ECTS
120 credits
Duration
2 years
Training structure
Faculty of Science
Language(s) of instruction
French, English
Presentation
TheParasitic and Infectious Disease Management and Surveillance (GS-EPI) program is part of the Eco-Epidemiology (Eco-EPI) master's degree, which aims to train experts capable of meeting the challenges posed by contemporary epidemiological phenomena.
Indeed, epidemics and outbreaks of diseases linked to pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, eukaryotic parasites) have been on the rise in recent decades. This phenomenon is the result of complex, multiple factors of various origins: human density, degradation of natural ecosystems, degradation of biodiversity, overexploitation, intensive farming, urbanization, artificialization of environments, climate change, pollution, globalization of human and commercial exchanges, inappropriate use of antibiotics, inappropriate healthcare, declining vaccination coverage, poverty, etc.
The study or management of these epidemic phenomena therefore requires the involvement of a variety of skills and different levels of analysis, and thus an integrative and multidisciplinary approach (ecology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, parasitology, statistics, computer science, geomatics, geography, but also sociology, economics, anthropology, etc.). An eco-evolutionary perspective facilitates this synthesis by placing the analysis of underlying biological phenomena in population, spatial, and temporal contexts.
The advantages of the training program
1/The Eco-EPI program has obtained support from the MUSE e-site through funding for the Eco-Epidemiology of Animal and Human Pathogens Comprehensive and Utilitarian Resources – EpiCURe project (Take Off #3 call for projects: Curriculum – SUPPORTING THE TRANSFORMATION AND/OR CREATION OF CURRICULA). This project consists of implementing a data collection platform established by successive cohorts of students in the program. It will be coupled with a set of web services enabling the stored data to be exploited. Through this cross-disciplinary and decompartmentalized tool, based on the complete M1 and M2 curriculum, students will be able to "take charge" of the scientific content and knowledge to be acquired during their master's degree. This platform will promote the knowledge acquired and synthesized through a cooperative approach by students, the teaching team, researchers, and operational actors in the field. The accumulated knowledge will be preserved, exploited, and disseminated in French and English, beyond the program and the university, giving national and international visibility to the training in Eco-epidemiology of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases and to the training courses associated with the project (Bioinformatics, Geomatics).
2/ In the fall of 2021, with a view to opening in September 2022, two applications to open apprenticeship programs are planned: one of them concerns the M2 (Master's 2) program in the GS-EPI track.
Objectives
The GS-EPI program aims to train future managers responsible for implementing prevention, surveillance, and/or control measures for infectious and parasitic epidemics and emergencies, integrating eco-environmental, health, and socio-economic data specific to each intervention context.
The "multidisciplinary and integrative scientific approach" that characterizes the training program, combined with a multi-scale approach to analyzing intervention contexts (global, regional, local), enables future experts to propose the "informed" management necessary to meet the challenges of our contemporary societies.
Know-how and skills
Graduates of the GS-EPI program in Eco-EPI are able to establish and implement integrated management or monitoring programs based on the identification of factors contributing to the emergence of parasitic and infectious diseases, namely:
- the characteristics of ecological cycles and transmission dynamics
- evolutionary and molecular mechanisms promoting epidemics, emergence, and/or host shifts
- eco-environmental factors promoting epidemics and/or emergencies
- socio-economic factors contributing to epidemics and/or outbreaks
- the relative risks associated with each of these factors in each case of epidemic and/or emergence
To carry out this identification specific to each management or monitoring context, they apply their disciplinary knowledge in various fields such as
- in biological and ecological sciences (including evolutionary biology) focused on diseases caused by pathogens
- in mathematics (statistics and modeling) and computer science focused on the collection and analysis of epidemiological data (databases, GIS, etc.)
- in applied human sciences focused on emergence factors, risks, and management: sociology, economics, political governance, law (through organizations and institutions), risk identification and management, etc.
To establish and implement management or monitoring programs,
- They know how to independently implement a rational and relevant organization, apply it to a specific context, integrating information of various kinds, using a rigorous scientific approach.
