Curriculum & faculty

The Master 2 runs from September to June/July and is worth 60 ECTS. Semester 1 combines lectures and intensive lab classes on the IPGG platform with a short research project. Semester 2 is a 5 to 6 month research internship.

Draft based on the 2024–2025 syllabus: course content and instructors may change from year to year. See the syllabus (PDF).

Semester 1: courses

Micro-hydrodynamics

Lectures

Instructors: N. Brémond, J. McGraw, S. Aimé (ESPCI Paris)

Navier-Stokes and low-Reynolds flows, modes of transport, interfacial hydrodynamics, emulsions and sprays, lubrication flows and nanofluidics, PIV and PTV.

Microfabrication

Lectures Lab classes

Instructors: J. Fattaccioli, M. Morel (Department of Chemistry, ENS)

Silicon microfabrication (lithography, etching, deposition), PDMS and NOA, surface functionalization.

Hands-on: CAD design and lithography; single-phase (diffusion, gradients) and multiphase flows (droplet generation).

Introduction to biology

Lectures

Instructors: L. Tricoire (CNRS, Sorbonne Université), W. Keil (CNRS, Institut Curie)

DNA, gene expression, protein structure, methods for DNA, RNA and protein analysis, microfluidic approaches to genomics, gene editing, model organisms.

From soft to active matter

Lectures

Instructors: P. Silberzan (Institut Curie), M. Théry (ESPCI Paris)

Cell monolayers, microswimmers and chemotaxis, collective behavior of bacteria and cells, the cytoskeleton.

Single molecule approaches and super-resolution imaging

Lectures

Instructor: B. Hajj (CNRS, Institut Curie)

Fluorescence microscopy, fluorescent markers, single-molecule detection and tracking, super-resolution microscopy.

Capillary and wetting phenomena

Lectures

Instructors: D. Quéré (ESPCI Paris), H. de Maleprade (Sorbonne Université)

Soft matter seen from its interfaces: surface energy, adsorption, wetting, capillarity, with scaling-law approaches built on key experiments.

Soft matter

Lectures

Instructor: C. Trégouët (ESPCI Paris)

Thermodynamics and statistical physics, diffusion, surface forces, polymer physics, capillary and acoustic waves, phase separation.

Blue energy

Lectures

Instructor: C. Trégouët (ESPCI Paris)

Osmotic energy and mixing entropy, capacitive mixing and reverse electrodialysis, charge separation and transport, current challenges.

Rheology

Lectures Lab classes

Instructor: A. Lindner (Université Paris Cité)

Classic and microfluidic rheometry, non-Newtonian behavior, complex fluids (polymers, suspensions, gels, active fluids).

Analytical chemistry

Lectures

Instructors: F. d’Orlye (Chimie ParisTech), K. Perez-Toralla (CEA), J. Baudry (LCMD, ESPCI Paris)

Miniaturization for analytical chemistry, physics of immunoassays, from basic to advanced setups.

Flow chemistry

Lectures Lab classes

Instructor: S. Ognier (Chimie ParisTech)

Mass and heat transfer at the millifluidic scale, reactor design, industrial examples of synthesis in flow.

Organ-on-chip

Lectures

Instructors: S. Descroix (Institut Curie), C. Aimé (ENS), L. Muller (ENS), S. Coscoy (Institut Curie)

Collagen and extracellular matrix, organ models for pharmacology and basic science (intestine, heart, lung), plants and fungi on chip.

Semester 1: research project

A short research project, done alongside the courses. It has two parts: a bibliographic study on a topic agreed with the host laboratory, and a numerical contribution to an ongoing project of the lab (modelling, image or data analysis).

It takes place in an academic laboratory of the IPGG or of one of the instructors, and ends with a written report and a presentation to a jury.

Semester 2: Master’s thesis

A full-time research internship of 5 to 6 months, starting in early February. It can take place in an academic laboratory, a start-up or a company, in France or abroad. The topic is validated by the M2 coordinator, and the work is written up as a Master’s thesis and defended before a jury.

Elective courses (no ECTS)

  • Advanced Biology Course on Artificial Cell (ABC-AC): bottom-up construction of artificial cells, with expert talks and student paper presentations.
  • PSL i-Teams: PSL’s entrepreneurship and innovation program for Master’s and PhD students.