Founded in 1987 and located in Tahiti, the University of French Polynesia (UPF) is a public institution dedicated to higher education and research with the aim to embody a French-speaking, multicultural and international university in the Pacific.

In a context of major global challenges, UPF has undertaken an imperative commitment of transformation with firm ambitions to address the region’s needs for skills and qualifications while addressing the unique environmental, economic and social challenges of multi-island territories. Therefore, UPF offers a wide variety of study options across four academic departments in which its 3500 students are trained through professionalised and internationalised programmes.

Winner of the “ExcellencES” national French Call for Projects – PIA 4/France 2030, the University has been working on four specific programmes for change: “Nārua” to transform and internationalise the University’s educational offer; “Nāhiti” to implement, with the region’s socio-economic players, a territorial network of support for innovation; “Nārama” to develop science and society research and “Archipels Connectés” to implement distance learning on the archipelagoes.

To this end, Nārua brings together the University’s academic partners in the region — CNRS, Ifremer, IRD — and the government of French Polynesia. It also involves socio-economic actors in the region such as the Maritime Cluster, French Tech, together with international academic partners from the Pacific area including Australia, Hawaii and New Zealand.

Nārua is funded €11.2 million over 8 years, making UPF one of the first universities in the French overseas territories to have been awarded funding from a national competitive programme at university level.