To improve the relevance of its continuing education offer, EIT - European Institute of Innovation & Technology - RawMaterials asked INSTN for support in developing their training schemes and management of continuing education projects. Objective: to ensure that EIT provides education and training that corresponds to needs and ensures effective knowledge transfer.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is a body created by the European Union in 2008 to strengthen Europe's capacity for innovation in strategic areas. The mission of EIT RawMaterials is to develop sustainable competitiveness for European players in the raw materials sector, in particular in support of the energy transition and a responsible economy. One of its areas of action is education and training.

Over three days in October 2020, in a virtual classroom, EIT RawMaterials programme managers covered the analysis and design phases (first two phases of the SAT process) of training. They also practised the steps from setting up to launching a continuing education project from a project management perspective.

Twelve participants from Finland, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy and France followed the course. The practical combination of the Instart-Learning LMS, the BlueJeans videoconference tool (very popular for work in sub-groups) and the Klaxoon meeting tool, as well as the relevance of INSTN’s educational approach led to excellent client satisfaction. The Train-the-Trainers, delivered here in a specific format, is a valuable part of INSTN’s offer.

In September 2020, INSTN became the 'French school for Energy and health technology'.

Since INSTN’s creation in 1956, the world has changed; France has changed and so has INSTN. Public policies concerning energy require a broader electricity mix and an integrated approach to energy, including its production and its transport. So for several years now, at the same time as providing ongoing support for the skills needs of the nuclear power sector, INSTN has been offering continuing education and training in the fields of: materials for energy, batteries, hydrogen, energy efficiency, etc. As such we have opted for a more encompassing title, including ‘low carbon energy’, which includes nuclear and other low carbon energy technologies. The place of nuclear power remains established, while renewable energies and the system integration of energies are strengthened.

INSTN also has a significant health section covering the fields of imaging, nuclear medicine, radiopharmacy and medical physics. In particular, we have been training doctors in medical physics for over 20 years. INSTN’s offer in the health sector is set to expand further by drawing on the expertise and technologies developed by the CEA.

‘Catalyst for the energy transition’ and ‘Advocate for technologies for medicine of the future’, are two of the strategic developments of the CEA that INSTN will focus on in our new identity as a school specialising in low carbon energies and health technologies. Whilst INSTN’s core identity remains unaltered, we have adopted a new label more suited to the diversity of our education and training courses.

Education and training in highly technical topics is underpinned by INSTN’s recognised expertise in training and certification tools and methods. By training young graduates and supporting the development of employees' skills, our aim at INSTN is to develop the lifeblood and energy of companies. As such, alongside our new title, INSTN has chosen the slogan: 'Partner for your skills'.

INSTN and Paris-Saclay University recently signed an association agreement which consolidates a productive academic partnership that has existed for many years. This agreement covers a periode of five years.

It covers two main objectives:

• establish joint rules and commitments for each institution, manage relations between INSTN and Paris-Saclay University, and define the termes relating to INSTN's contributions to Paris-Saclay University training courses;
• define the skills shared bu each institution to jointly develop training courses, campus life, transfer scientific and technical culture and improve the international visibility of both institutions.
  The provisions defined in the agreement apply to Master 2 specialisations awarded by Paris-Saclay University of which INSTN is a partner. Thirteen academic courses are concerned*.

This association enables us to consolidate a partnership with a university whose reputation has grown significantly with its classification this summer at 14th place in the prestigious Shanghai ranking, which makes it the first French university to be listed in this world university ranking.

*Master's degree Major Energy Economics (EE), Master's degree Major Biomedical Imaging (IBM), Master's degree Major Chemistry and Engineering of Biomolecules (ICBM), Master's degree Major Embedded Systems and Information Processing (SETI), Master's degree Major Materials for Energy and Transport (MET), Master Nuclear Energy, Master's degree Major Managing Technology and Innovation (MTI), Master's degree Major Analysis, Modelling and Simulation (AMS), Master's degree Major Large Facilities, Lasers, Accelerators, Tokamaks (GI-PLATO), Master's degree Major Core, Particles, Astro-particles and Cosmology (NPAC), Master's degree Major Medical Radiphysics (RM), Master High Performance Computing and Simulation (CHPS), Master In Silico Materials Design by Digital Sciences (MatNum).

In order to maintain continuing education during the Covid-19 health crisis, and in the context of strict health protocols, the INSTN has shifted some of programs to partial or even 100 percent remote learning methods. By digitizing training courses during this exceptional time, the INSTN has been able to validate and accelerate a process initiated in 2018.

One of the first tests of the 100 percent distance learning program was concerned the training course "Estimating and controlling dismantling costs" - the last in-person session scheduled for March had to be cancelled due to the health crisis. INSTN's pedagogical teams reengineered the course in record time and rescheduled it for early April as an entirely "virtual class". Although technical adjustments - connection problems in particular - required special support, and despite the palpable sense of social distancing, participants reported being very satisfied with the virtual classroom approach.

INSTN has since applied the "distancing" experiment to other training courses in nuclear safety and engineering, gradually, extending the range of teaching methods: through secure access to the INSTN Instart Learning online training plateform, trainees have benefited from videos of lectures, flipped classes, quizzes, and surveys, in addition to virtual classes. Moving forward, this method could make it possible to limit the number of on-site trainees while providing them access to more training courses, without hindering interactions between trainers and trainees.

Based on feedback collected during the health crisis, the INSTN's overall approach to digitalization implemented two years ago, and the institution's acquired experience, the INSTN is currently redesigning a selection of its training courses to include a combination of distance and in-person training.

