Spotlight
Fostering talent and collaboration: IPN’s journey toward global excellence
Dr. Arturo Reyes Sandoval, General Director of National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), speaks to QS Insights Magazine, discusses the university's contributions to the developments of Mexico and as well as sheds light on the its internationalisation journey.
"For the IPN, internationalisation is a basic activity that runs along all or transversely throughout all the institution."
QS: Could you share with us some of the contributions of National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) to the academic and scientific developments of Mexico?
Dr Arturo Reyes Sandoval: IPN was founded in 1936 , and over that time, it's contributed more than one million alumni. Many of them are engineers; there is a big number of graduate or alumni who are scientists as well. And right now, 88 years after being founded, we have approximately 216,000 students currently enrolled, and we have around 300 academic programs and 20 related to new technology.
We were the first institution teaching in areas such aeronautics. By being the first institution that trained engineers in these areas, it supported the establishment of new companies that were coming from different countries to produce cars or to produce airplanes. Those companies based their decision of establishing in Mexico, not only in Mexico City, but in other places, based on the presence of alumni or engineers in those specific areas.
In this regard, the polytechnic has contributed to the establishment of new industries in Mexico. And this is very important because we are neighbours of the United States. Nearshoring is a very important opportunity for many countries or for many industries to establish in Mexico and to produce goods to be exported to the United States. The presence of trained alumni is very important for the companies that want to.
In terms of science, we are amongst the three leading institutions in Mexico that have the largest number of researchers. Currently, we have around 1,700 researchers that belong to the top group of researchers or scientists in Mexico. We have professors and scientists that come from different parts of the world. All of them are, apart from working in terms of training students, they are also making new innovative projects or new projects for the leading industries in Mexico.
QS: For IPN, what does internationalisation mean?
Dr Reyes Sandoval: Right. For the IPN, internationalisation is a basic activity that runs along all or transversely throughout all the institution. To us, it means opening the institution to the world and hosting more scientists from other parts of the world and participating with other scientists globally in research projects or innovation projects that can have a major impact around the world
Through internationalisation, we can support our scientists to participate with groups within Europe, within the United Kingdom, in Asia, to be able to have or take an important role within their research or innovations in different countries.
One major activity that we have as part of internationalisation is student and academic mobility. I, myself, was a graduate or undergraduate student from IPN. Then, I did a Master’s and a PhD. During the PhD, I took advantage of doing my research project within the United States at the University of Pennsylvania. Then I moved to the University of Oxford, and I became a postdoctoral scientist, and later a principal investigator. After some years, I established myself as a professor in Oxford.
With the training that IPN gave me I was able to succeed within a very competitive institution like the University of Oxford. And I learnt that in universities around the world, the most successful ones are the ones that host scientists from other regions. It's a melting pot that can allow or support the development of new ideas.
I truly believe in the possibilities that internationalisation can give to an institution through bringing scientists from all over the world to our own institutions, but at the same time to provide with all the tools to support students to go to different universities and contribute to establishing new ideas, regardless of the country where they are.
QS: How is IPN working towards providing that opportunity for those that previously might not have had the opportunity?
Dr Reyes Sandoval: I can say that Mexico and the public institutions like IPN represent a magnificent opportunity for international studies because in Mexico, the public institutions are still free of charge. But not only that, we provide scholarships for our students since high school throughout undergraduate students and also graduate students.
We can provide scholarships regardless of whether you are a local Mexican student or you are an international student. The Polytechnic was created 88 years ago to provide an education to the most humble people in Mexico, regardless of their background. That's why we've kept our university free of charge. And that's part of the law in Mexico that requires that all of the public institutions remain free of charge.
One way to improve the number of students from international background has been in the way we enrol our students. When I arrived at IPN, the admission exam had to be made in person. It was difficult for students from other parts of the country or who were international. It was almost impossible for students from other countries to be able to enrol. With the use of artificial intelligence, we have created an online assessment to enrol at our university.
And in 2024, for the first time in the history of the Polytechnic, we have 400 students from all over the world applying. When I asked a student from South Korea why she came to study at IPN, she said that it's very difficult for her to find a job in South Korea. But if she learns the language in Mexico, if she learns about the culture, it would be much easier to find a job in Mexico in a South Korean company. There are many companies from different parts of the world that have established in Mexico because neighbour to the United States, and it's a strategic place in Mexico.
QS: You spoke a lot about students, academics and research. Are there plans to strengthen international collaboration in culture and sporting areas? Mexico is co-hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026, for example.
Dr Reyes Sandoval: I mentioned that there are opportunities in other countries to do things that we cannot do in our own countries. Elite athletes around the world, some of them train here in Mexico City or near Mexico City because of the altitude. We're about 2,300 to 2,800 meters above sea level and that can improve your performance.
Another thing that we have is our own radio station and our own television station. We are now broadcasting our programs in the United States, for instance, not only from television but also from radio. When I first came back from the UK to Mexico, I wanted to take advantage of our radio station. We have the authorisation to use certain frequencies here in Mexico. This is a public radio that has grown and the only public radio station in Mexico that has grown 300 percent in listeners.
I also told my team, as a public station, radio IPN could become like the BBC of Mexico. They took my challenge and now we have digital radio like BBC 1, 2, and 3. We're doing the same here in Mexico. And right now, with the agreement that we signed with the British Council, for instance, we now can broadcast programs from the United Kingdom here in Mexico. We are now going to bring British bands to play here in Mexico. So, culture and sports is another central or very important area in universities.
IPN, because of its size and because it's part of a federal government, we should also take advantage and promote all the cultural areas, sport areas that we have here in Mexico.
QS: What are some of the challenges and also opportunities you can see for internationalisation at IPN in the coming years?
Dr Reyes Sandoval: In the coming years, one of the major challenges is making our institution globally known. I can give you very nice examples of how, when we meet with ambassadors that come to the IPN, with representatives of international universities, we immediately engage with them and gain their interest.
Immediately, one of the comments that I hear is that they wish we had met before. One of the major challenges is to establish a network with other universities to get to know those universities, to promote that they come and they know us and also to visit other places. When you do that, you find areas where we can start collaborating.
The other area is to get to know funding agencies where there might be scholarships for mobility of students, for mobility of academics. Sometimes, sadly, the funding is not used in a year because they couldn't find universities that can partner and that can establish research projects or mobility for students or academics.
That's why I think that one of the major challenges and one of the duties from the leaders of universities is to make your university known around the world and to establish strong networks.