The Master's in Chemistry Opens Doors for You
The Master’s in Chemistry at the University of Montpellier opens the door to all kinds of opportunities. And it can open many doors for you in the job market…
It's the only one Master's degree in chemistry from the Montpellier site, but he's got broad shoulders: no less than 11 different courses offered as part of the M2 program, and a faculty of 200 instructors… A master’s degree “pretty big”, said Joulia Larionova, the program’s director. The idea: “sto specialize or acquire new skills in the fields of chemistry and its related disciplines”.
86% of graduates find a job within 6 months
A program as simple as it is broad: “For students, the range of options is enormous; it’s true that chemistry is involved in just about every area of human activity. Upon graduation, the chemical industry is, of course, ready to welcome you with open arms; beyond that, countless opportunities await you in the job market.”
While the 11 tracks offered represent 11 often very different paths, they share one common reality: genuine career prospects in the job market, whether in scientific management roles in research, research and development, production, or quality control, or in technical-sales management. The employment rate speaks for itself: six months after graduation, 86% of students are employed*.
She is now an expert in scent and bio-based products. Back when Esmeralda Cicchetti Gonzales was studying in Montpellier, the Master's in Chemistry fromUM "does not yet exist." “At the University of Montpellier, I studied chemical engineering with a specialization in “flavors and fragrances,” which was a master’s-level program: the equivalent of today’s ICAP Master 1 program." said the young woman.
Very complex chemistry
She began her studies immediately after earning her high school diploma in biology. “After graduating from high school, the chemistry track is recommended: it offers a wide range of career opportunities."At the time, Montpellier, along with Le Havre, was one of the only programs recognized in this field."
Born in Grasse, Esmeralda took her first steps in the world capital of perfume. Very soon, she found herself following in the footsteps of her grandmother, a chemist who ran a laboratory that tickled the nostrils. Esmeralda remembers it vividly; her own “madeleine” smells of strawberries, roses, and jasmine…
The Montpellier team is therefore a “Back to the Roots”” . And an opportunity to discover that the sense of smell opens the door not only to Proustian reminiscences, but also to subtle pleasures that are as intellectual as they are sensual: “break down complex information, analyze it, understand a scent…“
“People don’t use their noses enough!” she argues. Yet it is the gateway to a world that sparks the imagination—especially because so much of it remains to be explored. Major discoveries regarding olfactory receptors have been made very recently.“
A World to Explore
Education at the University of Montpellier? “Very comprehensive. It was also packed with hours of instruction! At the time, I didn’t necessarily see the point of taking in so much information, but it all ended up being incredibly useful to me later on. The program focused on helping us become self-reliant. That wasn’t always easy to handle as a student! But it was a great learning experience.“
Has been in charge of his own testing laboratory for five years, Esmeralda returned to Grasse, where she turned her passion into a career. “I built my lab from the ground up, recruited the team, acquired the equipment, and developed my own methods…””. A laboratory focused entirely on nature, where innovative natural extracts for perfumery and cosmetics are analyzed.
This makes the challenge all the more daunting: “Compared to synthetic products, natural extracts are astonishingly complex! With hundreds of components, they are much more difficult to analyze. It’s a daily challenge. Here, we explore the complexity of nature.“
Research
The master’s program has another distinctive feature: a very strong focus on research. “In this field, research in Montpellier is internationally recognized. And it is very well-structured: the master’s program draws on the excellence of the four research institutes** grouped within the Balard Chemistry Cluster. This gives us access to high-performance equipment, including state-of-the-art technical facilities housed on the cluster’s brand-new campus.”
It’s no surprise, then, that a high percentage of graduates aspire to pursue careers in research: 44% of them* develop a passion for academic research while still in college and go on to pursue a Ph.D. This path opens the door to careers such asProfessor, researcher, and research engineer, among others.
After earning her master’s degree in chemistry, Vanessa Ortiz turned to research. It was a calling she discovered late in life, during a memorable second-year internship in Melbourne, Australia…
Vanessa Ortiz is a chemist through and through. But she’s on the greener side of the discipline: for her, climate change and the state of the planet are critical issues. So, for her master’s degree in chemistry atUM, she’ll choose an environmental track, opting for the “Materials Science for Energy and Sustainable Development”.
“Chemistry is in everything!”
For this scientist at heart, it all began at theSète University Institute of Technology (IUT) : “I became fascinated by chemistry very quickly. Physics involves too much math. And besides, chemistry is everywhere—it’s in everything! It helps explain many everyday phenomena and helps us understand the world around us.“
After the “very serious” course offered at the IUT (“lots of hands-on work, great teaching“), Vanessa wants to pursue a long-term academic program rather than opt for a vocational track: she therefore enrolls in a general bachelor’s program at the University of Montpellier to earn a degree at the managerial level. She has just set out on a journey toward horizons she has yet to imagine.
Flame of Research
Everything changed during her second year of graduate school, with a five-month internship open to international participants. This native of Agde bought a ticket to the unknown: Melbourne, Australia. Her eyes light up when she talks about that time. Under the Australian sun, the flame of research—that space where “"There's no such thing as a routine", gradually takes shape. “I discovered a new kind of independence; I conducted experiments, carried out hands-on activities, and took the initiative. Five months is more than enough time to really make a project your own.“
Vanessa is now in her second year of her doctoral program and is fully immersed in her research. It’s a level of commitment she would never have imagined just a few years ago: “In high school, it’s very hard to imagine what your future career might look like.””Vanessa is working on innovative materials that could be used, in particular, in fuel cells: a key area for the future in producing electricity with low emissions.
From the company's perspective
Vanessa is discovering a new source of professional fulfillment: teaching. As part of her “additional teaching assignments,” she leads organic chemistry lab sessions for students at theSète University Institute of Technology (IUT).
Her future? The young woman, who has come to enjoy changing her horizons, sees it lying just around another corner: “I’d like to move into the corporate sector. Recruiters are increasingly looking for candidates with a Ph.D. I could see myself in a technical sales role—selling research equipment. A new adventure in a different setting: exciting!”“
International
The Master’s program in Chemistry has a strong international focus, with 20% of students coming from abroad, high levels of international student mobility, two Erasmus Mundus tracks, and numerous partnerships with foreign institutes and universities (Madras, Kyoto, Zurich, Munich, Cornell, Madison, Wisconsin, and Manhattan, Kansas (USA); São Paulo (Brazil); and SFU (Russia)).
Business Sectors
Research chemistry and related fields, the chemical industry, materials, energy, sustainable development, aerospace, the automotive industry, cement and concrete, the nuclear sector, fine organic chemistry, biotechnology, the pharmaceutical, food, and agri-food industries, perfumery, cosmetics, …
- 2017 Figures
** Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules, Charles Gerhardt Institute of Montpellier, Marcoule Institute of Separative Chemistry, European Institute of Membranes