International aspect of the WPI

The WPI has a very strong international component:

First of all the research projects running at the WPI have a more than 50% rate of foreign PhD students, PostDocs and visiting scientists. Virtually all project leaders have spent years of their scientific career abroad. A "foreigner" does not mean an "alien" for us, simply "a friend we have to help with tedious administrative procedures".

An international scientific board evaluates and approves the scientific programs. In particular, it must certify that the evaluation procedure of the different grants meets the highest international standards.
In a future stage all candidates for any (tenured) researcher positions carried by the WPI itself must be approved by the international board.

The WPI carries large EU projects. There are now two independent European Research Training Networks with WPI members as coordinator. Starting in 2002, over 300 scientists in about 68 groups/satellites in 12 EU countries are included in these WPI projects. The WPI carries a participating groups of a 3rd network. Also the WPI is coordinator of an EU Marie Curie Early Stage Training multi Site "Differential Equations and Applications in Science and Engineering", the DEASE project, together with ENS Paris (math and biology department), the MIP (Mathematiques pour l’Industrie et la Physique) Toulouse, the Univ. and TU Hamburg-Harburg and the FORTH in Heraklion.

In addition, the WPI is affiliated to the French-European GDRE network "Mathematics and Quantum Physics." And the French GDR network "CHANT" Equations Cinetiques et Hyperboliques : Applications, Numerique et Theorie"

The WPI coordinates a recently approved INTAS network for "East-West cooperation" (with countries of the former Soviet union) and is the principal proposer of an ALFA network (cooperation with South America).

The WPI is has close ties to a global network of top level research institutions (e.g. Courant Institute (NYU), ENS Paris, ENS Cachan, ENS Lyon, IMPA (Rio de Janeiro), Morningside Center at the Chinese Academy of Science (Peking), Centro de Modelamiento Matematico (Santiago de Chile), Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (Tehran), and many more). This produces important synergetic effects, particularly among the PhD and postdoctoral programs.
There exist collaborations on the level of joint summer/winter schools and elaborate plans to implement some sort of global PhD programme in mathematics in the sense of what Luis A. Caffarelli suggested as the "floating institute".