NEM Activity
NEM International MSc
Activity leader: Guillermo Cisneros
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
E-mail: gcisneros@etsit.upm.es
Co-leader: Federico Álvarez
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
E-mail: fag@gatv.ssr.upm.es
Abstract
An International MSc coming out of NEM will pioneer a critical need for strong links between education and European Technology Platforms fostering key cooperation between academia and industry. It is therefore a pilot putting together, in an exercise of realism, synergy and demonstration, both the EHES (European Higher Education Space) and the ERA (European Research Area).
The goal is to establish a common diploma throughout Europe. The harmonisation policy of the EC is clear at this respect, and the legal bases have been established at the European level. Nevertheless, there are no administrative procedures already set up in the different member states for this common diploma to become a reality. Hence, this International MSc will also pave the ground for future similar initiatives, as the experience is replicable onto other European Technological Platforms.
At this moment, the EHES is in a maturing phase, therefore some member states have not finished the transformation of their educational structures in order to fit with the harmonisation expected in the context of the Bologna Declaration. This is delaying the starting point of the initiative, although the forecasts announce that this year 2008 will be key for the final definition of the new scenarios in all countries. This allows to think of a possible agenda with respect to launch this International MSc.
Regarding the internationalisation beyond the EC borders, other questions arise. For instance, the inclusion of this NEM International MSc into Erasmus Mundus EC Programmes is another potential goal in mind, in order to achieve synergy between different actions in Europe, as well as to increase the projection and influence of Europe in other areas overseas whereas bringing to Europe potentially the most prominent students and professionals. For this purpose, other barriers appear, say the requirement of a harmonisation of the fees in the different countries, which is still a long way off. Conversely, a widely variable scenario is shown taking a look at the different EU member states. Some formulae are currently under consideration to overcome these difficulties.
The actors of the pilot are necessarily universities and enterprises, with accredited experience on working together in EU projects, as well as with recognised technology transfer capabilities. Due to the pioneering experience aspect, the International MSc will be launched in a first stage by just a reduced number of universities, say 2 or 3, allowing a unique MSc degree on NEM Technologies, and setting up a common b/e learning tool for remote lecturing. Lectures will be selected within and outside the NEM community (enterprises and universities) to provide the best lecturers in each NEM area, wherever they are located throughout the world.
In the context described above, the agenda could be as follows:
- 1st quarter 2008: Definition of the programme and project, adaptation to European and national regulations on education (Bologne Declaration), selection of the university centres. Capture of expressions of interest (always open).
- 2nd quarter 2008: Selection of lecturers, setting up the infrastructure.
- 3rd quarter 2008: Call for students and selection process.
- October/November 2008: International MSc 1st edition start.
Future actions regarding the group in charge of the preparation of the NEM International MSc are the following:
- Meetings of the NEM training group. The first meeting will take place in Jan/Feb 2008, and others will depend on the advances of the harmonisation of the law in the different EU countries throughout 2008.
- Consideration of the setting up of a Scientific Congress (perhaps taking advantage of the NEM summit) on NEM technologies.
- Collaboration and contacts with other academia around the world (perhaps in cooperation with Global NEM).
- Definition of all details concerning the first edition of the International MSc. Provide solutions to overcome all questions that may hinder the European harmonisation formula and requirements.
Initial discussions aimed at paving the way for the realization of these activities have been undertaken by a selected group of European universities including UPM (Spain), QMUL (UK), Miralab of Geneva (Switzerland), University of Surrey (UK) and GET (France).