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Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée

Champs-sur-Marne (suburb of Paris), Ile-de-France, France

Unit: ENSG

The Ecole Nationale des Sciences Géographiques is established in 1941. It is currently affiliated to the UPEM and is also part of the National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN). This institute is committed to training professionals in GIS. Application domains of the GIS research include GIScience, geographic VR, 3D modeling, transportation, urban planning, energy, natural and forestry environment, national defense and security, spatial planning, and sustainable development, etc. The institute offers M1 and M2 master’s degrees (Note: M1 is not well recognized in China for it is regarded as a degree level between the Chinese bachelor’s and master’s degrees, which is caused by the different educational system; M2 is equivalent to a master’s degree in China). Areas of the M1 degree include:

  • Geomatics
  • Forests, Agrosystems, Wood Mobilization

Areas of M2 degrees include：

  • Sustainable Development, Environmental Management and Geomatics
  • Forests, Agrosystems, Wood Mobilization
  • Carthageo
  • Sustainable Development, Environmental Management and Geomatics
  • Information Science and Technologies
  • Geographic Information : Spatial Analysis and Remote Sensing

Other than these, there are 3 Specialized Masters:

  • Photogrammetry, Positioning and Deformation Measurement
  • Decision Making and Geolocated Information Systems
  • Petroleum Data Management

Labs：

  • LARGE: geodesy, GPS, GNSS;
  • LOEMI: remote sensing, optics and micro-informatics, photogrammetry and metrology;
  • MATIS: remote sensing, LiDAR, radar, image process;
  • COGIT: GIS, geographic data science, spatial analysis, vectorized datum;
  • LIF: forestry, geostatistics.

Université Bourgogne Franche Comté

Université Bourgogne Franche Comté (UBFC)

Dijon, Burgundy-Franche-Comté, France

Unit: AgroSup Dijon

The Université Bourgogne Franche Comté (UBFC), or the University of Burgundy, formerly known as the University of Dijon, offers a two-year M2 master’s degree in Data Analysis for Spatial and Environmental Economics (DASEE). This major is to develop a student’s analytical skillsets in GIS and economic geography which can be applied to urban, regional, and environmental problems. The program specifically helps students in developing skills in managing and analyzing geospatial data. This is a class-based master’s program taught in English. The entry requirements include an undergraduate degree in economics, mathematics, engineering, or quantitative geography. The main contents of the lectures include GIS, spatial economics, geostatistics, transportation economics, spatial analysis, and spatial data science, etc. A final report needs to be completed before graduation.

Université Toulouse II Jean Jaurès

Toulouse, Occitane, France

Unit: Department of Geography, Planning and Environment

The Tlse2 is located in the suburb of Toulouse, France. It is a member of the Toulouse University System, which is one of the oldest higher education institutions on the European continent. The school’s Department of Geography, Planning and Environment offers a master’s program (M2) in geomatics. The duration of this program is 1-2 years. There are at least 600 hours or 4 months of internship requirements. This is mainly a course-based program. Core classes are related to the application of digital geographic information in planning, agriculture and environmental protection. There are also courses in remote sensing and GIS, and training programs in GIS core skills such as programming, algorithms, and database management. Most of the graduates become software or data engineers, and some continue to study for doctoral degrees or work as GIS consultants in international organizations such as UNEP and WHO. The department also has a doctorate degree program, and most of its projects are in cooperation with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Lab groups:

  • GEODE: remote sensing, landscape, environment, ecology, multi-agent modeling, spatial modeling, 3D modeling;
  • DYNAFOR: geomatics, spatial analysis, forestry, agriculture, ecology, biodiversity;
  • LISST: urban development, human geography, globalization, social media analysis.

University of Rennes 2

Rennes, Brittany, France

Unit: Department of Geography and Spatial Planning

The geography and spatial planning is one of the key departments of the UR2. It is a large department with master’s (M2) and doctoral degree programs. In the master’s degree program, there is a SIGAT (GIS and regional analysis) option specifically for GIS majors. Its duration is 2 years. The teaching content generally includes GIS development, data and database management, spatial analysis, and spatial statistics, etc. Most courses are taught in French while a small portion is taught in English. Research is required for the doctorate degree. Scientific research projects and supervisors are determined by the availability of ongoing projects. There are two main research groups:

  • COSTEL: remote sensing, geomatics, coastal environment, ecology;
  • ESO: space planning, space sharing, landscape, coastal ecosystem.

Jean Monnet University of Saint-Etienne

Saint-Etienne, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France

Unit: Department of Geography

The Department of Geography at the University of Saint-Etienne has a masters (M2) program, which has two directions, namely digital geography and environmental management. The main teaching content of digital geography includes geographic information systems, programming technology, metrology, spatial statistics, image analysis, remote sensing analysis, and cartography, and the main teaching content of environmental management includes environmental science, ecology, biogeography, hydrogeology, urban research, human geography, and sociology.

Professors:

University of Côte d’Azur

Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France

Unit: Environmental Hazards and Risk Management

The University of the Cote d’Azur is a newly-established university in southern France. It was established in 2015 after a merger of several universities and institutes including the University of Nice, Skema Business School, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and others. The university has a master’s degree program (MSc) in environmental hazards and risk management. This program is a teaching-based program and taught in English (IELTS, TOEFL or GRE scores are required), and its duration is 2 years. Core courses taught include the GIScience, remote sensing, urban planning, spatial analysis, environmental management, risk assessment, statistics, monitoring and modeling, and environmental law. The teaching part of the program usually lasts for 3 semesters, and the 4th semester is for an internship that takes 3 to 6 months. The program cooperates with a number of companies, institutions, universities, and research institutions in France, so it can provide many different job opportunities after the graduation. Applicants need to have an undergraduate degree in geography, earth science, or environmental science.