ECTS
60 credits
Duration
1 year
Training Structure
College of Sciences
Overview
The Biodiv’In master’s program, “Dual Expertise in Ecology and Biodiversity Management,” is described on the website for the GEB master’s track, “Environmental and Biodiversity Management”: www.ingénieurs-ecologues.fr
This is a general scientific and technical program in ecology at the master’s level (bac+5) in the following fields of study:
Environmental and Ecological Engineering.
Biodiversity management and conservation.
It consists of a single year of M2-level study; the program does not include an M1 year.
This program prepares graduates with a master’s degree (bac+5) for careers as “technical engineers” and does not prepare students for careers as senior technicians (such as naturalist technicians, since these require specialized and lengthy training that is not provided in this program) or for careers as researchers or faculty members. Given these two limitations, this program opens the door to a very wide range of careers at the master’s level that are more or less related to scientific ecology and contribute directly and/or indirectly to biodiversity conservation.
The program is open to both initial and continuing education, whether or not it is a work-study program, and whether or not it is under an apprenticeship or professional training contract.
Generally, a 100% success rate.
Success Rate
Objectives
The Biodiv’In program is primarily open to graduates with a master’s degree (bac+5) in a field other than general and applied ecology. Students who have already earned a Master 2 degree or a degree from an engineering school (possibly during their fifth year, if the school recognizes it as equivalent), or any other equivalent degree from abroad, students in this track will be able to ACQUIRE A SECOND SET OF SKILLS IN SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ECOLOGY to complement their FIRST set of professional skills, specific to their initial five-year post-high school degree. After one year of training, graduates of this track will be PROFESSIONALLY DUALLY QUALIFIED, with their second shared area of expertise being scientific and technical ecology applied to biodiversity management and conservation, while their first area of expertise will be specific to each individual. Thus, the program allows students to add a second area of expertise—“Biodiv’”—to their initial “In” curriculum, thereby “infusing ecology into their professional drive.”
The Biodiv’In program therefore includes a training initiative that aims to:
- Developing one’s “primary profession” to better integrate biodiversity issues into one’s career—this is referred to as “greening one’s profession” and “career reorientation”;
- Changing careers to enter a new profession within the field of ecology and biodiversity is referred to as a career change.
- Upon completing the Biodv’In program, each student’s career path will align more or less with one or both of these two career goals.
Expertise and Skills
Regardless of their career goals, students in the Biodiv’In program have little or no scientific and technical background in ecology. The primary and common skills and competencies targeted by the program are therefore:
- Scientific and technical foundations in ecology, ranging from general-level courses to master's-level (bac+5) programs.
- Knowledge and methodologies in environmental and ecological engineering.
- Knowledge and methodologies related to biodiversity management and conservation.
- Project management and communication as applied to the professional field of ecology and biodiversity.
- Approach, methodology, analysis, and scientific writing.
- Innovation and business development.
A combination of elective courses, educational projects, and a 6-month internship—or a 6+2-month work-study program—allows students to specialize to a greater or lesser extent in professional engineering skills related to “design” or management skills related to “projects/assignments.” In addition, students can specialize to a greater or lesser extent in aquatic or terrestrial ecology.
Organization
Special Features
The program can be completed over two separate academic years—which do not necessarily have to be consecutive—by dividing the first semester (September–February) from the second semester (March–August).
Open on an alternating basis
Contract Type | Apprenticeship Contract, Professional Training Contract |
|---|
See the "Organization" section
Program
The Biodiv’In program is limited to one year of training. It consists of:
- 6 months of coursework (September–February) and 6 months of internship (March–August) in the traditional track:
- 4 months of classroom instruction (September–November and January–February) and 8 months of apprenticeship (November–December and March–August) as part of a work-study program.
The academic component—which includes both the traditional track and the apprenticeship track—consists of the following, depending on the set of electives and projects chosen by the student:
- 180 to 195 hours of instruction in the form of lectures, tutorials, lab work, or fieldwork.
- 214 to 268 hours of educational projects.
The work-based training component—whether through the traditional track or the apprenticeship track—lasts 6 to 8 months on a full-time basis (35 hours per week) as an intern or apprentice, respectively.
The 60-ECTS curriculum is divided into:
- 4 required courses for 12 ECTS credits.
- 2 mandatory course units for 8 ECTS credits.
- 6 elective courses for 14 ECTS credits
- 1 mandatory professional placement unit worth 26 ECTS (internship or apprenticeship).
