About GeoPlaNet

 

The GeoPlaNet project

The spectacular and steady progress of space exploration during the last 30 years has allowed the development of a discipline that had hitherto remained limited in the world of planetary science: Planetary Geosciences. These are characterised by a particularly fertile and increasing involvement at the international level, of specialists of the Earth (geologists, geophysicists, geochemists) in understanding evolutionary processes of other planets. Planetary Geosciences is an interdisciplinary approach combining expertises in observation, experimentation and modelling.

However, the training in Planetary Geoscience suffers from a currently lacking international structuration, at least at the European level. In this context, the Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences of Nantes Université elaborated with its partners world-wide the GeoPlaNet project, in 2016, with local funding from the Région Pays de la Loire and focusing on the international structuration of research and training in Planetary Geosciences.

• A Consortium of 5 European Universities (Universities of Coimbra and Porto in Portugal, Universities of Chieti-Pescara and Padova in Italy and Nantes Université in France) and a start-up (VR2Planets, Nantes, France), was created and won a Strategic Partnership Erasmus + Project in 2020. The GeoPlaNet Strategic Partnership project will take place between Sept. 2020 and 2023 for a duration of 3 years. That's the second phase of the project and the purpose of this website.

 

• The third step is the elaboration of an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master (EMJM) in Planetary Geosciences. Selected in the summer 2022, GeoPlaNet EMJM is based on the three existing European Masters and will offer a two-year programme (120 ECTS) in the framework of a unique mobility pathway:
  *  Semester 1 Coimbra (Portugal)
  *  Semester 2 Chieti-Pescara (Italy)
  *  Semester 3 Nantes (France)
  *  Semester 4 Internship within the network of partners
  
  Coordinated by the Laboratory of Planetology and Geosciences (LPG) and the STU Department of the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Nantes University, this Erasmus Mundus programme is supported by numerous associated partners (academies, space agencies such as ESA, the ESA, JPL and national agencies as well as private companies specialized in Virtual Reality and space instrumentation), including 19 members of the international GeoPlaNet Consortium.
  
  Duration: 6 years from September 2022