GeoPlaNet project: a transnational collaboration for planetarygeosciences
Authors: Carpy Sabrina , Olivier Verhoven Olivier , Jousse Marie-Pierre , Pais Alexandra , Fernandes João , Pondrelli Monica , Gabriele Ori Gian , Massironi Matteo , Breda Anna , Silva Manuel , Seixas Teresa , Civet François 
Published: July 2024

The spectacular progress of space exploration during the last 30 years has allowed the developmentof Planetary Geosciences, an intrinsically interdisciplinary field of sciences joining together geologists,geophysicists, geochemists, etc. Master degree courses in astrophysics and planetary geosciences areattracting more and more graduates with a great diversity of backgrounds covering physics, earthsciences, engineering, mathematics. It is, therefore, important to promote these courses,highlighting not only their core curricula but also the new opportunities they offer for careers inspace research and space industry.The GeoPlaNet project has brought together the partner institutions of the GeoPlaNet consortium:researchers in Space Sciences, representatives of technological enterprises operating in this sector,high school graduates and higher education students. During 2020-2023, the GeoPlanet Erasmus +Strategic Partnership project has implemented several actions to respond to these new needs.Coordinated by Nantes (France) and further including Coimbra and Porto (Portugal), Padova andChieti/Pescara (Italy), and VR2Planets, a start-up (France) specializing in virtual reality, theGeoPlaNet-SP project has joined together universities with complementary expertise in astrophysicsand astronomy, geology and planetary geosciences. The project outputs comprised intellectualproductions, training activities and dissemination events, all grouped into four work packages:"Employability", "Habitability", "Innovative training practices" and "Geological mapping andplanetary analogues&#8221;.All the results of this project are available on the website: https://geoplanet-sp.eu, including onlinecourses of the worshop and thematic course and an online platform https://geoplanet.space thatgathers information on the different GeoPlaNet activities along with requirements, contents andprofessional opportunities (research careers in industry and academia) of master's courses inastrophysics and planetary sciences at partner universities of the strategic project Erasmus+GeoPlaNet-SP (KA203)The main achievements of GeoPlaNet - SP Project were :- to strengthen cooperation betweenpartners and develop new collaboration with private companies. In this sense, there was an effort totransfer the research collaborations, expertise and cutting-edge disruptive technologies used inresearch field into an increasing knowledge about employers needs in the space exploration sector ;-to allow the realisation of synergies and exchange of good practices inside a network of excellence,with joint activities and intellectual outputs, sustainable for future training courses. There was aneffort to adapt training offers and fostering innovation through testing and implementing innovativepractices in the field of education such as VR and new interdisciplinary modules in planetarygeosciences to enrich existing international degrees;- to allow participants to develop a multiculturalEuropean approach that could be very valuable for their careers in an intrinsically internationalsector.The GeoPlaNet Strategic partnership has received the exemplarity label of the European Commissionfor the high quality of its results and implementation. These efforts are pursued today through anErasmus mundus program EMJM-GeoPlaNet (https://geoplanet-impg.eu/), started in 2023/2024,and that creates unique opportunities for students to develop interesting projects in the frameworkof their academic training, but also within complementary activities adding a value to theirexperience during the program. We expect the GeoPlaNet EMJM in Planetary Geosciences tocontribute to training the best engineers and researchers in tomorrow's space mission teams,preparing them to design, analyse and interpret the missions&#8217; data, and to address the manychallenges of the oncoming Earth and Planetary exploration programmes.