International Master of Science in Sustainable and Innovative Natural Resource Management
The International Master of Science in Sustainable and Innovative Natural Resource Management (SINReM) educates a new range of professionals focused on developing such novel technologies, engineering and re-inventing the value chain to make it more sustainable. Therefore, SINReM gives students a broad view on the entire value chain in its different aspects.
What
The increasing demand for raw materials, their price volatility, the production concentration and the market distortions imposed by some countries, confront Europe and other world regions with a number of challenges along the entire value chain. To tackle this supply risk challenge and to deal with environmental problems arising from too large emissions of waste (such as CO2), technological innovation is required with respect to exploration of new resources and sustainable primary mining, sustainable use of resources in specific products and production processes (e.g. substitution of critical metals in materials), prevention of waste generation, valorisation of secondary (alternative) resources and recovery/recycling of resources from end-of-life products. The International Master of Science in Sustainable and Innovative Natural Resource Management (SINReM) educates a new range of professionals focused on developing such novel technologies, engineering and re-inventing the value chain to make it more sustainable.
Therefore, SINReM gives students a broad view on the entire value chain in its different aspects. They learn about the different (technological) options for optimizing flows of natural resources in the different parts of the chain, ranging from resource exploration over sustainable materials use and use of resources in production processes to recovery/recycling of resources from end-of-life products. SINReM graduates have an entrepreneurial mind-set, a multidisciplinary view and creative innovative problem-based technology development skills. They are qualified for a professional career in the private (supporting companies in making processes, products and services more sustainable), research (applied research at universities, research institutes or companies) or public sector (consulting in local, regional and (inter)national administrations, defining and implementing sustainable development policies). Moreover, SINReM promotes networking and exchange of knowledge and experience between different nationalities, between academic and non-academic partner and between scholars and students from European and non-European countries which are rich in natural resources and/or can be considered as rapidly growing markets for sustainable products, processes and services.
For whom
The admission requirements vary. Depending on your preliminary training, you are either able to enrol directly, or there are additional requirements.
Structure
Student mobility within Europe is an integral part of the 2-year programme (120 ECTS). In the first semester in Ghent, the second semester in Uppsala, and during the summer course ‘Problems and Innovations in the Process Chain of Mineral Resources’ in Freiberg, students are introduced to the value chain, management of natural resources, the circular economy, its economic, policy and legal aspects, inventory techniques, the clean technology concept and life cycle assessment tools to assess sustainability of products, services and processes. In the second year, students choose a major: Georesource Exploration (Uppsala University), Sustainable Entrepreneurship (Uppsala University), Sustainable Processes (TU Freiberg), Resource Recovery and Sustainable Materials (Ghent University), or Circular Societies (Ghent University), containing (elective) courses in combination with an internship and the master thesis research. SINReM students interact with the professional sector through cooperation in thesis research, internships, lectures and seminars. SINReM also provides complementary skills training in innovation management, entrepreneurship, and business case development.
Master dissertation
The master dissertation or thesis is a requirement for every candidate to obtain a master degree. The master dissertation is an original piece of research work. It aims to develop and strengthen the research capacity skills of the students. The student selects a topic and is given guidance by a promoter or supervisor. The master dissertation consists of a literature review part, a theoretical reflection and an original analysis of the topic. Dissertation research in SINReM is conducted at one of the partner universities in cooperation with a non-academic partner for example from industry.
Labour Market
The limited availability of raw materials, together with worldwide phenomena such as fossil depletion and climate change has urged Europe and other world regions to develop sustainable resource management strategies. However, this challenge can also be transformed into an economic opportunity, by for example re-invigorating the mining industry in a sustainable way and stimulating the recycling industry. This requires a shift in economic and business models but also in the education and training of the professionals who will be developing these models. There is a clearly identified need for professionals with a holistic overview on resource management and up-to-date processing technologies, who are familiar with sustainability concepts and possess an innovative mind-set to boost the economic importance of this sector. These new professionals are educated by SINReM.
