First semester :

• Operations of both natural and disturbed systems
• Air: Introduction to atmospheric physics and chemistry
• Water: Media and treatment, catchment basins
• Polluted soils: Media and treatment
• Materials found in the environment
• Analytical chemistry and the environment
• Descriptive statistics
• Conferences
• Press review
• English course

Second semester :

• Environmental metrology: From sampling to interpretation
• In-field training
• Applied statistical modeling and data processing
• Pollution, nuisances and impacts
• Environmental economics
• Environmental policy and society
• English course
• 3 elective courses (9 recognized ECTS credits) :
  • Physical chemistry
  • Microbiology
  • Fluid mechanics
  • Modeling applications to environmental systems
  • Introduction to radiation/material interactions and applications
  • New analytical techniques for the environment
  • Planetary environment and exobiology
  • Energy sources and the environment

Download the detailed program layout

Completing a training module with a laboratory or a company internship is not a precondition for validation of the first year M1 Master's program. Nonetheless, some internships outside the scope of the curriculum lasting 2 months on average (June and July) are being proposed on a yearly basis by laboratories and firms affiliated with this degree program.

Examples of training modules / internships previously hosted :

• « Study of the reactivity of volatile organic compounds with the nitrate radical », LISA Laboratory (2014)
• « Chemical analyses of water », LEESU Laboratory (2014)
• « Mobility of metal trace elements in French Guiana soils », SOLéO team with the IEES Laboratory (2013)
• « Assistant Project Manager assigned to structural pathologies in yielding expert appraisals », GINGER CEBPP (2013)
• « Development of an experimental system to automatically record temperature and relative humidity, plus an automated system for weathering stones », LGE team, IPGP (2012)
• « Assistant Head of Quality, Safety and the Environment », MAN Trucks and Buses (2012)

Modules and internships available for academic year 2014-15: The specific topics and contents proposed will be published at the beginning of 2015.

Metrology in both natural settings and settings disturbed by human activity

In field internship in Burgundy

As part of their first year Master's curriculum in "Environmental Sciences and Engineering", students take part in a field training session (part of Metrology course credits). The objective of this session is to conduct a field examination of the natural and manmade phenomena affecting the various media, namely water, air and soils. For 4 days, each student applies measurement and sampling strategies, along with physicochemical and microbiological analysis methods, through reliance on the theoretical foundations presented during the course.

The session is built around 4 specialty workshops: Water, Air, Soils and Microbiology. The students, divided into small groups, spend one day per workshop. The day begins with an introduction to the workshop agenda before leaving for the study sites. Samplings are removed from the field as part of each workshop. Afternoons are devoted to laboratory-based analyses. Evenings (after dinner) focus on wrapping up the analyses and interpreting results, followed by a debriefing on the day's events and findings obtained. Conferences with environmental professionals are also held during this field training component.

Presentation of the workshops

Water workshop

The « Water » workshop is intended to highlight the impact of manmade pressures (households, farms, industries) on the chemical quality of water and sediments found in rivers or ponds. Two types of impacts are targeted: i) the impact of populated zones and drainage systems leading to receiving media (measured parameters encompass nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients as well as oxidizable organic matter); and ii) the impact of herbicides used as part of agricultural or suburban activities (including diuron, atrazine and isoproturon). Before participating in the workshop, students are required to develop a sampling strategy (which for now is limited to choosing sampling sites) that exposes these manmade pressures (should they be present).

Air workshop

The « Air » workshop has been assigned two objectives, namely: i) mastering the sampling and analysis techniques as they apply to gaseous compounds and atmospheric particulates; and ii) understanding the phenomena that control their atmospheric concentrations in an environment influenced by human activity. The measurements and observations recorded by students will provide tangible illustrations of the physicochemical processes reviewed in the classroom. A comprehensive analytical set-up has been installed to closely monitor the chemical composition of an atmosphere, as a means of identifying pollutant sources and determining the dynamic and meteorological conditions affecting pollutant dispersion into the atmosphere. This workshop is run under the conditions of a campaign to measure and track atmospheric composition, as practiced for example within the AASQA (Certified Air Quality Monitoring Associations). Students' sharing of data, recordings and analytical results will serve to compile comprehensive datasets throughout this training module.

Soils workshop

The « Soils » workshop a pour objectif d'étudier l'impact des activités anthropiques sur le comportement des métaux lourds dans les sols. Pour cela les étudiants devront appréhender la réalité d'une étude de site complète, depuis le prélèvement des échantillons sur le terrain jusqu'à l'interprétation des résultats, en passant par le conditionnement et l'analyse des échantillons. Des prélèvements de surface et à différentes profondeurs (horizons) seront réalisés. Les objectifs détaillés seront : i) la caractérisation de la contamination (concentrations...) ; ii) la détermination des modes de contamination (éolien, hydrologique...) ; iii) la compréhension du comportement des métaux dans le sol (mobilité, biodisponibilité, etc.).

Upon return from field-based soils training, daylong tutoring sessions supervised by each workshop's instructors are made available to complete analysis and interpretation of data collected during the exercise. A full day is also scheduled to review findings, at which time students split into small groups to present their specific field projects.

Educational coordinators :

Field training supervisors

Johnny Gasperi (University of Eastern Paris-Créteil), Benoit Laurent (University of Paris Diderot)

Since the beginning of the 2014-15 academic year, an international pathway has been offered within the Master's 1^st-year SGE program, allowing both French and English-speaking foreign students to pursue academics with an international perspective.

Specially for this group, lab and discussion sections are taught in English and written course materials provided in English.

Travel stipends are also available to assist students heading abroad to complete their 2^nd-year Master's internship.

For further information, please contact the Head of the M1 SGE program : Benoit Laurent

Students enrolled in the 1^st-year Master's SGE program actively participate and contribute to the success of Environmental Sciences plenary gatherings. This Congress produces a summary of the state of knowledge within an environmental field of current interest, in addition to providing a forum for young researchers to present their findings and for the public to learn about the latest research results. Discussions held in a roundtable format hosted by professionals, notably from the Val-de-Marne Departmental administration, set the stage for lively debates as a complement to topics raised during the scientific presentations.

These one-day events are jointly organized by the University of Eastern Paris-Créteil, the University of Paris Diderot, the École des Ponts ParisTech Engineering School and the Val-de-Marne Departmental Council.

The 26th Environmental Sciences session took place February 3^rd through 5^th 2015 at the Departmental Conference Center in Créteil around the topic :

« Decline of biodiversity: Can current trends be reversed ? »

Further information