Genome analysis Teaching
From its inception and in accordance with its mission the Institut Pasteur has given practical and theoretical courses in its laboratories. The courses have now been relocated to the Teaching Centre. New courses have been set up to reflect the splitting-up of certain scientific disciplines and the conceptual and technological advances.
There are currently 15 courses, the majority of which are centred on topics selected on the basis of their importance to public health or the development of a discipline. The courses are intended for graduates of the training and research units (UFR) of universities and university hospital centres (CHU), French grandes écoles, and foreign students at an equivalent level. The Institut Pasteur courses are taught by specialists in each discipline and draw strongly on practical teaching in the laboratories, and, in the tradition of the Institut Pasteur, high-level lectures.
University post-graduate courses
The post-graduate courses are fulltime and consist in tightly-integrated theoretical and practical teaching. Theoretical teaching consists in lectures and seminars. The latter are conducted by the students themselves under the responsibility of Institut Pasteur researchers. The scientists from all over the world who contribute to the series of lectures are listed on the Institut Pasteur internet page 'Teaching' (http://www.pasteur.fr). Practical teaching, which occupies over half of the duration of each course, is mainly dispensed by researchers working on the campus. The methods taught and equipment used are those employed by the researchers in their laboratories. Graduates of the Institut Pasteur courses are thus able to put the acquired knowledge into practice immediately, either by continuing their training through preparation of a doctoral thesis, or in the course of their work if they are already employed. The duration of the courses varies from 2 weeks to 3 months and they are open to 8 to 32 students. In the year 2000, the Teaching Centre welcomed 255 students, including 55 foreigners, mainly from developing countries.
Agreements with the universities with regard to qualifications
Since the signature (1997) of the agreement on co-operation in the fields of teaching and research between the Institut Pasteur and the universities Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI) and Denis Diderot (Paris VII), students who have successfully passed the examinations or continuous assessments, as scheduled by the Institut Pasteur course committees, can be awarded an inter-university diploma (DIU) if they wish so. The 'theoretical' part of the university diploma DEA (see. 'Equivalent diplomas') consists of six courses. The conditions under which students prepare a DEA or thesis at the Institut Pasteur have been laid down in agreements. Each year, over 60 students complete practical training in the research units the Institut Pasteur. Most of them go on to complete a thesis and on average the Institut Pasteur accepts 280 pre-doctoral students for about 4 years. The Institut Pasteur has also set up a tutorship system in order to assist pre-doc students during and after their thesis. The reform of the doctoral schools has led to the establishment of reception teams recognised by the universities and Ministry of Research. The Institut Pasteur units and laboratories are thus structured as reception teams under the responsibility of a researcher who is authorised to lead research (HDR).
Partnerships with research institutes
The cell molecular biology course is organised jointly with the Institut Curie. The murine genetics course is organised jointly with the Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort.
Prospects
In-depth reviews were conducted leading to the pursuit of several directions
In the short term:
Introducing new courses in rapidly-moving disciplines, such as genome analysis, scheduled for the year 2002; Strengthening the links with universities in the Paris area. For example, the new course, 'Genome analysis', will be associated with the DEA in genetics, co-accredited by the universities: Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris VI), Denis Diderot (Paris VII), Paris-Sud (Paris XI) and Versailles-Saint- Quentin. In addition, since doctoral training now takes place in doctoral schools, the Institut Pasteur teaching will be moved into that new framework. Certain courses are being split into one-week teaching modules, which will be offered to pre-doctoral students. This system will not only improve operating flexibility, but also reflect the participants wishes; Establishing links with universities outside France. A partnership has been established between the university of Bicocca in Milan (Italy), Paris VI and the Institut Pasteur. The agreement will enable 10 Italian students to attend a week of the in-depth immunology course from 2001. Other partnerships (with the Institut Pasteur de Lille, for example) are being considered.
In the long term:
The Institut Pasteur wishes to set up a course in infectiology and epidemiology in public health. This decision reflects both internal (the need to strengthen our potential in epidemiology) and external demand (the Ministry of Health has observed a gap in training in that field). Contacts have been made with the Paris V university and the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) with a view to defining a project exploiting the skills of the various partners. Preliminary discussions with colleagues in university hospitals of the Paris area point to a deficiency in medical bacteriology training. Appropriate teaching may be set up in collaboration with those colleagues. In addition, consideration is being given to the Teaching Centre hosting international summer schools. The Teaching Centre technical facility is perfectly suitable for such operations.