- they are skilled in project management and team coordination
- They know how to interact and communicate with a variety of collaborators: epidemiologists or specialized researchers, decision-makers or elected officials, representatives of stakeholders or communities at different levels of civil society (farmers, hunters, patients, etc.), field workers, etc.
- They are able to disseminate results to different audiences (stakeholders, decision-makers, etc.).
International dimension
The Eco-Epidemiology of Animal and Human Pathogens Comprehensive and Utilitarian Resources – EpiCURe project (Take Off Call for Projects #3: Curriculum - SUPPORTING THE TRANSFORMATION AND/OR CREATION OF CURRICULA), based on the complete M1 and M2 curriculum, aims to give international visibility to training in Eco-epidemiology. It will enable the development of partnerships with foreign universities and institutions.
Organization
Knowledge assessment
Depending on the teaching units: Final exam, continuous assessment, oral exam. Project and internship teaching units are assessed using specific continuous assessment methods: a written report/dissertation and an oral defense before a panel.
Special facilities
- M1 specific tofourth-year pharmacy students in the research track, focusing training on skills not covered in their previous curriculum
- Master's degree apprenticeship (currently being set up and awaiting approval): alternating periods of study on campus and internship periods
Open alternately
Type of contract | Apprenticeship contract, Professional training contract |
|---|
in preparation
Planned opening date, if approved, in September 2022
Internships, supervised projects
Internship | Mandatory |
|---|---|
Duration of the internship | 3 months in M1, 5 to 6 months in M2 |
Internship abroad | Possible |
Duration of the internship abroad | 3 months in M1, 5 to 6 months in M2 |
A 3- to 4-month internship is offered and recommended starting in the first year of the master's program, if possible in the field of applied or finalized research, in order to promote learning about the scientific process and training through research. An in-depth tutored project is offered as an alternative to the first-year internship for students who need to deepen their knowledge and/or consolidate their approach and synthesis skills in order to better prepare for M2 and the end-of-study internship.
The end-of-study internship in management or supervisory structures (national, international), in international organizations, NGOs, in applied research organizations or institutions, or even in health-related companies, is mandatory in M2 for a period of 5 to 6 months, in the field of specialization chosen by the student.
Program
Year 1 is mainly a year common to both tracks of the major: it has a largely common core curriculum in M1 semester 1 (26 ECTS/30) with a free option allowing students to explore different fields and delve deeper into specific issues.
The choice of specialization is made in the second semester of the M1 program by selecting an option that provides in-depth knowledge of management or epidemiological surveillance. It will also be prepared by choosing the topic of the M1 internship or Advanced Tutored Project.
The M2 GS-EPI year is divided into courses
- Common with the EI-EPI program: project management, current topics in the eco-epidemiology of infectious and parasitic diseases (compulsory), Transmission: Case study (optional)
- Advanced risk analysis and monitoring
- In-depth study of the sociological and institutional contexts of management or supervision
- Specialization in one of the key areas of eco-epidemiology (see below)
- Applicable to conservation, resource management, or risk management (shared with other mentions)
- Advanced studies in Applied Humanities Tools or Bioinformatics, or in Bio-Eco Evolutionary Sciences (shared with other majors)
There are four main areas of specialization. These specializations are not mutually exclusive, but overlap in some areas. They are:
- Zoonoses and animal diseases
- Vector-borne diseases
- Global Changes
- Artificialization, Modern Technologies and Therapies
This specialization is developed starting in M1 S2 through thematic projects, internships, or in-depth tutored projects. It will be further developed through the choice of course units in M2S3 and the M2 internship.
