Integrated Master-PhD Track | Civil Engineering

The Integrated Master-PhD Track is available in Civil Engineering.

Students on the track will be assigned to the Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical Engineering (GeM) with supervision from a member of faculty. It is within GeM Laboratory that the students on this track would naturally progress towards funded PhD studies, subject to successful completion of the Master's degree, final acceptance by the ad hoc committee and the award of a PhD grant.
Course Content
  • Students following the Integrated Master-PhD Track follow the same courses as for the Master's specialism - Materials and Structures in their Environment.
  • During their Master's programme they will have the opportunity to explore potential PhD subjects by getting involved in research projects. 
  • Subject to successful completion of the Master's degree, to final acceptance by the ad hoc committee and to the award of a PhD grant, students on this track would naturally progress towards funded PhD studies, in the Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical Engineering. Students are, of course, also free to pursue other avenues in academia or industry.
Research Environment

About the GeM Institute

The GeM Institute is a Joint Research Unit supervised by Nantes Université, Centrale Nantes and the CNRS. Founded in 2004, the objective was to bring together within the same laboratory all the skills in the Nantes Saint-Nazaire area in the fields of civil engineering, materials and processes, modelling and simulation in structural mechanics. The GeM is actively involved in research training with around one hundred PhD students and several master programmes. Learn more
 

Research Projects

► EDYCEM - Centrale Nantes Chair | 2019-2024
This industrial research chair relates to environmentally responsible concrete with the research work focusing on the development of building materials with a low environmental footprint. They meet today's technical requirements in terms of thermal insulation for buildings and protection against natural hazards for civil engineering structures. Learn more

► STOCH 2 Regional Project | 2022-2026
Platform for the study of underground storage and hydrogen extraction in the Pays de la Loire region.

► Carnot MERS – MERCC Project (Modelling coastal erosion in the face of climate change) | 2022-2025
The project aims to advance in the understanding and validation of a soft approach to the protection of land in relation to the problem of coastal erosion, in particular sandy coastlines with the presence of dunes. The idea is to consider coastal erosion as the consequence of the alteration of the mechanical properties of the soil, the action of the waves being a clearing action of the strongly altered materials and therefore no longer capable of self-sustaining.
 

Research Facilities

Sustainability and Green Building Platform


These facilities provides researchers and companies with exceptional experimental and digital resources.
In order to meet the challenges of environmental civil engineering, the platform brings together simulation tools adapted for design and management of the lifecycle of structures.

►  Learn more

Biaxial machine


The biaxial machine BIAX is a unique piece of apparatus, designed at Centrale Nantes, to simulate at laboratory scale, the propagation of fluid flow through a partially saturated medium, under hydro-mechanical loadings. Experimental campaigns using this apparatus are envisaged to characterize the behavior of soils with respect to pollutant infiltration, but also underground energy storage

► Learn more
 
PhD Opportunities

Examples of PhD theses underway or recently defended

  • Durability of the floating part of an offshore wind turbine: From laboratory to real site
  • Modeling of littoral erosion in the face of climate changes
  • Durability of concretes based on new low-carbon binders: Performance and environmental impact, Rheo-mechanical behavior of cementitious materials suitable for placement by 3D printing
  • Study of hydro-mechanical instabilities in geomaterials
  • Controlling earthQuakes in the laboratory using pertinent fault stimulating techniques

Numerous international awards for our PhD students:

What our graduates say

Rana Al Nemer

PhD, Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical Engineering (GeM)
Master of Science (MSc) Civil Engineering | Materials and Structures in their Environment

Imane Elkhaldi

PhD, Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical Engineering (GeM)
Master of Science (MSc) Civil Engineering | Materials and Structures in their Environment

Meet the Programme Coordinator

Giulio Sciarra is Professor in Mechanics at Centrale Nantes. He heads up the GEOMEC (Environmental Geomechanics) research team in the GeM (Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical Engineering) at Centrale Nantes. He is interested in the mechanics of porous media and geomechanics, both in the framework of numerical modeling and advanced experimental activity, with a particular emphasis in hydro-mechanical instabilities.

How to apply for the Integrated Master-PhD Track

There is no need to apply for the track before arriving at Centrale Nantes for your Master's programme. Your choice will be taken into account during the first year of the Master's programme so as to orient your laboratory research activities and the choice of elective modules towards the PhD thesis subject.
Published on September 22, 2023 Updated on October 24, 2024