Targeted level of study
BAC +5
Training structure
Faculty of Science
Presentation
The Biology-Agroscience (BA) Master's degree is co-accredited by the University of Montpellier and the Montpellier Agro Institute. On the national level, it is the only Master's degree to offer courses covering all life science topics applied to the vast field of agrosciences, including plant biology, the biology of microorganisms and their interactions with all types of hosts, biotechnologies and food sciences.
The structuring of the mention in 7 courses makes it possible to cover the various scientific and technological fields mentioned above:
- 4 courses in Plant Sciences: Plant Biology for the Agro-Environment (BiPa), Plant-Microorganism Interactions (IPM), Biotechnology and Improvement of Tropical Plants (BAPT) and Management of Plant Experimentation (MEV),
- Microorganism-Host-Environment Interactions (MHEI),
- Biotechnology course: Biomolecular engineering and nanotechnology (Ibion-Tec),
- Engineering sciences for the rational design of foods: Engineering for the Eco-Design of Foods (ICOA).
This training offer (the 7 courses and the teaching units proposed in each course) is presented on the Master Biology, Agrosciences website: https: //bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/
The teaching is based on training through research thanks to the number and quality of Montpellier laboratories in all the fields covered, with a strong orientation towards the public or private research sectors in the BiPa, IPM, BAPT and IMHE courses. The MEV, Ibion-Tec and ICOA courses, while relying on the site's laboratories, involve a stronger partnership with professionals from private companies.
The entire program develops innovative teaching methods (collaborative and transversal practical work, project-based teaching, innovative projects in relation with a company, organization of scientific events by students, collaborative scientific production, interdisciplinary learning laboratory, etc.).
The Biology-Agroscience Master's program offers two compulsory internships, one of 3 to 5 months in M1 and one of 5 to 6 months in M2. Depending on the students' wishes and the path they follow in the Master's program, these internships may be more research-oriented or more business-oriented. As far as the research orientation is concerned, these internships allow for a high level of training through research. The richness of the Montpellier site in terms of laboratories in the fields of the mention (on a national level, Montpellier is the first research site in these scientific fields) allows students to find internships that meet their expectations in terms of fields of interest and professional objectives. Thanks to the international networks it has built up, the teaching staff also enables students to do an internship in laboratories in Europe, North America, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa.
For a limited number of students (2 to 3 per course and selected on the basis of the excellence of their academic record) wishing to acquire additional skills in project management, a co-diploma with the Institute of Business Administration of Montpellier (IAE Montpellier) can be offered.
Objectives
The Master's degree in Biology and Agrosciences in Montpellier trains managers for research and the research/development sector in fields ranging from biological sciences for the agro-environment to biotechnologies and the valorization of agroresources. Graduates will have a solid scientific and technical foundation and will have acquired initial professional experience. The objective of this Master's degree is to train project managers for plant breeding and/or protection, biotechnology and agri-food companies. It also aims to train scientific executives to develop and direct fundamental or applied research in public or private laboratories, in France or abroad.
Through the quality of its teaching, the variety of courses offered, the extremely strong link with research, the partnerships with professionals from the private sector and its international collaboration networks, the Master's degree in Biology and Agrosciences in Montpellier offers many opportunities for students to build their professional project as closely as possible to their aspirations in a motivating environment. The teaching teams of the courses help students choose an internship in line with their professional project.
Know-how and skills
Knowledge:
- Acquire in-depth knowledge in particular in the areas of the student's chosen course,
- Master the major research strategies used to address the scientific questions at the heart of the student's chosen pathway,
- To have a good vision of the tools and concepts of related disciplines to be mobilized to understand the functioning of living organisms or their valorization (physics, chemistry, computer science, ...).
- Acquire the skills in Management and Project Management necessary for the training of executives.
Skills:
- Know how to mobilize concepts and tools from different disciplines to set up an experiment, to analyze results and to draw conclusions and/or operating models.
- Know how to identify the questions posed at different scales of integration (molecule, cell, whole organism, organism in relation to its environment) and integrate them into a multi-scale reflection.
- Know how to search for relevant scientific information to address a given problem, prioritize this information, compare it, synthesize it and build working hypotheses for new research.
