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.
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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.

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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.

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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
Video Transcript

My PhD story - by Rana, Master C-ENG MSE, PhD GeM Laboratory

Hello, I'm Rana. I completed my bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the Lebanese university and in parallel for my last year of bachelor, I enrolled in the double degree program with Ecole Centrale de Nantes where I obtained my master's degree in the research program entitled "Materials and Structures in their environment". I did my PhD here in Centrale Nantes in the Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical engineering (GeM). 

Why did you decide to come to Centrale Nantes?  

I chose Centrale Nantes for my master's degree due to its outstanding reputation in terms of teaching quality and commitment to innovation research. 

When and why did you decide to pursue your PhD here?

During my internship here within the geo-mechanic team here in GeM Lab, I really enjoyed the field of research and I was convinced that 5 months of internship were not enough to satisfy my passion for research. That's why I decided to pursue with the PhD that was proposed to me as a continuation to my internship. 

What was the subject of your PhD? 

The aim of my PhD thesis was to investigate the response of a deformable porous skeleton percolated by an unstable bi-phasic flow, as the one that occurs deep down in the underground geological reservoir, within the context of CO2 sequestration, for example, or the underground storage of hydrogen or methane produced from the green energy. My PhD was a combination of experimental work and image processing. Concerning the experimental work I was the first to work on a unique and novel experiment setup, which consists of a biaxial machine adapted for unsaturated porous media and endowed with a high-resolution optical system. At laboratory scale, I reproduced the infiltration of gas into a water-saturated sand medium under a given hydro-mechanical loading and I quantified the deformation of the solid skeleton due to the unstable percolation of gas, and finally, I established the correlation between the hydro-mechanical loading and the deformation of the porous skeleton. In parallel to the research, the other exciting aspect of the PhD, is that I have participated in many international or national conferences and workshops, where I had the privilege to be awarded the best poster prize in ALERT Geo-materials workshop. 

How would you rate the research facilities and support? 

During my PhD, I had the opportunity to collaborate with many of my fellow PhD students and researchers from different fields. As well, I have worked with our assistant engineer to build a system that is currently the subject of a patent application. And finally, I couldn't not mention the huge support that I received from my supervisors Julien Réthoré and Giulio Sciarra, through my whole research journey.

What are you doing now?

Currently, i am a post-doctoral researcher, always here in GeM Lab, continuing my research activity on the drainage phenomenon within the sand medium. However, this time for a different context : about destabilization of the dune sands due to environmental loads.

Any advice for future applicants? 

I highly encourage Master's students to pursue a PhD because it's a one-of-a-kind experience filled with building up many skills such as communication, management, teaching and analytical proficiency.

Centrale Nantes in 3 words? 

International & Multicultural - Research-Driven - Sustainable 

Imane Elkhaldi

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

My PhD story - by Imane, Master C-ENG MSE, PhD GeM Institut

Hello, I'm Imane. I did my Bachelor of Engineering in Morocco in Hassania School of Public Works and then I joined Centrale Nantes within the Erasmus programme. Then I did my PhD here in Centrale Nantes, in the Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical Engineering (GeM).

Why did you decide to come to Centrale Nantes? 

I chose Centrale Nantes for my Master's degree for two main reasons. The first is the reputation of the Centrale network in France, and most particularly the scientific reputation of Centrale Nantes in the field of research as I wanted to pursue a PhD after my Master's. And also the programme: I really appreciated the programme and it aligned well with my career goals. The second reason is the attractiveness of Centrale Nantes for international students as it provides a multi-cultural environment and that makes the experience really enjoyable.

When and why did you decide to pursue your PhD here? 

I always had this idea in mind, to do a PhD since the beginning of my bachelor studies. And what truly confirmed my motivation to pursue this project was the research facilities available in the host lab. And also the research topics proposed that really attracted my attention. For example, the technologies of reducing the carbon footprint of concrete, which is the most-used construction material in the world.

What did you work on for your PhD?

My PhD work focused on the low-carbon concrete with the new European-standard cements with the low clinker. So what is and why clinker? Clinker is the main and most reactive component of Portland cement and its production emits huge amounts of CO2 in the air. Cement is responsable for up to 80% of the carbon footprint of concrete. So, the aim of my PhD was to understand the effect of using those new cements on concrete properties, especially durability. In my work, I proposed a new indicator that evaluates the carbon footprint of one year of service of concrete, which was used to assess the performance and environmental interest of those new cements. I had to present my work in many national and international conferences and I was awarded the prize of research on concretes from the Ecole Française de Béton.

How would you rate the research facilities and support?

I think it's very good and what I particularly appreciated from my experience was the collaboration with other labs and other universities. For my case, I had to do some experiment work in Subatech and in Gustave Eiffel University. I also had to collaborate with the University of La Rochelle for a paper. I think that widens the network of the PhD students and also makes the experience very rich.

What are you doing now? 

Currently, I'm working on a project with three former colleagues from Centrale Nantes on energy efficiency of buildings and I will also start a training programme on entrepreneurship and business management.

Any advice for future applicants? 

I encourage them to go through this worthwhile experience, and for their Master's thesis, to choose a topic related to research that will help them with their future PhD. To enjoy not only the academic programme, but also the other activities proposed at the school.

Centrale Nantes in 3 words? 

Ecology - Innovation - Diversity

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 February 20, 2025