IDIL Graduate Program: Training in and for Research at UM, with 9 New Tracks Now Available
With its brand-new graduate program, called the Interdisciplinary & In-lab Graduate Program, the University of Montpellier is preparing to welcome French and international students starting in the 2022 academic year through eight new master’s programs and one engineering program, all taught in English. The goal is to increase the University of Montpellier’s international reach and strengthen education driven by and focused on research. A true academic innovation.
What does the IDIL graduate program offer?
IDIL is an innovative graduate program that quickly immerses students in laboratory research. It is part of the“Structuring Education through Research (SFRI)” future investment program, a call for proposals won by the University of Marseille in 2020, which will also be supported by funding from the I-Site MUSE.
The program has several objectives, the primary one being to train students through research and for research in laboratories affiliated with the University of Montpellier. To this end, two 6-month paid internships are included in the curriculum, not only to introduce students to the research environment starting in their first year of the master’s program, but also to allow them to acquire some of the concepts typically covered in class through direct interaction with researchers. “In Lab” teaching units, conducted within the research teams at the University of Montpellier, complement the internships with the goal of learning a specific technique, method, or concept through total immersion.
The introduction to interdisciplinarity offered by the IDIL program is designed to expose students to new cross-disciplinary skills that they can apply in their professional lives to adapt to new societal challenges. The IDIL graduate program is structured around our institution’s three core themes—“nourish, care, and protect”—by encouraging students to break down disciplinary barriers and explore other fields: for example, a student in the Global Change: Earth and Water Sciences track can take introductory courses in Comparative Politics and Public Policy, enabling them to better understand how political decisions are made and to be able to inform those decisions.
Finally, involving students in research labs early on helps strengthen the connection between the master’s program and the transition to a Ph.D. program. Indeed, the personalized support provided by mentors and academic advisors—tailored to each student’s research project—helps students integrate into their future professional environment, thereby facilitating the transition to a Ph.D. program.
“The creation of the IDIL program perfectly illustrates the University’s educational goals: grounded in Research, international in scope, innovative, responsive to societal needs, and more personalized for students, whose success and career readiness remain central to the initiative,” said Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier.
A wide variety of subjects and resources
The IDIL graduate program consists of eight master’s tracks and one engineering track. These master’s programs span several disciplinary fields: ecology and evolution, biology and health, agricultural sciences, chemistry, science and policy, management, modeling, and geology and hydrology. The engineering track, meanwhile, operates under the same laboratory immersion model as the master’s programs, but is specifically designed for students enrolled at the École nationale supérieure de chimie, the Institut Agro Montpellier, and Polytech Montpellier.
In this initial phase, the IDIL program is being rolled out across nine tracks, spread across six of the University of Marseille’s (UM) constituent units and in collaboration with some sixty laboratories. Ultimately, the goal of the graduate program is to establish approximately 30 tracks, involving all 73 of UM’s research units, in order to create a true network connecting the University’s various constituent units.
“These master’s programs are just the first in a long list. IDIL promotes learning through and for research in a rich and diverse environment. This is reflected in the wide range of programs offered, as well as the resources available within each one. IDIL is designed for curious and self-motivated students who want to take an active role in their education. However, they are “supported” throughout the program by tutors and mentors. We hope that the certainty of receiving an internship stipend will also encourage students facing financial difficulties to be less hesitant about pursuing a master’s degree,” explained Mathieu Sicard and Agnès Fichard-Caroll,the co-leaders of the IDIL project.
Practical information:
For registration and additional information, click here.