OCA's teaching mission

Details

In accordance with decree n°88-384 (April 19, 1988) concerning the organization of Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, modified by decree n°2019-785 (July 25, 2019), one of OCA's fundamental missions is "to contribute to the formal training and continuous education of students and research personnel". It is in that scope that OCA created, in April 2020, a dedicated Unité de Formation, whose mission is to organize and facilitate this mission.

OCA is a unique scientific organization in France, whose formal missions in observation, research, and education cover both Earth and Space Sciences. OCA personnel (research, technical and administrative staff), split across three joint research laboratories (UMRs) and one joint service unit (UMS), do in practice teach a wide variety of courses: Earth sciences, astronomy & astrophysics, fundamental physics, as well as related scientific and technical subjects.

The teaching done by OCA staff is primarily taking place at Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), of which OCA is a founding member. In practice, the teaching mission of OCA extends beyond the strict perimeter of UCA with international teaching projects. OCA personnel are the leaders of several noteworthy teaching endeavours:

  1. Master's degrees in the UCA teaching departments of physics & astrophysics, as well as Earth science:
    - the 3G (Geology, Geophysics & Geotechnics) Master's degree
    - the MAUCA (Masters of Astrophysics of UCA) Master's degree
  2. the Space Sciences Certificate (CfSU): a series of elective courses that complete the Bachelor of Science
  3. the University Space Center (CSU): a project involving students enrolled in engineering degrees geared toward launching a CubeSat
  4. the Diplôme Universitaire in Observational Astrophysics (DUAO) that should open next University term
  5. Doctoral courses taught in the context of the Doctoral School ED-SFA
  6. the formation of secondary education teachers and their students
  7. the organization of specialized summer/winter schools for research professionals
  8. the organization of teaching networks with Southern Countries