- Know how to communicate with rigor and precision while adapting to the audience, through oral or written presentations.
- Know how to lead a project within a group, identify and develop collaborations with researchers or professionals bringing related skills and expertise.
Soft skills:
- Know how to work independently,
- Know how to work in a team, develop and implement a common project
- Respect the legal, ethical and scientific rules of conduct related to experimentation, publication and use of documents, sharing of biological resources and partnership.
Program
The Master Biology-Agroscience is structured in 7 courses, allowing to cover all the scientific and technological fields of the mention:
1/ The field of Plant Biology is divided into 4 tracks. In order to give strong skills in plant biology to all students, many Teaching Units are shared, but Teaching Units are also specific to each pathway to offer students a real specialization and allow them to refine their professional project. These 4 tracks are :
- Plant Biology for the Agro-Environment (BiPa)
- Plant-Microorganism Interactions (PMI)
- Biotechnology and Improvement of Tropical Plants (BAPT)
- Management of Plant Experimentation (MEV)
2/ The Microorganism-Host-Environment Interactions (MHEI) program offers training in microbiology and in all aspects of ecology and adaptive interactions between microorganisms, their hosts (plants, invertebrates, higher animals, humans) and their natural or anthropized environments.
3/ The Biomolecular Engineering and Nanobiotechnologies (Ibion-Tec) program is a multidisciplinary program (biology, physics, chemistry, electronics, etc.) that trains students to design and manage R&D projects in biotechnologies and nano-biotechnologies dedicated to applied molecular detection and diagnostic methods.
4/ The Engineering for the Eco-design of Foods (ICOA) course integrates the tools for the design and development of foods by considering the environmental impact of the processes and transformation channels. At the interface between life sciences (biology/biotechnology) and process engineering, this training opens up to careers in the agri-food industry (production, R&D) and more broadly to the sectors dedicated to the transformation and valorization of agricultural resources (materials, energy, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc.).
This training offer and the teaching programs of the 7 tracks are presented on the website of the Master Biology, Agrosciences: https: //bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/master-biologie-agrosciences/
Select a program
Plant Biology for the Agro-environment (BiPa)
The Plant Biology for the Agro-Environment (BiPa) program offers a multidisciplinary training program focused on knowledge generated from major study models such as Arabidopsis thaliana, but also from cultivated plants that are now established as true models (rice, corn, etc.). Our training covers all plant-related topics (adaptation of plants to climate change, developmental biology, mineral nutrition, ecophysiology, plant-microorganism interactions). In addition to the classical approaches of biology, we also emphasize modeling and bioinformatics, disciplines that are currently essential for the valorization of the massive data generated on a daily basis.
For more information on this course and its content, go to https://bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/biologie-des-plantes/biologie-des-plantes-pour-lagro-environnement/
Plant Microorganism Interactions (PMI)
Plants are directly and indirectly the basis of our food chain. In their environment, plants are constantly in association with micro-organisms that constitute their microbiota. Some of these microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, viruses...) are severely detrimental to crops while others improve their overall health (nutrition, development or resistance to diseases). Therefore, a strategy to meet the challenges of both production and food or feed safety is to understand how plants react, adapt and eventually benefit from the presence of microorganisms in their environment.
For more information on this course and its content, go to https://bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/biologie-des-plantes/interactions-plantes-microorganimes/
Biotechnology and Improvement of Tropical Plants (BAPT)
The Biotechnology and Improvement of Tropical Plants (BAPT) course is based on teaching units (UE) common to the BiPa, IPM and MEV courses, which are designed to provide a foundation of fundamental knowledge in the fields of genetics and genomics, cellular and molecular biology, plant biology (development, ecophysiology, basis of interactions with microorganisms, etc.), and the tools required for the scientific approach (statistics, bioinformatics, critical analysis, project management, etc.). This core curriculum also includes an internship in M1 and M2 that allows the student to contribute to the development of a research project in a laboratory of a public institute or a private company.