Select a program
M1 - Eco-Epidemiology
Study of variability
4 creditsPathogenic organisms: from viruses to helminths
4 creditsDescription and inference
2 creditsIssues and challenges in disease epidemiology
4 creditsInformation systems and databases
4 creditsEcology Keys
2 creditsCHOICE S1
4 creditsChoose 1 out of 4
Phylogeny and Evolution
Food risk
4 creditsFood risk 1
2 creditsFood risk 2
2 credits
Water and Public Health
Skill Enhancements
4 credits
Ecology and Evolution of Microorganisms and Parasitism
6 credits
Epidemiology tools
2 creditsLongitudinal, cross-sectional, and epidemiological analyses
4 creditsEmergence: Eco-epidemiological contexts and mechanisms
8 creditsCHOICE S2
14 creditsOPTION 3
4 creditsChoose 1 out of 7
Public health and prevention
4 creditsHealth Policy and Public Health
Evolutionary genomics
4 creditsEvolutionary ecology
4 creditsEXDIM: Exploring multidimensional data
4 creditsAlignment and Phylogeny
4 creditsChoice 5
4 creditsBioinformatics Learning Lab
2 creditsBiological information
2 credits
OPTION 4
10 creditsChoose one of two options:
In-depth supervised project
10 creditsInternship
10 credits
Preparation for the internship or in-depth supervised project
2 credits
M2 - Management and Monitoring of Parasitic and Infectious Emergencies GS-EPI
Choice 2
4 creditsChoose 1 out of 4
Choice 2-1
4 creditsChoose 2 out of 8
Sustainable use of animal resources hunting
2 creditsMethods and analysis of surveys in the social sciences and humanities
2 creditsManaging a citizen science project
2 creditsConservation Biology (Advanced)
2 creditsHost/pathogen interactions in aquatic animals
2 creditsTOEIC/TOEFL preparation
2 creditsTransmission: Case study
2 creditsAdvanced exploration of multidimensional data EXADIM
2 credits
Spatial data
4 creditsHistorical approaches to natural hazards/expert feedback
4 creditsStatistical Tests
4 credits
Institutional context and management of emergence
2 creditsProject Management in Basic and Applied Epidemiology
10 creditsChoice 1
4 creditsChoose 2 out of 4
Arboviruses
4 creditsWater as a vector for pathogens
4 creditsCare, Technologies, and Artificialization
4 creditsZoonoses
4 credits
Emergence and Society
2 creditsEmergence II News (journal club)
2 creditsRisks, Risk Analysis, and Monitoring
2 credits
M2 - Management and Monitoring of Parasitic and Infectious Emergencies GS-EPI - APPENTISSAGE
Learning project
6 creditsInstitutional context and management of emergence
2 creditsProject Management in Basic and Applied Epidemiology
10 creditsChoice 2
Choose 1 out of 4
Emergence and Society
2 creditsEmergence II News (journal club)
2 creditsRisks, Risk Analysis, and Monitoring
2 creditsChoice 1
4 creditsChoose 1 out of 4
Arboviruses
4 creditsWater as a vector for pathogens
4 creditsZoonoses
4 creditsCare, Technologies, and Artificialization
4 credits
EU choice
4 creditsPublic health and prevention
4 creditsHealth Policy and Public Health
EXDIM: Exploring multidimensional data
4 creditsChoice 5
4 creditsBioinformatics Learning Lab
2 creditsBiological information
2 credits
GS or App end-of-study internship
26 credits
Admission
Admission requirements
To enter the M1 program: a bachelor's degree or equivalent
To enter M2: one year of Master's 1 or equivalent
See target audience for more information.
Registration procedures
Applications can be submitted on the following platforms:
French & European students:
- For the M1, follow the "My Master's Degree" procedure on the website:https://www.monmaster.gouv.fr/
- For M2 students, applicants must submit their application via the e-candidat application:https://candidature.umontpellier.fr/candidature
International students from outside the EU: follow the "Études en France" procedure:https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/etudesenfrance/dyn/public/authentification/login.html
Target audience
This program is open to young people from fundamental science programs (bachelor's degrees), health programs (especially pharmacy, but also human and veterinary medicine), as well as to health monitoring personnel in continuing education and students from geography and planning programs (under certain conditions), contributes to the development of a common culture among actors in this field, in response to the necessary interdisciplinary connections.
At the entrance to M1:
- students from
- Life Sciences or Life and Earth Sciences degrees, particularly the following courses: Ecology and Organism Biology, Organism and Population Biology, Environmental Sciences, Microbiology, Cell Biology and Physiology,
- Health Sciences degrees
- Biology and Humanities degrees (Catholic universities)...,
- fourth-year pharmacy or human medicine students.
