Thanks to a long history of scientific collaboration, France and Mexico have a rich scientific community in the field of the origins of life.

The Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (MNHN, France), Sorbonne Univerité (SU) and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, Mexico) have set a collaboration in order to organize, every two years, a French-Mexican Advanced School on the Origins and Evolution of Life (FMASOEL).

This school could periodically bring together in alternation (one year at MNHN Paris, France, one year at UNAM-Mexico) an audience of students and scholars who develop or wish to develop their studies on this subject. The first year, in 2019, the FMASOEL will take place at the MNHN (Paris), during 6 days, the first week of July. Lectures will be given in English. Laboratory internships will be organized for students in each of the two countries. This first edition of FMASOEL is supported by the French Embassy in Mexico.

The same initiative will take place at UNAM in 2021.

The FMASOEL would not only provide a forum for the presentation of ongoing research in the field of origins and life evolution, but will also allow the training of Masters, PhD and post-doctoral students, playing a key role in strengthening and developing links between the two countries, opening new opportunities for young researchers and students. Given the key role that France plays in the scientific activities of the European Union, this thematic school should be open to EU teachers. On the Mexican side, it could also include Mexican-American and Spanish-speaking American and European scientists, thus providing an academic framework for scientific interactions between an increasingly important community.