A student applies to EUREC Agency responsible for the admissions procedure. His application is reviewed by the academic partners of the core university and the specialisation university the student has chosen. Our sample student has chosen to do his core at Oldenburg in English and to study PV at Newcastle at the University of Northumbria. Oldenburg university then registers the student for the whole course. Classes start in October for the core where the student learns about the different RET’s in a general but technical manner. He does laboratory work and passes a series of exams. In January, the student moves on to the specialisation university in Newcastle in the UK. Here, he will only focus on PV in order to get as deep an understanding as possible in the four months period. Guest lecturers add latest research findings or illustrate practical applications of the technology, and the student visits installations, and experiments with the technology in laboratories.

As he has decided to focus on PV systems, he finds a placement with a company like “XXX” with the help of the course director at Northumbria University. During his four months company placement, he works on a project assessing the performance of a new manufacturing techniques that delivers thinner crystalline silicon wafers. He then writes a report on his project work and prepares a presentation that he holds in September in Brussels in front of an academic panel composed of the course directors. His fellow students as well as interested industry or research representatives assist at this event. He gets graded on both project report and presentation. By November, he receives his final degree issued by Oldenburg University and is now fit for employment.

Final diplomas

Conforming to the tendency towards EU-wide uniformity and comparability of university diplomas, the European Master in Renewable Energies leads to a final degree mutually recognised by the different countries’ universities. The labelling is the equivalent of “European MSc in Renewable Energy” in the language of the core university (i. e. the University of Zaragoza issues a “Master Europeo en Energias Renovables”). The degree is issued by the core university according to its respective national standards. It has been decided that students only register with the core University, which then becomes responsible for awarding the degree. This is to ensure that the degree will be recognized universally as a Masters. The consequence of this is that the awarding institution must recognize the credits of the other participating Universities.