PARIS

A new masters degree and two new professorships are among initiatives announced by EM Lyon, one of France's top international schools of management.

It has also launched a club called LYEN (Lyon Entrepreneurs) comprising nine Lyons-based, high-performing companies to act as a link between entrepreneurs, regional political leaders and the worlds of business and higher education.

EM Lyon is an independent, non-profit association affiliated to the Lyons chamber of commerce and industry. It specialises in entrepreneurship with an international outlook. Eighty-five per cent of its E24 million (Pounds 15 million) annual budget is financed by businesses, student fees and training levies; the rest comes from the Lyons chamber of commerce.

Students are benefiting from new partnerships with public-sector research laboratories, in line with the French government's recent law on innovation to encourage state-sector researchers and scientists to work with private industry. Initiatives launched by the school include:

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A specialised masters degree in entrepreneurship for graduates and business managers, due to start in September

Two new chairs, one specialising in entrepreneurial practices and processes, turning skills and techniques into training programmes and expanding the school's role in academic and professional networks to identify future trends; and a second to investigate ways of keeping corporate management flexible and encouraging individual initiative, especially in large companies

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Creation of an "entrepreneurs' space" to include a showcase business incubator equipped with latest communications technology for students' work; a permanent exhibition; a shop managed by students; and a "markets room" providing up-to-date information on world markets.