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
- Multiperspectivism: we train our students to be critical T-shaped professionals who have a broad vision of the value chain and of the circular economy on the one hand; and who are sufficiently specialised in one or various specific aspects on the other hand, such as (geo)resource exploration, sustainable chemical process technology, and recycling technology. We learn our students the skills necessary to work in a creative, innovative, and problem solving way in multidisciplinary teams.
- Talent development: our students have a certain freedom of choice to compose their study programme according to their own interests. Entrepreneurship and creativity are much encouraged and students are coached in the valorisation of their dissertation research findings.
- Global and future-oriented: the programme focusses on the development of innovative and sustainable solutions to global problems and for future generations.
- Close interaction with the non-academic sector: thanks to the compulsory business internship and the active involvement of the non-academic sector – also from outside Flanders – in the dissertation supervision, the students receive ample opportunities to gain relevant hands-on experience.
- Access to expertise and infrastructure: thanks to the international cooperation within the SINReM and the EIT Raw Materials consortium, and the network activities within these consortia the students are granted access to specific expertise and infrastructure (e.g. experimental mine in Freiberg).
Strengths
- Preparation:in order to start off the first academic year well prepared, the students have the opportunity to participate in preparatory courses organised by Ghent University and TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
- Motivated and mixed team of teachers:the programme is supported by committed teachers from different disciplines from different geographical and educational backgrounds. Our teachers combine their research expertise with a passion for education and an enthusiasm to keep dedicating themselves to the quality of their classes.
- Possibility of creativity and entrepreneurship: students gain entrepreneur and creative problem solving skills in many course units, and they have the possibility to reflect critically and seize the initiative.
- Possibility of practical experience:the compulsory business internship, the active involvement of the non-academic sector (companies, non-academic research and government institutions) – also outside Flanders – in the dissertation supervision, and the active participation of the non-academic sector in the guidance and management of the programme guarantee a good coordination between the graduates’ profile and the external stakeholders’ wishes.
- EIT quality label:on top of the internal quality assurance system, as described in the consortium agreement, the programme has been granted an EIT quality label by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT). In order to maintain this label, the programme has to meet several requirements on the following points: involvement of the non-academic sector and the integration of entrepreneur skills, innovation and creativity in the programme, which are frequently evaluated by an external committee of experts that is appointed by the EIT. The management committee and the study Programme Committee gather at least 3 times a year physically in Uppsala, Freiberg, or Ghent to discuss, amongst others, aspects related to quality assurance.
Weaknesses
- Further development and implementation of innovative educational techniques: SINReM intends to make use of a whole range of innovative and activating educational techniques (blended learning, flipped classrooms, network seminars with video conferences, discussions in small groups, virtual laboratories, gamification). However, part of the course materials still need further development and implementation.
- Further streamlining of the programme and coordination of the course units:as a fairly new international programme, whose first-year students live in Ghent, Freiberg, and Uppsala, we need to continue optimizing coordination and integration of various course units of the various partner institutions, further streamlining of the programme and coordination of the course units on the initial competences. This will be based on the feedback of SINReM students who are currently enrolled in the programme.
- Development of the master’s dissertation process: even though the dissertations are produced and defended in the different partner institutions concerned under the supervision of professors of these partner institutions, SINReM strives for a joint master’s dissertation supervision and evaluation according to collective, consortium wide norms and procedures. This system requires further optimization. Moreover, bias in the assessment of regular course work between students residing in the different partner institutions in the second year should be avoided as much as possible. However, resolution of the grading system used at Uppsala University is currently low compared to the system used at Ghent University, to which the grades should be converted. This still needs further uniformization of assessment procedures and finetuning of grade conversion tables.
This study programme is accredited by the Flemish-Dutch Accreditation Organization (in Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. A screening of the Education Monitor by Ghent University’s Education Quality Board is planned in the years 2021-2024.
This information was last updated on 01/02/2023.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.