The collaboration between Iran and France entered to a new phase after the official visit of President Hassan Rouhani to Paris on January 27 and 28. A major part of the renewed collaborations correspond to scientific cooperation.

Iran and France have a long history of scientific and technological ties. The first traces of the presence of French scientists and scholars in Iran may be found in the Iranian polytechnics (Darolfonoun) established in 1851, where the French professors taught the different disciplines and the foreign language of the school, established by then Iranian Prime Minister Amir Kabir, was French. In the early 20th century, at the end of the Qajar dynasty, a group of Iranian students dispatched to France for higher education. These students formed the preliminary pillars of Modern Iran at the end of the Qajar era in 1925 and during the 1st Pahlavi era (1925-1941). An interesting sign of such collaboration was in the establishment of ""Institut Pasteur"" in Iran in 1920, after World War I, when the two countries experienced major difficulties resulting from the war.
France was a major destination for Iranian students up to 1960's. This might be the major cause for the dominance of French speaking professors in the first generation of Iranian scholars (between 1920's to 1960's). Over the last 160 years, different levels of development formed the most part of this collaboration in a way that Iranian scholars have been sent to France for higher education, and the modern technology has been imported from France to Iran. The first university professors and scholars in very different disciplines from the human sciences to basic and natural sciences, engineering and medicine have been either French or the French speaking Iranians.
New technologies such as electrical and automobile industries, mining exploration and space and aeronautic technologies imported from the French companies have been used for the first time in Iran. In the earth sciences and seismology which is my expertise there has been a tradition of Iran-France collaborations since about 50 years ago. Different generations of Iranian earth scientists and seismologists have obtained their doctorate degree in French academic centers. In most of such cases there has been a project to study on a part of Iranian plateau and the research project has been conducted by an Iranian scholar as for his/her PhD thesis under the supervision of a French professor. These scientists are now working in the Geological Survey of Iran, International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology and different Iranian universities.
A major point to be insisted on is that since about 20 years ago a new generation of Iranian scholars, who has obtained their degree in France, has been working in Iranian universities and research institutes and working in a high quality and modern scientific level. This generation may now establish a new way of real ""bilateral collaboration"" based on co-supervision of research project by Iranian-French scientists.
These points might be highlighted as follows:
- The presence of French speaking Iranian scientists is an opportunity to establish a higher level of Iran-France scientific and technological collaborations. This may help the development of Iranian scientific infrastructures as well.
- The interests in the scientific organizations in France in order to work in Iran might be coincided by the Iranian scientific needs and interests, and finally to make the effective packages of bilateral-science projects.
- There are modern and high quality research infrastructures in France that might be useful for Iranian research needs.
- There is a tradition of research in France, not only in the way to conduct the research works, but also in forming the ""research poles"", which might be used as a model for scientific development of Iran.
- The high quality direction of research activities in France, especially the research management model in the national center for scientific research of France (CNRC) might be used in Iran as a model to conduct the scientific research in Iran.
- There are central research laboratories in France working in the form of Research and Development Science Parks. These science parks might be the practical partners of the Iranian research institutes and technological parks.
- There are some urgent disciplines to be focused for research, as the national problems, such as drought, climate change, natural disasters analysis and zoning, clean energy, on which the French associations and institutions are known for their activities in the world class. These disciplines might be the priorities to be included in agenda for a collaboration.
This new atmosphere of Franco-Iranian collaborations in research activities in the domain of science and technology is a chance for researches by both sides after the implementation of the nuclear deal, when there is no limit for both sides to conduct joint projects