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Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique
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This specialism in Civil Engineering aims to develop scientific and technological knowledge on materials and structures in both the public works and industrial sectors. It is characterized by a high degree of scientific specialisation. The programme focuses on the following specialised areas: natural materials, concrete and structures, and their interactions with the environment, the sustainability of materials, environmental geomechanics, green engineering and, more generally, the physics of multi-scale materials. The programme of study lasts two academic years - denoted by M1 and M2 and is taught in English. It comprises three study semesters followed by a paid Master's thesis / internship in the final semester. Our Master's programmes in Civil Engineering are fully accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.
Learn more about Centrale Nantes' commitment to the 17 sustainable development goals
30 ECTS Credits per semester. Language of instruction: English
* 'French as Foreign Language' except for French native speakers who will study 'Cultural and Communicational English' or Spanish (depending on sufficient demand).
NB Course content may be subject to minor changes
± Elective courses (choose 2 out of 5) * 'French as Foreign Language' except for French native speakers who will study 'Cultural and Communicational English' or Spanish (depending on sufficient demand).
NB Internships undertaken in France are strictly regulated and are only open to current full-time students of an accredited educational institution. Interns are entitled to all the rights guaranteed to regular employees (such as social protection and redress mechanisms). For internships that exceed two months in duration a minimum level of remuneration is set by the government, at approximately €600 per month. In some professional branches, this amount may be higher.
In addition to the above specialism-specific skills, students will also develop more general skills:
This Civil Engineering programme relies on the staff and the research facilities of the Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical Engineering (GeM), at Centrale Nantes and Nantes University. Researchers at the Gustave Eiffel University (Nantes) are also involved in the programme.
CEA, Cerema, EDF, Egis, EIFFAGE, Eurovia, INNOSEA SAS, Verbund. With internship and employment opportunities.
Université Libre de Bruxelles and Université de Liège (Belgium), Università degli Studi di Perugia, Università di Roma La Sapienza (Italy), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Tongji University (China), Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus), Alliance of Laboratories in Europe for Research and Technology (ALERT).
The supporting research institutes have extensive experimental test facilities for static and dynamic characterisation of materials and structures (for example, the Sustainability and Green Building Platform and biaxial machine on the Centrale Nantes campus and the geotechnical centrifuge at Gustave Eiffel University. Centrale Nantes also has a supercomputer.
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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The experimental platform "Geomechanics" at Centrale Nantes is a cutting-edge facility designed to advance research in geomechanics, structural dynamics, and geomaterial science. It houses a diverse array of experimental setups, each tailored to simulate and analyze various complex phenomena under controlled conditions. These setups enable multidisciplinary research that bridges theoretical knowledge with practical applications, fostering advancements in disaster resilience, earthquake studies, soil dynamics, soil-structure interaction and innovative developments in geomaterials.
Early Bird Applications:
*no other test is recognised.
Fully taught in English.
Students who have successfully completed a first year MSc programme can apply for the second year MSc programme. Applicants must be fluent in English - written and spoken:
When applying for a Centrale Nantes MSc Programme you will be asked to provide the following documents:
Your documents must be uploaded in English or French. If the original version of your documents is not in one of these two languages, a certified translation by a sworn translator is required.
Apply online on the eCandidat platform
Master Admission Office
admission404db50a-3df1-4712-a190-ca4ee8b2d7ef@ec-nantes.fr Tel: +33.2.40.37.68.36 / 33.2.40.37.68.51
€243 per year
Learn more about Elite tuition fee waivers and scholarships
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ecology - Innovation - Diversity
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).
I chose Centrale Nantes for my master's degree due to its outstanding reputation in terms of teaching quality and commitment to innovation research.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
International & Multicultural - Research-Driven - Sustainable
Recent graduates of this MSc programme choose to pursue their studies with a PhD or started their careers mainly in consulting, as project or research engineers or in academia (post PhD).
Find out what our recent MSc graduates are doing now
My name is Dania Kabalan. I come from Syria. I did my Master 2 in Civil Engineering - Material and Structures.
I am really proud of myself and it's really a very nice moment to hold your dream in your hands. It's really the best moment.
This is the first graduation for me, so I think it's the best moment.
Now I am a PhD student, also at Centrale Nantes in Civil Engineering. My main subject is to deal with composite material in marine structures.
Support - Peace - Quality Time
Giulio Sciarra, M2 Programme Supervisor MSE, Programme Supervisor Civil Engineering
Giulio Sciarra is a 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. He is the Assistant Dean of Studies for Master Programmes.
Siddhartha H. Ommi, M1 Programme Supervisor Civil Engineering
Siddhartha H OMMI is an associate professor at Centrale Nantes in the Department of Mechanics, Materials & Civil Engineering since 2023 and he is part of the GeM Research Institute. His research focuses on developing mathematical models to accurately and efficiently describe coupled phenomena involving multi-phase fluid flow across deformable porous media. With applications including, CO2/H2 geological storage; countering drying induced damage of soil; safe storage of radioactive waste; his work was recognized with award of Project PULSAR by region PdL, Research fellowship by University Sapienza, thesis award by ALERT geomaterials.
Centrale Nantes houses 17 buildings on a 40-acre green campus. In addition to the standard facilities of a university campus (classrooms, media library, computer rooms, etc.), it is home to 13 research platforms, some of which are unique in France, and modern and varied sports facilities, the Centrale-Audencia-Ensa incubator and vibrant student life. Facilities on the Centrale Nantes campus:
Welcome to one of France’s most prestigious engineering schools.
This is where we prepare the world of tomorrow - a sustainable world where research and teaching inspire each other, where we contribute each and nervy day to meeting the challenges of energy transition, the factory of the future and healthcare. Welcome to a school which offers more than 400 course combinations, q school where students play an active role in decision making, a diverse school with over 70 nationalities on campus. Welcome to Centrale Nantes.
Explore the campus with its classrooms, research platforms, student life and sports activities: Take the virtual tour
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