IDIL graduate program: training through and for research at UM with nine new courses 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 in the fall of 2022 with eight new master's programs and one engineering program, all taught in English. The goal is to increase the international reach of the University of Montpellier and strengthen education through and for research. This is a real 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 Training through Research (SFRI)" future investment program, a call for projects won by UM in 2020, which will also be supplemented by funds from I-Site MUSE.
The program has several objectives, the main one being to train students through research and for research in laboratories affiliated with the University of Montpellier. To this end, two six-month paid internships are included in the curriculum, not only to introduce students to the research environment from the first year of their master's degree, but also to enable them to acquire some of the concepts usually covered in class through direct contact with researchers. " In Lab " teaching units, within the research teams at the University of Montpellier, complement the internships with the aim of learning a specific technique, method, or concept through total immersion.
The introduction to interdisciplinarity offered by the IDIL program aims to open students' minds to new cross-disciplinary skills that they can apply in their professional lives in order to adapt to new societal challenges. The IDIL graduate program is structured around our institution's three signature themes of "feeding, caring for, and protecting," encouraging students to broaden their knowledge by exploring other disciplines. For example, a student in the Global Change: Earth and Water Sciences program can take introductory courses in Comparative Politics and Public Action to gain a better understanding of how political decisions are made and be able to inform them. Earth and Water Sciences program can take introductory courses in Comparative Politics and Public Action, enabling them to better understand how political decisions are made and to be able to inform them.
Finally, the early integration of students into laboratories helps to strengthen the links between the master's degree and the pursuit of a doctorate. Indeed, personalized support, tailored to the student's project, provided by mentors and academic tutors, promotes the student's integration into their future professional environment with a view to facilitating the transition to a doctorate.
" The creation of the IDIL program perfectly illustrates the University's ambitions in terms of education: backed by Research, international, innovative, responding to societal needs, but also more personalized for students, whose success and professional integration remain central to the project," says Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier.
A wide variety of disciplines and resources
The IDIL graduate program consists of eight master's degree courses and one engineering course. These master's degrees cover several disciplines: ecology and evolution, biology and health, agricultural sciences, chemistry, political science, management, modeling, and geology and hydrology. The engineering program operates on the same laboratory immersion basis 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 first phase, the IDIL program is being rolled out across nine courses, spread across six departments at the University of Montpellier and in collaboration with around sixty laboratories. Ultimately, the aim of the graduate program is to offer around 30 courses, involving all 73 research structures at the University of Montpellier, in order to create a genuine network connecting the various departments of the University.
These master's degrees 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 many courses offered, as well as the resources available within each of them. IDIL is suited to curious and independent 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 encourage students with financial difficulties to be less hesitant about embarking on a master's degree," said Mathieu Sicard and Agnès Fichard-Caroll, co-leaders of the IDIL project.
Practical information:
Registration and additional information available by clicking here.