GREaT-PIONEeR

DESCRIPTION

The GRE@T-PIONEeR project aims at developing a specialized education in reactor physics and nuclear reactor safety for PhD and Post-Doc students, for nuclear engineers, and taken as advanced courses for MSc students. The education will encompass both theory and hands-on training exercises, the latter heavily relying on the use of research/training reactors and of computer-based modelling environments. Sets of educational materials capitalizing on each other will be created, taking profit of the complementary expertise of the consortium partners. The covered topics will allow the students to fully comprehend all the methods and corresponding approximations used for modelling the behaviour of nuclear reactor cores, from the generation of nuclear cross-sections to the response of a reactor during a transient. By following the courses and hands-on training sessions, the students will be able to perform nuclear reactor safety simulations understanding all the approximations on which such simulations rely. This knowledge is essential for educating highly skilled nuclear safety analysts. Furthermore, the project will make use of an innovative pedagogical approach allowing (a) to improve student learning, (b) to maximize the time the students interact with the teachers, and (c) to provide education to remote students. For that purpose, a flipped classroom set-up offered in a hybrid environment allowing combining on-site and off-site attendees will be used. The flipped classroom format, by utilizing pre-recorded lectures and electronic teaching resources available 24/7, will allow the students to learn at their own pace prior to dedicated sessions during which they will interact with the teachers, either on-site or remotely for the off-site attendees. The synchronous sessions will heavily rely on active learning elements promoting high order thinking skills and will thus greatly improve the learning experience and outcomes for both the on-site an off-site audiences.