Teaching in the Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences (DI2S)
The mission of IMT Atlantique is to prepare its students to contribute to changing the world by combining digital, energy, environmental and social transitions to create value in industry and services. The social sciences are at the heart of the challenges of the 21st century, whether technological, environmental, social, economic or managerial. As such, social sciences are a major component of our engineering students' studies.
The social science courses taught by the Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences (DI2S) aim to provide students with analytical frameworks that will enable them to responsibly address the socio-technical complexity of the contemporary world. Regardless of the training program (standard engineering training, engineering training through apprenticeship, or master), the objectives of the courses are threefold:
- To develop and equip students with an understanding of the socio-organizational implications of work in order to prepare them for integration into professional environments;
- To increase their reflective and critical capacity when implementing new technical devices in organizations;
- To develop their systemic understanding of key activities in industry and services: risk management, innovation, etc.
Social sciences in the different courses
Engineering Training (FISE)
The Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences (DI2S) participates in teaching engineering students throughout their curriculum by contributing to socio-technical expertise in several fields (nuclear energy, digital, health, etc.).
- Core curriculum:
- Fundamental knowledge of management, sociology and economics;
- The socio-managerial analysis of organizations and industrial economics.
In addition, the department is responsible or co-responsible for severeal in-depth study themes (or 'TAF's): the TAF TNT (Digital Transformation and Transitions),the TAF NeMO (Digital and Organizational Management), the TAF Health (Healthcare engineering), and the TAF CooC (Design of communicating objects).
Finally, the DI2S department offers a set of social science courses linked to the various IMT Atlantique TAFs;
Apprenticeship (FISA)
The department brings its expertise to the two apprenticeship programs in Nantes
- FIP: Computer science, Network and Telecommunications
- FIL: Software Engineering
- FIT: Digital Transformation of Industrial Systems
These training programs are designed on the basis of dual pedagogical orientation: science and technology on the one hand (led by the DAPI, Department of Automation, Production and Computer Sciences), and social and organizational orientation on the other (led by the DI2S department). This dual orientation aims to train engineers who are capable of designing systems and managing the digital transformation of industry and businesses. The social science courses focus on three areas: understanding companies and management models, systemic analysis of companies and their business models, and managing change.
Master of science (DNM)
The department is involved in the following masters courses:
- Nuclear Engineering: NE
- Process and BioProcess Engineering: PBPE
- Management and Optimization of Supply Chains and Transport: MOST
The social science courses taught in English cover the fundamentals of organizational science and topics directly related to the fields of the Masters of Science
- Safety management
- Project management
- Energy transition
These courses are based on the department's pedagogical innovations (such as the Sprintfield simulation developed in 2013, with - and for - engineering students on crisis management in nuclear power plants).
The team is also involved in the "Fundamental Physics and Applications (PFA)" masters course, co-accredited with the university.