MOBILITY TRACKS & DEGREES

is a course with the central target of academic excellence. Academic excellence is achieved via a multi-disciplinary forward-looking curriculum, implemented by excellent academics in their respective fields and high quality capable students who will become in the future able graduates of the course, in an international and diverse student and faculty community which will foster greater understanding between cultures and nations.

The structure of the programme and the mobility scheme is shown in the previous scheme . The first semester will open with a one-week summer school organized by Troyes and Bari on “catalyst synthesis and characterization”, with teachers from all four Universities, in order to provide a sound basis on catalysis aspects to all students and introduce them to the other academic partners of the Master programme.

All students will spend their first semester at Troyes where courses on environmental risk management, environmental impact assessment eco-conception of industrial systems through industrial and territorial ecology, bioeconomy basics and environment basics will be delivered.

The courses will cover technical aspects of energy conversion and management, within a financial, economic, territorial, environmental and legal perspective frame.

Students will also realize group projects on the issues of implementing a sustainable biorefinery. The knowledge-transfer process will develop the necessary skills of the attendants for a successful career in the bioenergy sector.

The basics of biomass characterisation and production of biofuels (including lab-synthesis of biodiesel, biethanol, biogas and waste biomass pyrolysis) will be delivered during second semester of studies in Krakow.

This course will be accompanied with basic courses crucial for chemical engineers, like: calculational methods in chemical engineering; chemical reactions engineering; biochemical reactors engineering; and process control and industrial measurements. Furthermore, an advanced computer modelling methods will be presented to the students, showing them how to solve typical chemical engineering problems.

After this first year, the students can choose between two specialization streams:
a) chemical and thermochemical routes for a lignocellulosic-based biorefinery,
b) enzymatic/microbial/chemical processes for an oil-based biorefinery.

For stream (a), students will attend the third semester in Lille, with relevant courses for lignocellulosic biomass conversion and reaction and process engineering related to the biorefinery processes.

For stream (b), students will attend one semester with relevant courses in Bari, where both biotechnology and chemical catalysis will be taught.

A second common winter school for all students is envisaged at the end of the first and/or third semester on environmental assessment and LCA analysis, a basic skill that is required in all professionals in the energy sector. It will be organized every two years in order that two intakes of students could reach it all together. The mix of two intakes will allow exchanges and experiences and help first year students for their future mobility.

The fourth and last semester covers the diploma thesis of the students. The location where the student will perform his/her thesis is a free choice and can be performed in any of the participating institutions. The students will also be strongly encouraged to take advantage of the associated academic and industrial organizations and external associated universities. The four partner Universities agree that specific issues, such as the use of a particular technology-equipment-technique, may require short mobility within the network.