- Secondarily, students with bachelor's degrees in Geography and Planning, Social Sciences, Health and Social Sciences. Their admission will be validated based on additional elements in their application indicating their ability to quickly acquire certain elements of the so-called "hard" sciences.
At the entrance to M2:
- by law, students who have obtained the M1 Eco-EPI
- students changing course, from an M1 Biology, Biology-Health, Health, Life Sciences, Public Health, Microbiology, Nutrition and Food Sciences, Biology–Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Environment, Territories, Landscape, Forestry, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Risks and Environment, Teaching, Education and Training Professions (MEEF),2nd degree. Their admission will be assessed based on the M1 prerequisites required to continue in M2 GS-EPI, the consistency between their training project and the program's objectives, and the number of places available in relation to the program's capacity.
- 6th-year veterinary students with a career plan focused on "one health" epidemiological surveillance (under the same conditions as those listed above)
- Continuing education for pharmacists and resident physicians in response to the need for integrative skills among future healthcare professionals.
- in continuing education, personnel from health monitoring services in eco-epidemiology.
At the start of the M2 GS-EPI apprenticeship program (application pending—subject to approval; scheduled to open in September 2022)
- Primarily students in the M1 Eco-EPI program
- students from M1 (listed above)
- sixth-year veterinary students
Capacity
Mandatory prerequisites
Determined by the entry level (see Target audience), the specific terms and conditions related to initial, continuing, or work-study training. These mainly include:
- a bachelor's degree in biological and environmental sciences, or equivalent, for admission to the first year of the master's program;
- Master's level 1 knowledge in biological and peri-biological sciences, or equivalent, in Master's level 2, including in this case fundamental knowledge of pathogens or infectious and parasitic diseases.
For admission to M1, "knowledge" at the L3 level or equivalent in at least two of these areas
- Organism biology
- Physiology
- Cell and Molecular Biology
- Ecology
- Evolutionary biology
- Parasitology
- Microbiology
For admission to M2, knowledge equivalent to M1 level or equivalent is required in the biology of the main pathogenic organisms and in at least two of the following areas:
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Antibiotic therapy and anti-infective drugs
- General ecology
- Parasitic ecology
- Microbial ecology
- Health ecology
- Evolutionary biology and/or Conservation biology
- Parasitology
- Microbiology
- Vector entomology
- Descriptive epidemiology (statistics)
- Modeling
- Health risk management
- Public health policy
- Epidemiological surveillance
Recommended prerequisites
For admission to M1,
- Level L1-L2 knowledge in at least one of these areas
- Biostatistics
- IT (databases, GIS)
- Basic knowledge, even self-taught, in one or two of the following areas can be valuable:
- Livestock systems
- Economy
- Sociology
- Anthropology
- Land use planning
- Environmental management
- Conservation biology
For admission to M2,
- Master's level knowledge in at least one of these areas (Initial training)
- Biostatistics
- IT (databases, GIS)
- Knowledge (professional experience, internships, studies, extracurricular experience) in one or two of the following areas
- Human or veterinary health
- Livestock farming and animal production systems
- Economy and globalization of trade
- Citizen science
- Sociology/Anthropology
- Development assistance
- Humanitarian aid
- Land use planning
- Environmental management
And after
Continuing education
Although not the main objective of the program, it is possible to pursue a thesis at the disciplinary interface between health ecology and sociology, in applied or finalized research.
Continuing studies abroad
same opportunities as in France, on interface theses and management application objectives
Professional integration
Professions: Eco-epidemiologist, eco-epidemiological monitoring officer, health monitoring officer, surveillance network coordinator (including animal diseases, epidemiological risk management consultant, etc.).
Insertion: National or regional management and surveillance organizations/health monitoring institutes (in France: ANSES, DGAI, DDPP, SPF, etc., or abroad: ECDC, etc.), international organizations, surveillance networks, health protection groups (GDS), etc.