First-year engineering students went back to school on Tuesday, August 23. The ecological transition is central to their training project. This year, the school is inaugurating a doctor of engineering course that will allow graduates who wish to do so to pursue their studies in PhD courses. The various classes will start their academic year in stages up to mid-September and will once again reach a thousand students and PhD students.
An attractive, selective engineering school
On Tuesday, August 23, a new academic year began at ENSTA Bretagne for first-year civil and military engineering students. They will be joined on Thursday, August 25 by their second-year colleagues, and then the start of the academic year will be staggered up to mid-September to facilitate the intake of third-year engineering students, engineering apprentices, and Master of Science degree and Specialized Advanced Master degree students on the Brest-Kergaradec campus.
ENSTA Bretagne is still very selective and this year again has a full complement of students. Selected through the Mines-Télécom competitive examination after classes preparing for grande écoles entrance or on the basis of their academic record and qualifications after their 2-year higher education diploma up to Master's level, students and PhD applicants come from all over France, Europe and beyond.
At the end of their course, each class has about 300 young graduates, engineers, researchers and experts. Currently graduating students (class of 2022) are now making their last visit to the school for their end-of-study defense, which will end in mid-September. Graduates then quickly enter the professional world for engineering and management assignments in industrial companies, design offices or research laboratories, in various sectors of activity: defense, maritime, transportation, digital and research first and foremost, but also other innovative sectors such as health and services.
Back-to-school events
- Friday, August 26: visit to the campus and forum of associational activities
- Tuesday, September 13: conference by Jacques Aschenbroich, Chair of Valeo and sponsor of the class of 2023 (students in their final year of education).
- Tuesday, September 20: welcoming of apprenticeship masters of the new class of students on co-operative engineering courses (mechanical design and embedded systems).
Key figures
- Some 990 students on 3-year to 8-year higher education degree courses, including 120 PhD students.
- 230 new first-year engineering students (under student, military engineering student or apprentice engineer status), including 25% young women
- The new students come from all over France (15% from Brittany, with all French regions represented) and from different continents (11 partner countries represented).
What's new?
Extended PhD engineering course
The school's aim is to increase the number of its engineering graduates motivated to extend their education at PhD level. The value of research experience is increasingly recognized in many areas of the industry. Ten years ago, while 5% of young graduates were doing a PhD after their engineering course; by 2021, this figure will be around 20% and the school hopes to continue this development. This profile is particularly sought after by companies as it offers complete courses, appropriate to their needs to propose technological breakthroughs. These young graduates combine their engineering training with skills, methods and tools related to the world of research.
The new feature of the 2022 school year includes awareness raising from the start of the first year and the implementation of a support program for the doctor of engineering course. Interested students will be guided to follow appropriate modules in the 2nd and 3rd year, including a double Master of Science degree.
This orientation offered to students is based on the school's research activities, which include some twenty teams working on various topics as well as a number technical experimentation platforms.
International mobility has resumed at a steady pace around the world
Les 94 accords avec des universités de 27 pays donnent aux étudiants l’opportunité d’approfondir leur pratique des langues étrangères et de s’ouvrir à d’autres cultures et d’autres pratiques en ingénierie. Ces semestres d’étude à l’étranger s’ajoutent aux possibilités de stage également à l’international.
En cette rentrée 2022, de nombreux étudiants font leur rentrée de 2e ou 3e année à l’étranger.
The 94 agreements with universities in 27 countries give students the opportunity to improve their foreign language skills and open up to other cultures and engineering practices. The school also offers the opportunity of international internships.
In 2022, 40 students will begin their 2nd or 3rd year abroad.
An experimental course intended to better train students in the challenges of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.
The subject involves all engineering disciplines and all sectors of activity. Engineers will have to play a fundamental role in the development of sustainable solutions to fight against global warming, the collapse of biodiversity and the depletion of resources.
The Engineer accreditation committee (Commission des Titres d’Ingénieur) has also recently updated certain major assessment criteria for engineering courses to include CSR (corporate social responsibility).
The new ENSTA Bretagne course is the result of work initiated by the "training and professionalization of engineers" (formation et professionnalisation des ingénieurs -FPI) research team of the research laboratory in education and training sciences (FoAP - UR 7528) and jointly established with all the school's departments as well as academic and professional partners ("HOLI-D Blue" training and research project, jointly funded by ISblue (the interdisciplinary university research school specializing in marine sciences and technologies).
The purpose of this year's test scheme is to improve the training of our students, in particular those trained in naval engineering, to enable them to identify and better understand environmental and societal challenges, and rise to meet them. In practice, they will acquire new technical, human and social skills through a cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary course, included in the engineering training curriculum, in the form of a test scheme.
