Our daily challenge: to advance science and its applications, to maintain a high level of expertise in order to train our students to the highest level and to contribute to the transfer of knowledge to companies and society.
IMT Mines Alès research
This mission statement explains the strong link between research and teaching at the school as well as the notion of societal responsibility. To serve this objective, the school is involved in 6 research units, including 3 CNRS laboratories:
- PCH (Polymers Composites and Hybrids)
- LSR (Laboratory for the Science of Risks)
- EUROMOV-DHM
- HSM (Laboratory CNRS-UM-IRD)
- IPREM (Laboratory CNRS-UPPA)
- LMGC (Laboratory CNRS-UM)
The school's research policy is coordinated by the Research and Doctoral Department.
The school has created a cross-disciplinary scientific backbone on sustainable development led by the Research and Doctoral Department. This global approach encourages cross-fertilization between the disciplines developed in the centers and develops an interdisciplinary approach in order to offer a range of courses that meet the global challenges of sustainable development and social responsibility.
The school develops research "oriented towards the needs of society" which attempts to provide original solutions to the difficulties encountered by society or in industrial practice by using the most elaborate scientific knowledge, and by carrying out fundamental research when existing theoretical models prove insufficient to solve problems arising from concrete situations.
More than one third of the research activity of the centers is conducted through direct industrial contracts. The school contributed to the preparation of the renewal file for the Carnot MINES, of which it is a member along with the other Ecoles des Mines and the École polytechnique in particular. The objective of the Carnot label is to reinforce the transfer of knowledge and skills to the economy in our research fields in a sustainable manner in the context of global competition..
Learn more about partnership research
Scientific research at the school relies in particular on very significant technological resources. The school has structured these resources into 12 "technological platforms", which are intended to be used for research (R&D projects), teaching (student projects) and partner companies (prototyping, etc.). Thus, IMT Mines Alès has 12 platforms.
Following an intensive consultation process, IMT Mines Alès has set itself a five-year research ambition, which guides its strategy. This strategy is led within the school by the Research and Doctoral Department: :
« We aim to :
- structure our research strengths to gain visibility, scientific excellence and contribute to the IMT's collective project
- develop our research partnerships to serve a long-term strategy of excellence
- support innovation and resourcing,
- nurture international exchanges,
- place training through research at the heart of the school's missions,
- deploy a management and work organization that facilitates the expression of all our scientific potential,
- communicate to promote our research and develop our attractiveness,
- create links between doctoral students and alumni so that they form a community to enhance our reputation and efficiency.
The school implements its research strategy in complete coherence with ITM's overall scientific strategy. It should be noted that, among the 12 strategic scientific themes deployed by the ITM, two have been entrusted to IMT Mines Alès as national co-leader: "high performance and eco-materials" and "risks and cyber security".
91
teacher-researchers, including 46 HDRs
6
research units, including 3 UMRs in partnership with the CNRS
5
co-accredited doctoral schools
111
PhD students trained and 22 theses defended
51%
of PhDs working in companies
178
international publications of rank A
100%
of the school's scientific publications referenced in HAL, including 37% in full text
3.4 M€
of partnership research activity, of which 1/3 is via direct contracts with companies
Publications
Open Science at IMT Mines Ales
The principle of open access to scientific publications is at the heart of IMT Mines Ales research policy: “to make science and its applications progress maintain a high level of expertise to teach our students at the best level and contribute to knowledge transfer towards businesses and society”.
In accordance with the latest European and national requirements regarding Open Science, the IMT Mines Ales portal aims to:
- Give access to the scientific publications of its researchers, research teams and laboratories, to the academic community as well as to the industrial sector and to society.
- Contribute to the preservation and archival of French scientific research.
- Give to researchers the opportunity to handle their own publications and authors’ public profile easily.
International scientific partnerships
The school's teams have all established important international partnerships; they are members of European or international networks or consortia, attend congresses or colloquia abroad, publish mainly in international scientific journals, and host many foreign doctoral students (particularly under joint supervision).
In order to reinforce international openness and interconnection, the school has set up a budget to encourage long international stays, such as "visiting professors", for its research professors in foreign institutions. Selected on the basis of an annual call for proposals, these stays must meet three criteria:
- expected benefits for the individual,
- expected benefits for the institution in the field of research and teaching.
- The teacher-researcher who wishes to apply must submit a file with a CV, a presentation of the host team, the objectives of the mobility for the teacher, his or her team and his or her home center, the expected benefits in terms of research, but also whether a link can be envisaged with training, as well as a budget in order to determine the amount of aid. If the application is clear and well filled out, and if it is completed with a favorable opinion from the head of the research team, then the teacher-researcher can present it to a jury composed of the Director of Research and the Director of International Action, possibly supplemented by a member of the training department and a center director. The jury decides whether to grant the mobility grant.
The benefits of this program are significant: development of international partnerships, joint publications and research projects, internships for our students in the host laboratory, signing of framework agreements and agreements for double-degree programs. The system has recently been extended to doctoral students in the second year of their thesis.
In return, IMT Mines Alès encourages the hosting of foreign professors from partner institutions. These professors participate in research and are in regular contact with our students. The school is able to hire and pay professors of high repute.
Learn more about the school's international partnerships
Doctoral training
IMT Mines Alès trains student researchers (PhD students) in its laboratories who prepare a PhD in science. Since 2015, the school has been co-accredited to deliver, in its own right, a PhD degree within 4 doctoral schools (ED).