Thanks to specific courses, including a specialized thematic school, and to the choice of options offered in M1 and M2, the Biotechnology and Tropical Plant Breeding course is oriented towards the appropriation of biotechnology tools as well as knowledge of the practice of plant breeding, targeting in particular the main food or cash crops of Mediterranean and tropical environments. A specific module of the M1 shared with the IBION-Tec course allows to approach engineering approaches aiming at the production of phytomolecules of interest.
One of the major development issues, given the world population growth expected in the coming years, is to support the increase of agricultural production in Southern countries in a context of global warming. Thus, the two specific modules of the M2 course allow students to work in small groups on a project based on a research question targeting the improvement of a cultivated plant to changes in the environment (water deficit, poor soil....). To do this, they are required to mobilize their knowledge in order to analyze phenotypes and adaptive strategies of plants, to model them and to propose an improvement objective (ideoptype). The thematic school "functional genomics of tropical and Mediterranean plants" aims to illustrate, through case studies, how the knowledge acquired on model species and the use of genomic data on species that are still little studied allow the design of classical or biotechnological improvement strategies adapted to the stress resistance of the main tropical species. In this school, which allows exchanges between master's students, doctoral students and researchers, the set-up and tools of partnerships are also illustrated, allowing the elaboration of international and inter-institutional collaborative research targeting development aid. Through the choice of options offered, students can refine their training and either go further by working on the adaptation of plants to climate change or on their resistance to biotic stresses, or open up to the human and social dimensions of plant improvement. Finally, the Montpellier international campus is the leading European research center for plant sciences dedicated to the improvement of Mediterranean and tropical cultivated species, thanks in particular to theIRD (Institute of Research for Development) and CIRAD (Center for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development), Students will have access to a wide range of internships in France or abroad, giving them the opportunity to explore research on a tropical crop species and/or a research project in the South in partnership with a national or international research institute.
In addition to this specialization, additional skills to the scientific ones are considered essential in all the courses of the Master in Biology and Agrosciences and are fully integrated in the Biotechnology and Tropical Plant Improvement course. This concerns documentary research and the management and exploitation of databases, scientific communication and the setting up, management and conduct of projects.
For more information on this course and its content, go to https://bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/biologie-des-plantes/biotechnologie-et-amelioration-des-plantes-tropicales/
Management and Plant Experimentation (MEV)
The vast majority of vegetable foodstuffs are obtained through intensive agriculture. This form of agriculture was implemented in France after the Second World War. It was the perfect answer to the social and economic demands of the time by allowing the production of food in quantity and at low cost. The development of intensive agriculture was only possible thanks to fundamental research studies in various fields such as plant biology and physiology, genetics and agronomy. Currently, it is commonly accepted that advances in crop yields are half due to agronomy and half due to genetics. This past experience suggests that a multidisciplinary approach based on strong scientific research is necessary to develop a type of agriculture.
Intensive agriculture does not have only qualities. It is based on the massive use of inputs (fertilizers and phytosanitary products) which represents a source of environmental pollution and causes health problems. It therefore seems important to change agricultural practices in order to limit the use of inputs and move to a model of sustainable agriculture. This shift in agricultural practices has been underway for the past twenty years, but it has been accelerated by the ECOPHYTO plan, which aims to reduce the use of phytosanitary products by 50% in 2018. This reform of agriculture must also be done under the pressure of an additional difficulty: climate change. In order to develop a more environmentally friendly agriculture in a context of climate change, it is necessary to have multidisciplinary approaches combining genetics (development of varieties that make better use of nitrogen and water, resistant to existing diseases, etc.),agronomy/physiology/ecology (adapting cultivation itineraries, introducing micro-organisms, Natural Defense Stimulators, etc.) and plant pathology (development of Bio-Control, etc.) Plant experimentation, the driving force behind changes in agricultural practices, therefore requires managers capable of writing, carrying out and evaluating projects.
If the stakes of developing sustainable agriculture are important for developed countries, they are crucial for many countries in the South that cannot afford fertilizers or phytosanitary products anyway. CIRAD and IRD have developed partnerships with research centers in the South. Seed or production companies (e.g. sugar, etc.) in the South need high quality executives.
