The Réseau d'excellence des sciences de l'ingénieur et de la Francophonie (network of excellence in engineering sciences and the French-speaking world - RESCIF) is one of the three primary initiatives launched by the Swiss Confederation at the 13th summit of French-speaking countries' government leaders held at Montreux.

Linking the top French-language technology universities, RESCIF serves as the francophone counterpart to the initiative developed in Africa by the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF), which meets each year in Davos.

This network was created with a view to making French-speaking culture a platform for technological innovation in international scientific competition by bringing together universities in developed and developing countries.

Headed by École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the program seeks to develop tangible solutions to the problems of water, nutrition and energy. It also aims to provide support for rebuilding Haiti's Université d'État and Université Quisqueya, destroyed following the 2010 earthquake.

Fourteen French-speaking universities from developed and developing countries will meet this coming January. In addition to the EPFL, five universities from developed countries have joined the project: Paristech (France), Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium), Polytechnique Montréal (Canada), École normale supérieure de Lyon (France) and Institut polytechnique de Grenoble (France).

Université de Dakar (Senegal) and Université Saint-Joseph (Lebanon) have provided their written agreement, while well-known institutions in Morocco, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Vietnam are also about to formalize their participation.

The network's activities will include: 
- student exchanges for common training programs;
- establishment of joint research teams and laboratories in developing countries;
- development of partnerships with businesses.

With English dominant in the scientific world, the RESCIF network offers an opportunity to position French-language universities on the international scientific and technological stage by strengthening their collaborative efforts.