Badji Mokhtar-Annaba University (BMAU)  is an Algerian public institution of higher education and scientific research created in 1975. Being in constant evolution, it is currently a multidisciplinary university which offers 78 undergraduate and 141  graduate programs on 12 different disciplinary fields partitioned through its 39 departments  belonging to the following  8 faculties: Law and International Relations, Human and Social Sciences, Technology, Sciences, Earth Sciences, Medical Studies, Economic, Commercial and Business Sciences,  and Letters and Languages. Moreover, with  its 89 research laboratories and its intensive research enhancement through a wide array of doctoral programs , BMAU  has become  a centre of competitiveness in science and technology.  The coastal city of Annaba, being the fourth largest Algerian city and one of the major tourist attractions in the Western Mediterranean, is an important hub of the world steel industry with its steel complex of El Hadjar, the largest in Africa. These economic and cultural assets, along with the increasingly important vocational study programs and research development, make BMAU deeply rooted  in its socio-economic environment by establishing itself as an actor in local development while also claiming a strong national and  international ambition.

          In an increasingly international, even ‘global’ world, it is important that teaching and research institutions highlight and promote the international dimension in all their fields of competence. In other words, the international dimension has become essential, even decisive, in the development of higher education and research. It constitutes a benefit in the transfer of knowledge and know-how, contributing considerably to the enrichment of scientific collaboration.

          With these changes, BMAU has formulated a new internationalization strategy, as well as an action plan for the years to come. As part of a quality approach, the results generated by BMAU self-assessment in 2021 reveal that many elements of this strategy are already in place, but they require renewed support and attention, followed by an evaluation of their effectiveness and their adequacy to the permanent evolution of the international situation.

    Indeed, the internationalization of BMAU is committed to developing internationally with targeted partnerships by pursuing a policy of dynamic and thoughtful international cooperation, articulated on strengthening strategic alliances. With its partners, it builds structured programs, combining research and training, from the bachelor to the doctor’s degree, by strongly developing the co-supervision of theses and encouraging the mobility of students, teaching, and administrative staff. Through student mobility, BMAU also envisages the dissemination of an ‘international culture’, the acquisition of new skills, and the promotion of interculturality for incoming student mobility (more than 600 international students from more than thirty foreign countries through intercultural festive events organized each year).

           This international ambition is deployed through framework agreements with more than 78 international universities and membership in five international university cooperation networks, as well as international  projects including the European programs such as Horizon 2020 or Erasmus Program.

         However, partnership at the national level is also more than necessary because it constitutes one of the flagship actions on which it is important to base the future developments of the institution. It is necessary to establish ties between the two in order to better adapt the qualifications provided by education to the needs of the developing economy. 

            Partnerships with businesses, collectivities, local, regional, and national associations, identified by research collaborations, internships for Bachelor's and Master's students, as well as doctoral theses are more than important. As a matter of fact, BMAU is developing relationships, and in large numbers (106 partnership agreements), with external actors. Therefore, by promoting the opening of research laboratories to national and international scientific cooperation, BMAU takes up the challenge and aspires to excellence and innovation in the  leading thematic concerns in research such as energy, health and agriculture. The opening of the university to the socio-economic world is hence essential to the achievement of its scientific, educational, and cultural objectives.