This master's program has been designed to be followed in alternating years. A certain number of students will have the possibility to have a double master's degree: MEV (carried by the faculty of sciences) and management (carried by the IAE).
For more information on this course and its content, go to https://bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/biologie-des-plantes/management-de-lexperimentation-vegetale/
Microorganism-Host-Environment Interactions (MHEI)
The IMHE ʻInteractions Microorganisms-Hosts-Environmentsʼ training program is original and unique in the regional offer by offering students training, both theoretical and through research, in environmental and applied microbiology. Environmental microbiology here integrates the study of microorganisms (prokaryotes, eukaryotes and viruses) in ecosystems associated or not, with humans and animals.
The IMHE master's degree aims at an in-depth knowledge of microbial systems with an integrative approach, addressing the study of microorganisms as cells, populations and communities in their environment, as well as the interactions with their hosts (humans, animals, plants) and vectors. The training addresses interactions at the molecular, cellular and microbial community levels, as well as the effect of biotic and abiotic factors on these interactions. It also explores the role of microorganisms in the functioning of natural and anthropized ecosystems. The practical and finalized aspects of microbiology are also covered, in particular the applications of microbial biomass and diversity in the fields of agriculture, the environment, health and biotechnology.
Combinations of Teaching Units (TU) allow us to offer two profilesOne is oriented towards "Fundamental Research" (profile 1), while the other is more oriented towards "Research & Development" (profile 2). This training thus offers students the possibility of meeting diversified professional objectives, with a high rate of placement of students in doctoral studies (40 to 50%) or professional opportunities in companies directly after the training. The program is open to apprenticeship.
This training is based on the strong regional research community in the field of microorganisms and relies on a strong involvement of researchers, teacher-researchers, and industrialists of this community present in Montpellier and more widely in the Occitanie region.
Key words: Microorganisms, Environmental microbiology, Microbial ecology, Microbiota, Emergence, Resistance, Adaptation, Symbiosis, Parasitism, (Meta)genomics, Microbial valorizations, Bacteria, Archaea, Viruses, Fungi, Eukaryotic microorganisms.
Website : https://bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/interactions-microorg-hotes/
Bio-molecular engineering and nanobiotechnologies (IBION-Tec)
The IBION-Tec course offers students the possibility to acquire skills at the interface of Engineering Sciences and Life Sciences. This Master specialization is clearly positioned at the interface of Biology, Physics - Electronics and Chemistry. It opens the students' field of competence to innovative and efficient techniques such as Biotechnologies and nano-biotechnologies facilitating their integration in research centers and industries. This specialization offers a base of competence dedicated to the field of biomolecular detection applied to diagnosis.
Its strength is that it covers a wide range of activities in Research and Development, in the fields of diagnostics and traceability, from the molecular to the industrial process scale.
This Master's program focuses on the design of innovative tools dedicated to diagnosis and traceability. This "design part" of the training takes place over the two years of training, offering students access to various technological platforms and practical workrooms. The objective is to collectively develop a project that will lead to its feasibility, or even to the development of a prototype for one innovation per year in the field of detection techniques.
The quality of life of citizens is at the heart of the training's concerns with the consideration of food safety and the safety of care in a context of sustainable development.
The objective of IBION-Tec is to acquire, in accordance with European regulations, diagnostic and detection tools for traceability (medical, agronomic, food, etc...).
For more information on this course and its content, go to https://bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/ibion-tec/
Engineering and Eco-Design of Foods (ICOA)
The Engineering for the Eco-design of Foods (ICOA) program, an initial training or apprenticeship program integrated into the Biology and Agrosciences field, is co-accredited by the University of Montpellier and the Institut Agro de Montpellier (National Higher Education Institution for Agriculture, Food and the Environment). It is positioned at the interface between process engineering and life sciences and offers an integrated approach to food design combining knowledge of processes (physical and biological) and control of the organoleptic and nutritional quality of products as part of an approach to reduce the environmental impact of the sectors.
The major disciplinary fields on which the teaching is based are engineering sciences and are: Biotechnology, Food Science, Physical Chemistry, Green Chemistry and Sustainable Process Engineering. This highly multidisciplinary training allows for professional integration in all the professions of the Agro-Food Industry (production, R&D, Quality Control) and more broadly in all sectors dedicated to the valorization of agro-resources (materials, energy, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics...).
