Since 2001, the department of doctoral training has been creating a network of foreign correspondents, in order to supplement the contacts between individual laboratories and foreign researchers and research institutes.

The network consists at present of around twenty correspondents. These are the representative ambassadors, both of of École des Ponts training and research in their country and of their own establishment in France. They have all informations on doctoral programmes offered by the École des Ponts and are thus suitable interlocutors for students wishing to study on the campus of École des Ponts. The role of foreign correspondents reinforces the efficiency of co-supervised theses, i. e. theses enabling students to obtain simultaneously their École des Ponts PhD and a PhD in their home university.

Co-tutoring is also a unique opportunity for the two supervisors to develop a bilateral scientific partnership. The correspondents are readily invited to demonstrations organised by École des Ponts (lectures, Forums, Symposiums or the PhD award).