Coming to Nancy

Registration

There are several registration processes which will occur when you arrive in Nancy.

Visa Registration - Non-European Students Only

Although you have three months from the issue of your visa to visit the OFII office, it is recommended to do this as soon as possible since they will give you an additional sticker in your passport, which many other administrative procedures will be checking for. The OFII office is located near Place Stanislas. You will need:

  -   a passport with visa,
  -   your Bachelor's degree, original copy,
  -   proof of inscription from your previous university,
  -   a transcript from your previous university, stating which courses you took and your grades,
  -   your invitation letter to the EM-Fusion program.

Enrollment in University - Getting Your Student Card - All Students

The day and time for this will be arranged by your coordinator and will take place at the "Faculté des Sciences et Technologies", or FST, where most of your classes will be. For student registration, you will need:

  -   a passport with visa or European passport or European identity card,
  -   your Bachelor's degree, original copy,
  -   proof of inscription from your previous university,
  -   a transcript from your previous university, stating which courses you took and your grades,
  -   a birth certificate, stating the names of your parents,
  -   your invitation letter to the EM-Fusion program.

Other things may be asked for so bring all the documents you have, just in case, and note that it is not uncommon for the registration process to temporarily fail. At the end, you should receive your student card and a yellow sheet with lots of information on it. Both are important!

Registering for Social Security - Non-European Students Only

After this you will register for "Securité sociale", which is an additional sort of health insurance that is mandatory in France. Go to MGEL, which is close to the science campus (FST). You will need:

  -   a passport with visa,
  -   the extra sticker provided by registering with OFII,
  -   the yellow sheet given to you at the end of the enrollment process.

The program already paid the necessary fee for you regarding the social security, make sure you do not pay any more money for this. You will have to register with a local doctor as part of this process.

European students are still required to visit MGEL with their passport / identity card and the yellow sheet, but they can avoid registering with a local doctor by bringing your European health insurance card with you.

Other Mandatory Insurances - All Students

You will also need to purchase another thing called "Responsabilité civile", which can also be done at MGEL. This insures you in the case you have damaged someone else's property, and costs around 14 Euros for the year.

It is also possible to purchase house insurance, "Assurance de domicile", from MGEL as well, which is required by the CROUS residences. The cost depends on the type of room you have. For a studio, it should be around 55 Euros for the year.

Finding The Department and Classes

The department, and all your classes are contained within a building/campus called "Le Campus Aiguillettes" and is part of the Faculté des Sciences et Technologies [1]. It is located near a very famous cross section called "Vélodrome" in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy. It is easily accessible by bike, either along the tram lines or by the specially made bikepath (see google maps for more details)(+/- 20 min from the city center). With the tram, you take tram 1 in the direction "CHU Brabois" and get of at the stops "Vélodrome" or "Callot"(+/- 20 min from the city center). During rush hours, trams are very busy, but during the other times it's nice and empty. Tickets are €1,30 for a one-way trip and it's €9 for a 10 trip ticket. There is the ability to get a actual rechargeable card, but i have no idea about the cost and if it is worth getting.

There is one exception, your language class will be hosted at EEIGM, which is a European Material Engineering school at the other side of Nancy. Again this is easily reachale by bike aswell as tram 1 in direction "ESSEY Mouzimpré" and the stop is called "Division de Fer".

Getting Around

The buses are useless, [except for number 2!] often having hour delays between them or simply not running at all on mystery days. The upgrades to the bus stops improved the situation, still almost no bus runs beyond midnight during weekdays and 1AM in weekends. The Trams however run on a fairly good schedule, coming every 5 or so minutes during the busy parts of the day, and every 20-30 minutes during the less busy periods of the day. From the central train station the 1 line will ferry you either to the Velodrome or to your language classes at the EEIGM building.

Student Restaurants

Nancy hosts a lot of student restaurants which serve different kinds of food. For example, there is the chinese restaurant, which typically serves something "asian" like we can say. Meals are €3,20 and for that price you get 5 items: Bread, Main course, Entrance, a piece of fruit fruit and a desert. Paying is by putting credit on your student card, this can be done using cash at an office but these are rare. Another way to add credit is by using your "carte bleu" (French bank account card), other cards will probably not work.

Biking in Nancy

Bringing a bike to Nancy, or getting one here is a very good idea. Bikes are really usefull to get around town in Nancy as nothing is really far and there are a fair amount of bike lanes present + you can bike on the tram tracks in between two trams. You can get a bike and if needed repair your bike at a shop called Dynamo [2]. At Dynamo you can buy cheap bickes (€30 - 50) or repair you bike, the concept is that you pay a membership fee €15 and they you can use all the equipment all year and get professional help with fixing your bike, but you must perform the work yourself. Most bikes bought at Dynamo need some work but the first set of parts u need is included in the bike price.