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 students to develop sustainable solutions across the entire raw materials value chain. From resource exploration to sustainable extraction processes and the development of more sustainable materials and recycling, students are taught to find new solutions that work towards the achievement of a circular economy.

Our three partner universities bring together a combination of expertise that makes up the entire raw materials value chain. We maintain close links with industry partners, delivering their insights for the development of a new type of professional that has a mission to bring more sustainability into the raw materials sector.

Uppsala University delivers extensive knowledge on the exploration of rare resources. It also focuses on innovation management and entrepreneurship training. TU Bergakademie Freiberg offers its proficiency in sustainable and environmentally friendly extraction technologies. Ghent University contributes through its leading expertise in the circular economy, environmental science and technology, recovery of resources from waste, and sustainability assessment.

The International Master of Science in Sustainable and Innovative Natural Resource Management (SINReM) educates a new range of resource engineer professionals by focusing on developing concepts and technology along the value chain of raw materials to make it more sustainable. The graduates will be T-shaped professionals with a holistic view of the entire value chain with deep knowledge of one particular aspect and a highly entrepreneurial mindset with a strong focus on innovation.

Structure

This 2-year programme contains 120 ECTS credit units and leads to the joint diploma of International Master of Science in Sustainable and Innovative Natural Resource Management.

In order to expose all students to different institutional settings, student mobility within Europe is an integral part of the programme.

• General Entrance Module - Semester I 30 ECTS - Ghent University
• Advanced Module - Semester II 30 ECTS - Uppsala University
• Field trip - Summer School - University of Freiburg
• Advanced Module II - Semester III 60 ECTS - choose one of the following majors containing (elective) courses in combination with master dissertation research:
  • geo-resource exploration (Uppsala)
  • sustainable processes (Freiberg)
  • sustainable materials and resource recovery (Ghent)

All students will be moving as a cohort to Gent, Freiberg and Uppsala in the first year, which approach has significant networking and social cohesion advantages.

During this first year, 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 the sustainability of products, services and processes. Moreover, students are exposed to basic training in the different technological tools that can be used to intervene in different parts of the value chain (geo-resource exploration, sustainable (chemical) extraction processes, sustainable materials and resource recovery technology).

In the second year, students have the option to further specialize by selecting a major and conducting thesis research. They interact with the professional sector through cooperation in thesis research, internships, lectures and seminars.

Several integrated and integrating courses throughout the programme stimulate the exchange of knowledge and experience between the students, lecturers and non-academic stakeholders who are active in the value chain, and challenge students to develop and apply multidisciplinary and creative problem-solving techniques. Each of these courses is coordinated by one academic partner, but involves active contribution of the other educational and non-academic Associated and Supporting Partners,

e.g. Introduction to the circular economy, economics and management of natural resources; Problems and innovations in the process chain of rare resources; Raw Materials Network Seminar; Innovation management, entrepreneurship and IPR; Project Management and Business Plan Development; Resources Chemistry I and II (Summer school); Master Dissertation

and the Joint Master Dissertation Event at the end of the two-year programme.

The SINReM programme also provides complementary skills training to teach students to assess the environmental and societal impact of interventions in the value chain (e.g. resource assessment) and to be creative and innovative not only in an academic research environment but also in business environments.

These courses include language courses, a course on innovation management, IPR and entrepreneurship and a course Project Management and Business Plan Development that prepares the students for their Dissertation research. The latter two courses include contributions from Associated and Supporting Partners.

Elective specialisation courses, an elective Internship and the Master Dissertation allow the students to deepen their knowledge and choose a Major in the second year, thus specialising in the field of their choice. According to the expertise and specialisation of the institutes and lecturers involved, students can choose between Geo-resource Exploration in Uppsala, Sustainable Processes in Freiberg and Resource Recovery and Sustainable Materials in Ghent. The selection of elective courses, by each individual student, enables the build-up of a strong competence profile and needs to be approved by the SINReM Management Board (MB) to avoid any repetition or overlap of courses within each individual curriculum. Students will also be guided by the SINReM local and coordination secretariat and the lecturers during a selection of elective courses.

The master dissertation is an original piece of research work and a requirement for every candidate to obtain a master degree. 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 dissertation consists of a literature review part, a theoretical reflection and an original analysis of the topic. The involved research is conducted at one of the partner institutes or with one of the associates (industrial) partners.

Ranking of the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering:

QS ranking: position 7 (Agriculture and Forestry)

Shanghai Ranking: position 13 (Agricultural Sciences)

Times Higher Education ranking: position 47 (Life Sciences)

National Taiwan University ranking: position 21 (Agricultural Science)

Ranking of Ghent University

Shanghai Ranking: position 84

Times Higher Education ranking: position 107

National Taiwan University ranking: position 84

QS ranking: position 159

QS sustainability ranking: position 58