Institut Pasteur courses
Genome analysis
director Bernard Dujon, Yeast Molecular Genetics Unit
deputy director Odile Ozier-Kalogeropoulos, Yeast Molecular Genetics Unit
Medical bacteriology
director Martine Kiredjian, Fungi Culture Collection
deputy director Patrick Trieu-Cuot, Necker-Institut Pasteur joint Streptococcus and Enterococcus Laboratory
Protein biochemistry
director Alain Chaffotte, Cellular Biochemistry Unit
head instructor Véronique Chitarra, structural Immunology Unit
Cell molecular biology
directeurs Alice Dautry-Varsat, Biology of Cell Interactions Unit Daniel Louvard, research section Institut Curie
head instructor Roberto Bruzzone, Neurovirology and Nervous System Regeneration Unit
Medical entomology
director Claudine Perez-Eid, Vector System Ecology Unit
deputy director Luc Nicolas, Immunophysiology and Intracellular Parasitism Unit
Cell and molecular genetics
director Mary Weiss, Genetics of Differentiation Unit
deputy director Michelle Debatisse-Buttin, Immunology Department
head instructor Benoît Arcangioli, Genome Dynamics unit
Murine genetics
director Jean-Jacques Panthier, Molecular Genetics Unit Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort
deputy directors Jean-Pierre Rousset, University Paris VI Xavier Montagutelli, Mammalian Genetics Unit
In-depth immunology
directors Paolo Truffa-Bachi, Molecular Immunophysiology Unit Dominique Rueff-Juy, Analytical Immunochemistry Unit
head instructor Jean-Luc Guesdon, Antibody Engineering Laboratory Pierre Langlade-Demoyen, Antiviral Cell Immunology Unit
General immunology and immunophysiology of infections
director Jean-Marc Cavaillon, Immunoallergology Unit
deputy director Daniel Scott-Algara, Immuno-Hematology and Immunopathology Unit
head instructor Armelle Phalipon, Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis Unit
Information technology in biology
director Laurent Bloch, Division of Informatics
deputy director William Saurin, National Sequencing Centre
head instructor Thierry Rose, Cell Biochemistry Unit
General microbiology
director Catherine Braun-Breton, Biology of Host-Parasite Interactions Unit
deputy director Jean-Marie Clément, Molecular Programming and Genetic Toxicology unit
Medical mycology
director Patrick Boiron, Mycology Laboratory, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lyon
head instructor Oumaima Granet, Aspergillus Laboratory
Molecular tools and epidemiology of tuberculosis
director Véronique Vincent, Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory
Basic virology
director Noël Tordo, Lyssavirus Laboratory
deputy director Simona Ozden, Slow viruses Unit
Systematic virology
directeurs Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Molecular Genetics of Respiratory Tract viruses Unit Antoine Gessain, Viral Oncology unit
head instructor Thérèse Couderc, Neurovirology and Nervous System Regeneration Unit
Institut Pasteur courses
Equivalent diplomas
In current terminology, the Institut Pasteur courses may be considered equivalent to post-graduate university teaching and six of the courses form part of the Paris University diploma DEA. In addition, any student attending an Institut Pasteur course and registered at the universities of Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI) or Denis Diderot (Paris VII) will be awarded an inter-university diploma (DIU), granted, with the agreement of the Institut Pasteur, by the university where the student registered. The courses are intended for graduates of the training and research units (UFR) and university hospital centres, graduates of French grandes écoles, and foreign students at an equivalent level.
Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies
For students registered at universities which have concluded an agreement with the Institut Pasteur, the following are validated as:
Theoretical part of the DEA
Diploma in protein biochemistry
DEA in protein structure, function and engineering Universities Paris VI, Paris VII, Paris XI.
Diploma of in-depth immunology
DEA in immunology Universities Paris VI, Paris VII, Paris XI.
Diploma of general microbiology
DEA in microbiology, 'basic microbiology options' Universities Paris VI, Paris VII and Nice.
Diploma in basic virology
DEA in microbiology, 'basic virology options' Universities Paris VI, Paris VII and Nice.
One of the theoretical and practical parts of the DEA
Diploma in cell molecular biology
DEA in cell molecular biology Université Paris XI.
Diploma in cell and molecular genetics
DEA in human genetics Universities Paris V, Paris VI, Paris VII, Paris XI and Ecole
Student and trainee breakdown by nationality
Year 2000
255 students, including 55 foreigners of 31 nationalities
830 trainees, including 352 foreigners of 58 nationalities