saint Michel!

Welcome Evening at the CMI Rennes

Thursday, January 26, starting at 6:00 pm.

The International Mobility Center (CMI Rennes) is inviting all new international students (exchange students as well as students enrolled in individual diploma programs) arriving in the second semester to its welcome evening. On the program: presentation of the CMI and its services, presentation of partners and associations, animation - pop quiz "Discovering France and Brittany", booking of excursions and shows of the Cultural Agenda, and a convivial moment in the hall of the Cité Internationale. The event will continue, at 9pm, with a traditional "Welcome Party" of the association ESN Rennes for those who wish to join. Register here

French Courses at the CIREFE (for International Researchers)

The Center for International Mobility in Rennes (CMI Rennes), in partnership with the CIREFE (Centre International Rennais d'Etudes de Français pour Etrangers) Rennes 2 University, offers French as a Foreign Language (FLE) courses for a fee for researchers and doctoral students of the CMI Rennes member institutions.

Organization of the session: 44 hours of classes, spread over 11 weeks with 4 hours of classes per week. The courses will take place twice a week, from Monday to Thursday between 6:15 pm and 8:15 pm. Course dates: from Monday, January 23, 2023 to Thursday, April 13, 2023

Location: CIREFE premises (Rennes 2 University - Villejean campus) / More information available here. 

Other things to do in and around Rennes in January. 

• Visit to the Mont Saint-Michel (visit of the abbey and guided walk in the bay), with CMI Rennes
  • Saturday, January 28, 2023  / Registration details and pricing available here.

• Exposition | Tarot Trans
  • From Jan.16 to March  10
  • "Tarot Trans" is a photographic project by Chilean artist Zaida González Ríos that appropriates the 22 major arcana of the Tarot by replacing the figures on the cards with non-standardized models, such as transgender people, migrants, disabled people, elderly people and others who correspond to the meaning of the assigned card. See more here.

• Equality Tuesdays: Contemporary Art and Queer Culture 

  • Jan. 17, 2023

  • With Quentin Petit Dit Duhal, Doctor in Art History, a temporary teaching and research associate, and co-founder of ARQ (Arts et Représentations Queer), a research collective on the history of feminist and queer arts.  

  • This conference proposes a study of images and trajectories of queer artists by putting into context their commitment and the way they displace the categories of gender, sex and sexuality. It shows that these artists, through their representations, have a very direct impact in the transformation of society. We will also see the stakes that queer represents for the history of art and how it feeds new discourses on the non-standard, the exclusion and the hierarchy, in particular thanks to the research of young researchers. See more here.

• Waterproof, Dive into Dance! 
  • Jan. 28 - Feb. 5, 2023
  • A festival entirely dedicated to dance: 9 days, 14 venues, 47 events. Ticket and price information available here.

• FESTIVAL Rebel Cameras - 7th Edition
  • Jan. 11-15, 2023
  • Organized by Amnesty International groups in Rennes, the Rebel Cameras Festival aims to inform and raise awareness of human rights issues among a wide audience. Tickets and price information available here. 

• The National Orchestra of Brittany and Ibrahim Maalouf
  • Jan. 17, 8pm

  • Ibrahim Maalouf will offer a musical journey that he could only embark on today, after 20 years of recording albums and film scores. Tickets and price information available here.

• British Film Week
  • Jan. 14 - 21, 2023
  • This new edition will allow you to discover, again and again, rare, original and independent films. Tickets and price information available here. 

Other things to keep in mind as a new arrival: 

Residence permits and long-stay visas

If your residence permit/long-stay visa expires in two months or less, there is still time to apply, even if you do not yet have the new 2022/2023 registration or your final transcript.

The most important thing is to file the application at least two months before the expiration of the current residence permit (this is the deadline stipulated in the regulations). Find out everything you need to know with help from the CMI Rennes.