University of Mons

Preparatory year for both master degrees in Biology; Doctorate; Doctoral training; Teaching qualification for higher secondary school teachers (AESS) and higher education (CAPAES) ; Marine biology certificate

In complement of all the typical lectures in biology, each year includes a large part of field and laboratory works/excursions/exercises. Students are integrated early in the research activities of the labs to improve their skills in different technics and experimental designs. Students are also trained in scientific communication in English: presentation of poster and oral communication. In their final year, the master students spend an internship outside the university for at least 2 weeks, related to the profile of their degree.

Research in the Department of Biology at UMONS focuses on 3 major domains: (i) marine biology and ecology (ii) cellular and molecular biology and (iii) entomology. Those activities are carried out by 5 research groups that collaborate with each other within the Institute for Biosciences and the interdisciplinary Research Center in Mass Spectrometry. These labs are associated in outside structures such as Materia Nova R&D center and the Interuniversity Center of Marine Biology. These strong ties give the master students opportunities to be trained in high-quality, multidisciplinary research.

Marine Biology and Ecology, Zoology, Cell and Molecular Biology

Besides all the classical lectures in biology, the main features of the bachelor program are: (i) English courses from the second year; (ii) n important part of practical sessions including field and laboratory works/excursions/exercises; (iii) a 50/50 balance of courses in the fields of biochemistry/molecular and cellular biology versus animal biology and ecology; (iv) short stays in research labs in the third year.

full time, part time

In the BOE master degree, the students build their own study program among three profiles, according to their professional aspirations: teaching, academic or eco-conseil business. They can developed their research skills in three major domains: marine biology including ecological aspects and aquaculture, biomimetics ; evolutionary and conservation biology in entomology. Students are also trained in english scientific communication. In the final year, all students spend an internship of at least two weeks outside the university.

full time, part time

In the BBMC master degree, the students build their own study program among three profiles, according to their professional aspirations: teaching, academic or industry. They can develop their research skills in three major domains: cellular biology, proteomics and environmental microbiology. In collaboration with the faculty of Medicine, other research domains are accessible such as neurosciences, cancer sciences and Toxicology. Students are also trained in English scientific communication. In the final year, all students spend an internship of at least two weeks outside the university.

full time, part time

Preparatory year for the master degree in chemical sciences; Doctorate; Doctoral training; Teaching qualification for higher secondary school teachers (AESS) and higher education (CAPAES)

Besides all the courses typical of chemistry studies, each year of the curriculum comprises: (i) an individual work on a chemistry topic, with an oral presentation in French or English, (ii) active stays in research labs, starting from the third year. Three profiles exist for the master degree: teaching, research, and industry. In their final year, the master students spend an internship outside the university for at least one month, related to the profile of their degree, i.e., as teaching trainees in high schools, or in an academic research lab, or within a chemical company.

Research in the Department of Chemistry at UMONS focuses on two major domains: (i) chemistry of materials and (ii) organic chemistry and spectroscopy. Those activities are carried out by five research groups that collaborate intensely with each other within the Institute for Materials Research and within the Research Center in Mass Spectrometry. Three of those five groups are joint laboratories with the Materia Nova R&D center located at the outskirts of Mons. These strong ties give the master students many opportunities to be trained in high-quality, multidisciplinary research.

Chemistry of materials, Organic chemistry and spectroscopy, Biochemistry

Besides all the courses typical of chemistry studies, the salient features of the bachelor program are: (i) English courses every year; they are adapted to the initial language level of the students and aim at giving them a strong basis in scientific English, written and spoken, by the end of the degree; (ii) Individual works on a chemistry topic every year, with an oral presentation in French or English; (iii) Short stays in research labs in the third year.

full time, part time

In the master degree, the students build their own study program along two lines: on the one hand, they can choose among three profiles, according to their professional aspirations: teaching, academia or industry. On the other hand, they can develop their research skills in two major domains: chemistry of materials and organic chemistry and spectroscopy. Focusing on biochemistry is another possibility, in collaboration with the Department of Biology. In the final year, all students spend an internship of at least one month outside the university, often in a research lab abroad.

full time, part time

Doctorate; Doctoral training; Teaching qualification for higher secondary school teachers (AESS) and higher education (CAPAES); Certificate in computational mathematics

Most of the teaching at the bachelor level is given as lectures complemented with exercise sessions. In addition, since the first year, students also have to do oral presentations and work on small projects. During the Master degree, a significant portion of the learning time is devoted to projects - theoretical or more applied - where the professors play the role of a mentor, encouraging the students to develop their independence, creative thinking, and problem solving skills. The University of Mons is in an underprivileged region and we have a strong emphasis on coaching our students.

All academic staff members are involved in international research projects, mostly in theoretical mathematics, although some topics—such as smart cities or thin film folding—are inspired by interdisciplinary collaboration. The areas of investigation are varied; they include logic, algebraic geometry, partial differential equations, game theory,... The research groups are small and rely on external funding—which several of us have—to bring PhD and postdoc students.

Finance and insurance, Computer science, Teaching.

Besides providing a solid understanding of the basis of modern mathematics, an important focus of our curriculum is to lead our students to their best potential: their first mathematical course helps them to transition from high school to university, coaching is integrated in their schedule during the first year, a second year course is encouraging them to develop further their autonomy and problem solving skills,... The program also mandates that 25% of the courses are from another discipline to be chosen among physics, computer science, or economy.

full time, part time

A distinctive feature of our Master program is that it can be tailored to the professional goals of each student: there are no mandatory courses, each student composes his individual program with the advice of a member of the Department. As a consequence, there is a wide variety of paths: some students immerse themselves in research while other study more practical subjects such as finance, computer science, topics in biology, or specialize in teaching and perform projects in didactics of mathematics.

full time, part time