Both years are punctuated by an internship (minimum of 3 months and 5 months in M1 and M2 respectively) that the student can identify from a very large catalog of available internship sites or by soliciting the active network of the program's alumni.
For a limited number of students (2 to 3 selected on the basis of their academic record and their professional project) wishing to acquire additional skills in project management, a co-diploma with the Institute of Business Administration of Montpellier (IAE Montpellier) can be offered. By choosing an additional 5 ECTS UE related to management themes, the student will be able to obtain a double master's degree: Master ICOA and Master of Management of Technology and Science.
For more information on this course and its content, go to https://bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/ingenierie-pour-leco-conception-des-aliments/
IDIL - Plant and Microbiological Sciences for Agro-environment
The "Plant and Microbiological Sciences for the Agro-environment" program offers training through research in the fields of plant sciences and microbiology. The training addresses the study of plants and microorganisms at the molecular and cellular levels, and at the level of the organism in interaction with its agro-environment.
The program is supported by a network of laboratories that is unique in the world, developing research work on a large number of themes in these vast disciplinary fields. The student's training project is developed at the beginning of the Master's program between the student, the teaching staff and a research team, allowing the customization of a specialized program in plant sciences or microbiology.
Examples of teaching units:
- Mineral nutrition and plant adaptation to abiotic constraints
- Microbial ecology
- Roles of microorganisms in ecosystems
Course page: https://bioagro.edu.umontpellier.fr/plants-microbes-programme-idil/
Admission
Conditions of access
Applications for the Biology, Agrosciences Master's courses must be submitted via the e-candidate application on the Faculty of Science website: https: //sciences.edu.umontpellier.fr/candidatures-admissions-je-netais-pas-etudiant-etudiante-a-la-fds-en-2020-2021/ between April 19 and July 2, 2021. Applicants must submit all the required documents, as incomplete applications will not be evaluated.
Each application is studied by a pedagogical recruitment committee specific to the program for which the student is applying.
How to register
Successful candidates must complete their administrative registration as soon as possible, at the beginning of September, and then proceed to a pedagogical registration indicating the Teaching Units chosen for the semester.
Target audience
The Master in Biology, Agrosciences is accessible to students with a Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences or equivalent (Bachelor of Technology in Biological Engineering), with minimum knowledge specific to the Master's program in question.
Necessary pre-requisites
These requirements differ from one program to another and students are invited to read the "prerequisites" section of the program they wish to apply for.
As a general rule, proven knowledge of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology and microbiology at the Bachelor's level is required. In addition, a minimum level of English is required to read scientific texts in English.
In addition to these prerequisites, basic knowledge in plant physiology is required for the BiPa, IPM, BAPT and MEV programs, in microbiology for IMHE, in biotechnology, immunology and organic chemistry for Ibion-Tec and in engineering sciences and process engineering for ICOA.
Recommended prerequisites
They differ according to the course. A minimum level in statistics and computer science is a plus for all courses.
And then
Further studies
For those who wish to do so, the Biology and Agrosciences Master's degree opens the door to a doctorate at the end of the Master's degree, in France or abroad, where graduates of this Master's degree are highly appreciated.
Some students complete their training in biology or biotechnology in the Biology, Agrosciences Master's program with management training to move towards entrepreneurship, or towards bioinformatics to strengthen their skills at the interface of experimental biology and computer science.
Continuing your studies abroad
Thanks to the exceptional network of international collaborations maintained by the Montpellier laboratories and to the numerous links between the teaching teams of the Master's program and foreign laboratories, the M1 and M2 internships can be carried out abroad (mainly in Europe and North America, but also in Asia, Africa and Latin America). This gives students the opportunity to do a PhD in the host laboratory or to join international PhD programs. This possibility is not restricted to students doing their Master internship abroad, it is also widely open to those doing their internship in Montpellier or in other research centers in France.
Professional integration
- Doctoral Contracts
- Research organizations, national and international
- Research and Development sector in private enterprise