EU4M is a two-year Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Mechatronic Engineering that offers a high-quality education in Mechatronics responding to the needs of industry and academia by offering a truly integrated approach to the different areas Mechatronics consist of: Mechanics, Electronics and IT control systems.
The JMD has two main educational objectives: first, to provide students with the technical knowledge that allows them to deal with any challenge related with the design, fabrication and maintenance of mechatronic systems; second, to help students open up to other working and living styles, through the exposure to other countries and cultures.
The EU4M JMD is a 120-ECTS, 4-semester integrated Master programme designed to be taken in two consecutive academic years.
The EU4M JMD is supported by five partner Universities:
together with a strongly committed group of Associated Universities, research centres and industrial companies.
The EU4M JMD is a 2-year Master programme.
Unlike many other Erasmus Mundus Master Courses, EU4M is not taught fully in English. Aiming to foster multilingualism and to facilitate students' integration, lectures in European institutions are conducted in local languages. Non-EU EU4M institutions conduct their lectures in English.
Therefore, the teaching languages used in EU4M JMD are:
Since the EU4M JMD is a European Master programme, it is compulsory to spend a 30-ECTS period in one EU institution. EACEA scholarship holders must stay in at least two EU countries.
Three EU4M Partners offer the First Year in three different languages in order to provide the students with the same preparation and different language options: Universidad de Oviedo, Hochschule Karlsruhe and Nile University.
The Second Year is offered by all the five EU4M Partners. Students may even choose to spend each of the two semesters of this year in two different EU4M Institutions.
The following picture sketches the possible mobility paths for EACEA scholarship holders. Note that it is possible to swap the two EU4M Institutions that may be indicated for the Second Year.
Additionally, self-paying students (who are only requested to stay in one EU country) have the following possibilities as well.
Specialization in the EU4M JMD is acquired during the second year. Each EU4M Partner offers a specialized track:
Students are expected to successfully complete a total of 60 ECTS credits per year. All academic achievements are assessed using the European Credit-Transfer-System (ECTS): 60 credits have to be earned during the first year and 60 credits during the second year (including the completion of a Master's Thesis).
European Credit-Transfer-System (ECTS) is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other collaborating European countries. One academic year corresponds to 60 ECTS-credits that are equivalent to 1500–1800 hours of study in all countries irrespective of standard or qualification type and one credit corresponds to 25-30 hours of work.
The EU4M Consortium aims to provide students with a single Joint Master Diploma acknowledged by all the five countries involved in the Programme.
However, since national regulations must also be met, it is possible that some institutions cannot initially participate in this Joint Master Diploma. Students staying in any of these institutions will therefore receive two diplomas: a local degree issued by this institution plus the Joint Master Diploma issued by the EU4M Coordinating Institution.
Until all the EU4M Institutions are allowed to issue a single Joint Master Diploma with a single Diploma Supplement, grades will be indicated according to local regulations. In particular, the Joint Master Diploma will use the Spanish grade scale, since it will be awarded by a Spanish institution (Universidad de Oviedo).
The system of grading used in Spain is based on the absolute mark over 10 points obtained by the student in every subject. The top possible mark in this system is 10, the lowest possible mark is 0 and the pass mark is 5.