Programme Structure

The course programme is spread over 2 academic years and made up of 4 semesters (120-ECTS, thus 30 ECTS/semester) in total. During the three first semesters, students take courses, taught by the four core SMACCs HEIs, and related with the four specialization areas of the SMACCs:

  • University of Mons (UMONS) develops a specialization in ‘Sustainable Urban Planning, Energy and Transport’
  • International Hellenic University (IHU) develops a specialization in ‘Information and Communication Technologies’
  • University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) develops a specialization in ‘Energy Efficiency in Buildings’
  • University of Vaasa (UWasa) develops a specialization in ‘Smart Grid Solutions’

The common language of instruction for the programme is English (although some extra courses offered by partners may be in their native languages, see below).

More particularly, students select a mobility path before the start of the programme, which determines the university in which they will study during the first three semesters. Concretely, students spend their 1st and 3rd semester at UPV/EHU and UWasa (the order depending on the chosen mobility path) and make a choice between UMONS and IHU for the second semester.

The fourth semester is fully dedicated to the preparation of a Master thesis,

The student gets the specialization of the university where 60ECTS have been completed.

The type of mobility promoted within the EMJM SMACCs is compulsory physical mobility. The consortium believes indeed that cultural blending is a key element of the Erasmus Mundus programme, which cannot be achieved correctly in case of remote teaching. From the pedagogical point of view, since the admitted students tend to have a heterogeneous background, given the very broad nature of Smart Cities, presential teaching is favored to deal with these differences in terms of competences at the beginning of the programme, to encourage interactions. Nevertheless, distance learning may be employed in specific cases: for including seminars given by renowned guest-speakers from academia/industry who cannot travel physically; in case of new sanitary restrictions, etc.

SMACCs Associated Partners

The SMACCs consortium is helped by a strong ecosystem of more than 50 public (universities, municipalities, etc.) or private Associated Partners from Europe and the whole world, active in the field of Smart Cities, in order to boost the students’ exposure to the professional sector and high-level research communities.

The Associated Partners cooperate in the course development, may host students for internships and propose thesis topics in relation to professional realities, expose the students to high-quality guest lecturers, act as potential employers, etc. which will ultimately boost the employability of the SMACCs graduates.

See the full list of partners here.