Initiated in 2018, the MONTUS project will soon launch a master’s degree at the Vietnam National University (VNU). This is an opportunity to take a snapshot of this international project initiated by the Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès (UT2J) and the next steps to be taken. Interview with Lucie Loyon, European and international Project Manager at UT2J.
• MONTUS has passed into a new phase after its first years, with a new coordination leadership. Can you describe the main changes to the project? Will this new coordination give a reorientation to the MONTUS project?
After the departure of Mr. Laffly to a diplomatic post at the French Embassy in Vietnam, Ms. Nathalie Hernandez, professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, has taken over the scientific coordination of the project at UT2J, supported by Ms. Astrid Jourdan, teacher-researcher in mathematics at Cy Tech based in Pau, France. The administrative coordination of the project is ensured by Lucie Loyon within the International Relations Department of the UT2J, in close collaboration with its Financial Affairs Department.
• You've been working in MONTUS since its creation, can you bring us a panorama of the stages that had already finished and a brief description of the next actions to be held?
The first two years of the project have been an opportunity to deepen and strengthen the capacity for research on cloud computing in the environmental sciences and promote its education. A cookbook and syllabus, a big team work and writing is being finalized, in order to have the necessary content for teaching in the framework of the dedicated master’s degree implanted at VNU.
• Which would be the three principal achievements of the first three years of the MONTUS project?
Strengthening the consortium and its inter-institutional and academic capacities, the content creation in the cloud computing field, and, finally, the modeling of the teaching model.
• How does UT2J lead the coordination of the project?
Nathalie Hernandez, scientific coordinator of the project, ensures the implementation and the quality of the activities planned in the framework of the project. She organizes and animates the consortium meetings in order to follow the writing of the syllabus and cookbook, the development of the research and the increase of the teams’ skills. In collaboration with the administrator, Lucie Loyon, the project is managed in accordance with the rules of the EACEA (the European Commission). Several services are mobilized to ensure the smooth running of the project within the university, such as the Financial Affairs Department, the Legal Affairs Department, the Communication Department, etc.
• As we are soon expecting the implementation of the master degree, in your words, which would be the main strengths for a student attending to the MONTUS master?
Internationalization, opening up to another field of expertise. And desire to develop a dual skill: environmental sciences and cloud computing and IA skills.
• As we are soon expecting the implementation of the master degree, in your words, which would be the main strengths for a student attending to the MONTUS master?
Internationalization, opening up to another field of expertise. And desire to develop a dual skill: environmental sciences and cloud computing and IA skills.
• Once the master degree implemented, how many students will be participating in the first sessions?
It is hoped that the first class will attract around 40 students.