ABSTRACT
Industry requires engineers with a strong knowledge of solid mechanics and materials science. In this respect the general education of engineering schools in France needs to be completed by more specialised courses. A community of scientists exists which is able to teach the links between microstructures of materials and their mechanical behaviour. Thus was created an Advanced Studies Diploma in Mechanics and Materials. It is organised jointly by top level laboratories in the Paris area. A Council including representatives from industry looks after its continued relevance. The programme deals with the main classes of mechanical behaviour, going from microscopic mechanisms to macroscopic behaviour. A common core is followed by three more specialized options, concerned with forming by plastic deformation, damage and fracture mechanisms and mechanics. Training exercises include laboratory work and a detailed case study based on PhD. thesis works. As an example, the students were asked to work on the fracture of zinc, including doing compression tests on single crystals and reassessing papers concerned with cleavage fracture and mixed mode fracture of textured plates.
