Methods that promote multidisciplinary studies
The master’s programme in Electrical Engineering offers a broad range of technical and professional skills. It provides in-depth training in key areas of electrical engineering, such as electronics, electromagnetism, communication, and system design, building on the foundational knowledge gained during the Bachelor's programme.
It is open to other fields such as
- (via 32 compulsory course credits in the ELEC core curriculum) computer science, applied mathematics and automation - the latter being included in the Bachelor’s programme for students enrolled in the electricity major -
- electrotechnology, photovoltaic technologies, nanotechnology, MEMS and NEMS, computer science and communication, biomedical engineering, cryptography and information security via specialised majors.
The programme encourages students to broaden their education by selecting courses offered by other departments, with many options including choices labelled as MAPR, INGI, INMA or MATH.
Additionally, around ten ELEC courses are available to students from other master's programmes, provided they have completed introductory courses in electrical and electronic circuits or supplementary electricity courses.
To promote interdisciplinary, there is a multidisciplinary project that integrates various subjects from the core curriculum.
Diverse learning situations
The programme emphasises a variety of learning experiences, leveraging the synergy between lectures, practical work, and projects through a model-simulation-implementation-experimental validation approach. Depending on the course, students engage in group work or individual projects. A distinctive feature of the programme is the interdisciplinary project, where students design, model, build, and test a system that draws on all the specialised knowledge they’ve acquired, complementing the project-based learning approach introduced in the Bachelor’s ELEC major and minor.
Furthermore, in certain subjects, e-Learning allows for students to learn at their own pace and conduct virtual experiments.
This diverse range of learning methods helps students build knowledge iteratively, while also developing autonomy, organisational skills, time management, and communication abilities. Modern computing resources (hardware, software, networks) are available to students for their work.
For example, the major in business creation is based on an interactive approach that emphasises problem-based learning. Throughout the programme, students enrolled in this major must carry out group work as part of multidisciplinary teams. Their interdisciplinary thesis or graduation project permits groups of three students, ideally from different academic departments, to collaborate on a business creation proposal. The graduation project aims for the most part to integrate students into research teams at the Institute.
Teaching activities are thus fed by research activities and serve as a starting point for the recruitment of researchers. Many final-year projects are integrated into research teams at the Institute, often serving as a starting point for a PhD or resulting in publications or conference presentations..
Students may work in groups or on their own.
Concrete learning: infrastructure
Pratical learning in the ELEC programme is strongly supported by access to high-quality technical infrastructure.
- The Marconi and Faraday pedagogical laboratories are equipped with the latest in work stations (oscilloscopes, sources, computers) and are accessible to students as part of their laboratory classes and bachelor’s and master’s degree projects. In the case of projects including the creation of a prototype by groups of students, access to prototypes of electronic cards (PCB, components, welding) is available.
- R&D platforms in the areas of electronic components and communication systems (Welcome) and micro and nano-technologies (Winfab) are accessible to Master’s degree students as part of certain classes and graduation projects.
- Computers and work stations equipped with the most recent professional CAO software are accessible to students in the Maxwell building but also remotely from the Engineering School’s computer labs. This software is largely used in classes, APE and projects: design sequences for electronic circuits and microwaves, simulation of manufacturing processes, electronic devices, etc.