Engaging Engineers in the Environmental Transition Through Research-Based Training
The three engineering schools participating in the I-SITE “Montpellier University of Excellence” project—the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier,the Institut Agro Montpellier, and Polytech Montpellier have chosen to join forces to strengthen the link between education, research, and innovation. Through the Research (PRI) program, they are enhancing interactions between schools and laboratories around innovative projects focused on the challenge of transitions toward sustainability ( “Sustainable Transitions” ). To this end, they receive strong support from the MUSE project led by the University of Montpellier.
Training engineers through research is one of the best ways to prepare students to tackle the complex challenges of the transition to sustainability, while preserving energy, natural resources, biodiversity, and the environment. It also helps them develop their critical thinking skills, scientific rigor, creativity, and passion for innovation, all while fostering the systems-based perspective that defines engineers.
By offering this program to students who are motivated to learn the scientific method, these three schools aim to guide them toward careers in research (public or private) and innovation, building on their engineering expertise.
A Research Track (PRI)
Thus, at the start of the 2021 academic year, a one-semester program labeled Research Track” (PRI) was open to 8 students from each school and 8 international students, for a total of 32 students. This program involves extensive collaboration with the research units of I-Site MUSE. It focuses on project-based learning supported by high-level disciplinary input and Research skills shared by all students in the program. Due to its open enrollment policy, this program has a strong international focus, and all courses are taught in English. Through cross-disciplinary modules and events shared by students from all three schools, the PRI program aims to enable these students to meet, share common values, and exchange perspectives, with the goal of raising their awareness of multidisciplinary approaches that address the significant societal challenges naturally aligned with the I-Site MUSE project: Heal – Nourish – Protect.
According to Stéphan Brosillon, Deputy Director of Partnerships, Research, and Innovation at Polytech Montpellier (University of Montpellier), who is co-leading this project , “This program offers students a genuine opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of careers in research at a time when the ecological transition is now essential for our engineers.”
The PRI curriculum is integrated into the schools’ programs, beginning with a joint orientation seminar that features presentations by high-profile international speakers and a creativity workshop. The program then focuses on two main areas: discipline-specific knowledge tailored to each school, and a research track designed to develop cross-disciplinary research skills, which are put into practice in group or individual research projects, depending on the institution. Engineering students are then encouraged to participate in an exchange program at a foreign research laboratory within the network of international partners of the three schools.
During the PRI semester, students work on a research project proposed by a laboratory: they conduct a literature review, formulate hypotheses to be tested, design experimental protocols, collect and analyze data, and process the results, ultimately writing a paper in accordance with best practices and the principles of scientific integrity. Students submit their work to an open-access publishing platform.
For Morgane Burq, a student at the Institut Agro – Montpellier,“this program is an incredible gateway to the world of research. It’s a cosmopolitan program that offers the opportunity to meet new people, including students from various countries whose perspectives are very enriching. Interacting with other engineering students in Montpellier provides us with a wealth of interdisciplinary knowledge, which stimulates creativity and thus improves the quality of our projects.”
Significant support from I-Site Montpellier University of Excellence
The launch of this program received significant support from I-Site MUSE, led by the University of Montpellier. In fact, it was a three-time winner of the “TakeOff#3” call for proposals, which supports the implementation of educational initiatives and promotes innovative practices. The first round of funding supported the launch of the PRI with assistance from I-Site MUSE’s Center for Support of Educational Innovations. The second round of funding enabled the creation of a dedicated facility on theInstitut Agro Montpellier campus. This is the HIVE (High Innovative and Versatile Environment), a multipurpose space dedicated to creativity, collaboration, and digital communication, specifically designed for the PRI. The third round of funding supported the creation of a coworking space at Polytech Montpellier, open to the world of research and innovation. The project is supported bythe Montpellier Institute of Data Sciences for its computing needs and data storage and sharing.
The creation of the PRI has made it possible to establish, as part of the “Investments for the Future” program, one of the nine IDIL (Interdisciplinary – In Lab’ Graduate Program) master’s tracks that will be offered atUM the start of the next academic year, thereby shaping the graduate school at the University of Montpellier.