When school closures were announced in March, INSTN, like all higher-educational institutions of higher education, was obligated to implement measures to provide continuity of learning. The institution's efforts to integrate digitalization over the past two years favored continuity to the extent that the original exam schedule could be maintained.

March 16: teams hurried to transform the usual class and TD schedule into a distance-learning program. To achieve this, the INSTN drew on a strategy of digitalized teaching initiated two years ago, an approach that integrates digital devices into the teaching methods: e-learning modules, virtual classes, simulator-based practices, video tutorials, self-directed quizzes, etc. These tools, combined with in-person instruction, to respond to the demands and needs of learners.

Containment measures forced a shift from blended learning, a combination of in-person teaching and digital tools to full distance learning. Previous experience helped avoid certain pitfalls linked to the urgency of the situation. Teams had access to the Instart Learning e-learning platform (LMS) and a unique virtual classroom solution: while the platform provided tools, it was also key to preventing scattered information, an inherent consequence of using multiple devices (chat, live, video). Nevertheless, the virtual classroom was a new experience for both students and lecturers, many of whom were using certain software for the first time. This led to the rapid creation of a hotline.

Maintening exams with distance learning was a challenge, because the method was completely new for  both students and the teaching teams. For students in their specialization year, postponing exams would have meant delaying their arrival on the job market. The INSTN chose to hold exams remotely, with telemonitoring, and took pains to support students with logistical and technical checks, a mock exam and precise instructions.

Of course, all-digital teaching is not a cure-all, let alone the goal of the INSTN. However, thanks to the work carried out over the last two years, INSTN was able to adapt to the Covid-19 crisis and expend upon a coherent pool of digital teaching devices within a time-frame that would have been unachievable under ordinary circumstances.

INSTN and IMT Atlantique, a leading engineering school internationally recognized for its research, share a common vision on energy issues and the societal and technological challenges to be met. The two institutions have decided to combine their talents and build on their complementarity to develop a complete range of higher education courses in the field of energy. The primary objective of the three-year partnership is to promote an integrated approach to energy the addresses both nuclear and renewable energies.

Through this partnership, INSTN and IMT Atlantique intend to pool their expertise and resources to develop and offer a complete range of training programs the address the three cycles of higher education in France, first in the nuclear field, then in the broader field of low-carbon energies.

Various themes have already been identified: nuclear engineering, low-carbon energy systems, social sciences applied to energy, and information and communication sciences and technologies applied to energy.

The strength of this partnership lies in the complementary nature of the two institutions' offerings. Together, INSTN and IMT Atlantique address nearly the entire field of training in the area of low-carbon energy systems, with INSTN providing expertise in specialized and continuing education, while IMT Atlantique focuses more on initial training - a combination certain to encourage synergy.

Read the complete press release (PDF in French)

Representatives from 11 countries had the Opportunity to to visit EVOC, INSTN's multimodal platform for reactor physics training among the Belgian facilities of SCK-CEN and those of CEA.

Within the framework of its program International Centre based on Research Reactors (ICERR), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivers the ICERR label to organizations that grant access to their research reactors, auxiliary facilities and other resources such as research tools. The program's objective is to assist IAEA member states that wish to receive support for developing nuclear capabilities as well as research and development.

Within this framework, CEA grants access to its facilities to agencies and institutes of interested countries through bilateral agreements facilitated by IAEA. The ICERR Tour comprises a series of visits organized with this in mind; it has attracted some 15 international participants (Algeria, India, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Thailand and Tunisia), as well as IAEA representatives.

This was an opportunity for INSTN to present the multimodal EVOC platform, a virtual reactor associated with tangible elements, dedicated to teaching and training in nuclear reactor physics. Participants were introduced to the platform's multiple facets, and expressed their enthusiasm for EVOC's complementarity with research reactors in the context of teaching and training.

Jean-Luc Sida is appointed Deputy Director of INSTN - the French National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology - on the 1st of November 2019.

Ph. Doctor in nuclear physics for experimental work on fission on the reactor of the Laue-Langevin Institute (Grenoble, France), Jean-Luc Sida joined the CEA in 1989. He passed his Authorization to supervise PhDs (HDR) at the University Paris-Diderot in 2005 after having supervised more than 10 theses. He then took over responsibility for the Nuclear Physics Department of the Military Application Division (DAM), while teaching in the NPAC Master's degree (Nuclei, Particles, Astrophysics and Cosmology), common to the universities of Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne and Paris-Saclay.

From 2012 to 2017, he was Deputy Director of Material Sciences and then Deputy Director of Fundamental Research at CEA. He was in charge of communication for the Materials Science Division (DSM then DRF - Fundamental Research Division). Since 2017, he had been working on the development of the image of scientific excellence at the University of Paris-Saclay while continuing theoretical work on the fission process.

From 3 to 7 November 2019, INSTN conducted a train-the-trainers course for the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), the United Arab Emirates Security Authority. FANR requested the support of INSTN to develop the skills of its internal trainers as part of an action aimed at internalizing part of the training activity.

INSTN has developed a solution using the SAT approach and drawing on the experience of the training of trainers already carried out for the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) or as a part of the ENETRAP project (European Network for Education and Training in Radiation Protection). Specific case studies have been developed to adapt the training to the FANR context. The prior learning assessment system implemented made it possible to assess the knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills of participants whose productions were generally very satisfactory. FANR decided to recognize INSTN training as a certification for its internal trainers. This recognition attests to the quality and relevance of the service deployed.

This is a very encouraging element in the development of advisory and support services, of which the training of trainers will play an important role. The requests are recurrent and the INSTN thus capitalizes on real know-how and good references.