Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Erasmus Mundus)

Study mode:On campus Study type:Full-time Languages: English
Local:$ 4.33 k / Year(s) Foreign:$ 8.66 k / Year(s)  
201–250 place StudyQA ranking:4294 Duration:24 months

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Four leading educational institutions in Europe offer a joint Erasmus Mundus Master of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (EMM-Nano). The programme offered is a truly integrated one, with a strong research backbone and a very important international outreach. The objective of this course is to provide top quality multidisciplinary education in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The EMM-nano is a two-year, 120 ECTS, English language degree programme. Thanks to its combination of partners, expertise and courses, it offers you a unique integrated master programme, covering all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, while at the same time allowing you to design an individual study programme with specialization in essentially any field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

It facilitates studying at two separate participating universities where you spend one year per country. It is strongly multidisciplinary: you receive a basic training in all the disciplines offered, one of which becomes your area of specialisation. At the end of the program you will receive a joint degree from the two universities where you studied.

The fast evolution of the field requires a strong consortium with noted educational experience in the field.

The educational partner institutions are

  • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven),Belgium (Coordinator)
  • Chalmers Tekniska Högskola (Chalmers), Sweden
  • Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble, France
  • Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden), Germany

The course is organized with the support of three associated research partners:

  • IMEC in Leuven (Belgium)
  • CEA-LETI in Grenoble (France)
  • Leibniz Institute for Solid State Materials Research in Dresden (Germany)

These institutions provide access to world-class infrastructure for nanotechnology research and development as well as opportunities for graduating students to continue their studies with a PhD. This strong link between education and research ensures a contemporary programme at the cutting edge of state-of-the-art research.

At the start of the programme the students choose one specialization as their major theme. For this purpose the multidisciplinary field of nanoscale research is subdivided into five major themes: (i) nanophysics (NP), (ii) nanochemistry (NC), (iii) nanoelectronics (NE), (iv) biophysics (BP) and (v) bionanotechnology (BT).

In the first year the students follow a common program at the KU Leuven, where they are offered a set of introductory courses, non-technical courses, the core courses of the programme, and some electives to prepare them for the specialization in their major.

Each second year consortium partner (Grenoble, Chalmers, Dresden) offers specialization courses in at least two of the major themes as well as broadening courses for the other themes (see scheme).

A major in one particular theme is not identical at all locations: since a crucial quality of the programme is the strong connection between research and education, the programme themes at each partner reflect local research strengths. Students will greatly benefit from this connection between state-of-the-art research and education within the Masters programme

The curriculum consists mainly of course modules taught by research specialists and a research project within one of the many research groups at the consortium.

The Introductory courses (max 12 ects, KU Leuven) introduce the students to disciplines in which they have had no training and which are essential for the core courses in Year 1 and specialization courses in Year 2. For example, a physics student will follow the introductory course of biochemistry. If a student does not need any introductory course, he/she may choose more elective courses.

The Non-technical course modules (9 ects, KU Leuven) are necessary to impart non-technical qualities to the nanoscientists.

The Core courses (30 ects, KU Leuven) contain the basic knowledge within the four main disciplines: nanotechnology, nanoscience and biochemistry/physics. Every student follows these courses irrespective of her/his specialization.

The Lecture Series on Nanotechnology in Modern Society (3 ects) are organized on a monthly basis by the consortium partners, given by national and international experts on subjects such as ethics of nanotechnology developments, opportunities for nanotechnology applications and the risks of nanotechnology. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are relatively new subjects, and as such they are accompanied by many uncertainties as to their impact on modern society. We consider this an important aspect of the educational programme. Students need to be aware of the challenges, risks and promises of nanotechnical developments and to contribute to finding answers to open questions. They are expected to attend all of the lectures and to prepare a short report of about 4 pages on one of the lectures of their own choice. The lectures are broadcasted to the four consortium partners.

The Major courses (21-33 ects, Leuven and Grenoble, Chalmers or Dresden) prepare for the master thesis project. They consist of courses with a general character as well of courses highly specialized and directly related to the master thesis research. The students can choose 6-18 credits elective courses in the first year at the K.U. Leuven from three course modules (Nanophysics/Nanochemistry, Nanoelectronics , Biophysics/Bionanotechnology). Then in the second year university the students follow 15 credits compulsory courses.

The Broadening courses (15 ects, Grenoble, Chalmers or Dresden) allow the students to choose courses from the other themes of the master, which allow them to broaden heir scope beyond the chosen specialization . Students can choose from a large set of courses offered at the second year university.

The Master thesis research project (30 ects, Grenoble, Chalmers or Dresden) is intended to bring the student in close contact with a multinational and multidisciplinary research environment of a research institute in academia or in industry. The student will be assigned a relevant research project and work in close collaboration with PhD students, postdocs and professors. The research project is finalized with a public presentation of a Masters Thesis at the second year university, and is also evaluated by an external examiner at the KU Leuven.

Admitted are top-level Bachelor students in physics, applied physics, chemistry, biochemistry, electrical engineering, material science or a related discipline, with a proven background in mathematics and physics or chemistry. Students in their last year of such a bachelor programme will also be considered.A minimum of 180 credits (equivalent to the ECTS credit system, i.e. corresponding to a minimum of 3 years of bachelor study) and a GPA (Grade Point Average) of at least 75% of the scale maximum is required.A good command of English, both spoken and written. All non-native speakers are required to submit an English proficiency test: IELTS (Academic version) overall band score of at least 6.5 or a TOEFL score of at least 580 (paper based) or 237 (computer based) or 92 (internet based).The admission policy is intended to ensure equal opportunity of access to higher education for qualified European and third country students. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 TOEFL paper-based test score : 580 TOEFL iBT® test: 92

Scholarships available

  • Full EM-scholarships are available for non-EU students to cover the tuition fee and all living expenses (24000€/year).
  • Limited EM-scholarships available for EU students (10000€/year).
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