Eco Fair-1
2 credits1hOption 1
4 creditsChoose one of the following two options:
Management and Use of Living Resources
4 creditsConservation Ecology
4 credits
EU OPTION 2
10 creditsChoose 1 of 3
EU Choice 4
EU OPTION 3
10 creditsChoose 1 out of 22
Urban Ecology
2 creditsSustainable Management of Animal Resources and Wildlife
2 creditsEcology of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems
2 credits8hAgroecology
2 creditsConservation Biology
2 creditsRiver Modeling
2 creditsEcological Engineering and Restoration (ERC Track)
2 creditsBehavioral Ecology
2 credits6hGEMAPI (Aquatic Environment Management and Flood Prevention)
2 creditsMediation and Territorial Governance
2 creditsEco Fair-2
2 credits1hAnthropo Society for Ecology and the Environment (Pyrenees Seminar)
2 creditsMethods and Tools for the Dynamic Study of Marine Ecosystems
2 credits3hManaging a Citizen Science Project
2 creditsImpacts of Climate Change on Organisms,
2 creditsAdvanced GIS
2 creditsIndividual Project in GE 1
2 creditsGIS
2 creditsGlobal Changes: Characterization, Impacts, and Adaptations
2 creditsOrganizational Communication
2 credits15hNew Technologies for Studying Biodiversity
2 creditsPollution and Bioremediation
2 credits
EU CHOICE 4
10 creditsPollution and Bioremediation of Ecosystems
EU CHOICE 7
6 creditsChoose 1 out of 22
Urban Ecology
2 creditsSustainable Management of Animal Resources and Wildlife
2 creditsEcology of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems
2 credits8hAgroecology
2 creditsConservation Biology
2 creditsRiver Modeling
2 creditsEcological Engineering and Restoration (ERC Track)
2 creditsBehavioral Ecology
2 credits6hGEMAPI (Aquatic Environment Management and Flood Prevention)
2 creditsMediation and Territorial Governance
2 creditsEco Fair-2
2 credits1hAnthropo Society for Ecology and the Environment (Pyrenees Seminar)
2 creditsMethods and Tools for the Dynamic Study of Marine Ecosystems
2 credits3hManaging a Citizen Science Project
2 creditsImpacts of Climate Change on Organisms,
2 creditsAdvanced GIS
2 creditsIndividual Project in GE 1
2 creditsGIS
2 creditsGlobal Changes: Characterization, Impacts, and Adaptations
2 creditsOrganizational Communication
2 credits15hNew Technologies for Studying Biodiversity
2 creditsPollution and Bioremediation
2 credits
Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems
4 creditsEcology Keys
2 creditsM2-GE Learning Project
6 creditsTools for Regional Consultation
2 credits
Biodiv'In M2 GE End-of-Program Internship
22 creditsCOGITHON
4 creditsM2 GE Professional Development
4 credits
Admission
Registration Procedures
Applications can be submitted through the following platforms:
French and European students:
- For the M2 program, students must submit their application through the e-candidat portal: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
The Biodiv’In program is primarily open to graduates with a master’s degree (bac+5) in a field other than general and applied ecology. The following students are generally eligible for direct admission to the M2 level of the program:
Graduates of any master’s program in France, with the exception of professional master’s programs in ecology such as the “IEGB”; in rare cases, a graduate of a “research-oriented” master’s program in ecology is also eligible.
Graduates of any engineering school in France; in exceptional cases, a student in the fifth year of an engineering program, provided that the program is science-based (agronomy, veterinary medicine, environmental studies, mining, SPI, etc.).
Any other foreign degree equivalent to a master’s degree.
Graduates with at least one year of full-time professional experience following their first master’s degree are the top priority.
Candidates with an apprenticeship contract or a professional training contract will be given priority.
Mandatory Prerequisites
Designed to be accessible to people who have not taken courses in ecological science—or even necessarily completed a basic science curriculum—the Biodiv’In program consists of three required course units focusing on scientific ecology and biodiversity management, totaling 10 ECTS credits. A solid general background in science and ecology is therefore still necessary! This foundation may stem from formal education, professional experience, or voluntary, self-directed learning (evening classes, self-study, community activities, etc.) and must provide the essential knowledge and skills needed to follow and successfully complete the undergraduate-level courses in general and applied ecology offered in the Biodiv’In program.
A clear and specific career plan that supports a feasible and relevant training plan through the Biodiv’In program!
A command of written English sufficient to use and produce scientific and professional materials.
Recommended Prerequisites
Professional or volunteer experience, or coursework/training equivalent to approximately 50 hours of undergraduate-level biology, ecology, and environmental studies.
Knowledge and application of the scientific method, reasoning, and analysis.
Personal and meaningful knowledge and involvement—or, better yet, active engagement—in the field of the environment, and/or ecology, and/or nature conservation.
And then
Continuing Education
The Biodiv’In track trains graduates as “engineering technicians” for the job market at the bac+5 level. It therefore does not prepare students to pursue further studies through a doctoral program, a dissertation, and a doctoral degree. Nevertheless, according to regulations, the Master’s degree in Environmental Management and its Biodiv’In track—like all master’s degrees recognized by the French Ministry of Higher Education—constitute the necessary and sufficient prerequisite for applying to a doctoral program… It will therefore not prevent any future Biodiv’In graduates from exercising this right and succeeding in their endeavors!
Continuing Your Education Abroad
The Biodiv’In program does not offer any direct pathways to further studies, either in France or abroad.
Employment Placement
Because the dual expertise of Biodiv’In graduates stems both from each candidate’s prior education and professional experience BEFORE entering the program, as well as from the educational choices each student makes during the program, the fields and career paths, occupations, and employers in the potential job market are numerous and diverse.
The main career paths in France and abroad are:
- Ecological and Environmental Engineering Track
- Biodiversity Management and Conservation Track.
- Water Engineering and Management Program.
- Energy Engineering and Management Program.
- Agriculture, Forestry, Agribusiness, and Agronomy (Agroecology and Organic Farming) Program.
- Waste and Pollution Engineering and Management Program.
- Transportation Engineering and Management Program.
- Construction and Urban Planning Program.
- Economic, Commercial, and Financial Sector (circular economy, green finance, short supply chains, etc.)
- Political and Legal Programs
- Human Health Track
The main employers, both in France and abroad, are:
- Engineering firms.
- Associations, Cooperatives, and NGOs
- Private companies: microbusinesses, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mid-sized companies, and large corporations.
- Local governments (regions, departments, local communities, and municipalities).
- Public institutions (including applied research laboratories).
- Central and Decentralized Government Services.
The main "executive-level" positions in France and abroad are:
- Research Associate
- Design Engineer
- Project Manager
- project list
- Research Engineer.
- Conservative