IDIL graduate program: training through and for research at the UM with 9 new courses available
With its brand new Inter-disciplinary & In-lab Graduate Program, the University of Montpellier is preparing to welcome French and international students from the start of the 2022 academic year through eight new Master's courses and one engineering course, all taught in English. The aim is to increase the international scope of the University of Montpellier and strengthen training through and for research. A real academic innovation.
What does the IDIL graduated program offer?
IDIL is an innovative graduate program that rapidly immerses students in laboratory research. It is part of the future investment program " Structuring training through research (SFRI)", a call for projects won by the UM in 2020, which will also be supported by funds from the MUSE I-Site.
The program has several objectives, the main one being to train students through research and for research in laboratories attached to the University of Montpellier. To this end, two 6-month internships are included in the curriculum, not only to introduce students to the world of research in M1, but also to enable them to acquire some of the concepts usually covered in lectures through direct contact with researchers. The internships are complemented by " In Lab " teaching units within research teams at the University of Montpellier, with the aim of learning a specific technique, method or notion in total immersion.
The introduction to interdisciplinarity offered by the IDIL program is designed to open students up to new cross-disciplinary skills that they will be able to apply in their professional lives in order to adapt to new societal challenges. The IDIL graduate program is built around our school's three signature themes of "feed, care and protect", and offers students the opportunity to decompartmentalize their knowledge by taking an interest in other disciplines: for example, a student on the Global Change: Earth and Water Sciences pathway could take introductory courses in Comparative Politics and Public Action, enabling him or her to better understand how political decisions are made and to be in a position to inform them.
Last but not least, the early integration of students into the laboratories helps to strengthen the links between the master's degree and the doctorate. In fact, the personalized support provided by mentors and tutors, depending on the student's project, encourages the integration of students into their future professional environment, with a view to facilitating the transition to a doctorate.
" The creation of the IDIL program is a perfect illustration of the University's ambitions in terms of training: based on 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 range of disciplines and resources
The IDIL graduate program comprises eight master's courses and one engineering course. The master's courses cover a range of disciplines: ecology-evolution, biology-health, agrosciences, chemistry, science-politics, management, modeling and geology-hydrology. The engineering pathway, meanwhile, is based on the same laboratory immersion arrangements as the masters programs, but is aimed more specifically at students training at the École nationale supérieure de chimie, Institut Agro Montpellier and Polytech Montpellier.
In this first phase, the IDIL program is being rolled out over 9 pathways, spread across 6 UM components and in collaboration with some 60 laboratories. Ultimately, the ambition is to open around 30 courses, involving the UM's 73 research structures, in order to create a genuine network connecting the University's various components.
" These master's programs are just the first of many. IDIL promotes learning through and for research in a rich and diverse environment. This is evidenced by the numerous courses on offer, as well as the resources available within each of them. IDIL is designed for inquisitive, independent students who want to play an active role in their training. However, they are "accompanied" throughout the program by tutors and mentors. We hope that the certainty of an internship bonus will make students with financial difficulties less reluctant to embark on a Master's degree ", say Mathieu Sicard and Agnès Fichard-Caroll, co-sponsors of the IDIL project.
Practical information:
Click here to register and find out more.