Course structure
The MEDfOR programme offers a MSc degree that is fully recognised in all the participating countries. It requires the completion of studies encompassing 120 credits (ECTS) over a period of two years in the MEDfOR Consortium universities. This corresponds to 3 semesters of coursework plus a Winter School and 1 semester to prepare the Master dissertation. The official language of MEDfOR is English.
The Medfor Master design complies with the Bologna qualification standards (2nd Cycle). Students are required to spend at least one semester to complete 30 credits (ECTS) in two or three institutions of two or three different countries. The first semester is spent in the University of Lleida, Padova or Lisbon where the students acquire knowledge in the full range of disciplines essential to the use and management of Mediterranean forests. In the second year the students acquire cutting edge knowledge in a specialization provided by one of the 7 consortium universities.
1st year: 42 ECTS from the courses offered by the Universities of Lisbon, Lleida and Padua; 9 ECTS from the two e-learning transversal courses;9 ECTS from the Winter School;
2nd year: 30 ECTS from the 1st semester (specializarion) and 30 ECTS from the dissertation.
This design as well as its mandatory mobility component (Figure below) are key to set standards for an effective education-to-research-and-innovation strategy and to overcome current fragmentation of Forestry Higher Education in the Mediterranean region.
Course Schedule:
| Year 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Semester | 2nd Semester | ||||
| 18 or 24 ECTs | 6 ECTs | 9 ECTs | 18 or 24 ECTs | 3 ECTs | |
| Design and mobility | Coursework at the UL | E-learning class by the UVa | Joint Winter Module in UVa (9 ECTS) |
Coursework at the UL | E-learning class by the UP |
| Coursework at the UdL | Coursework at the UdL | ||||
| Coursework at the UP | Coursework at the UP | ||||
| Year 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summer break | 3rd Semester | 4th Semester |
| 0 ECTs | 30 ECTs | 30 ECTs |
| Optional Internship with consultation panel | Specialization coursework1,3 at the: | Thesis work2,3 and Summer Event |
| Multiple criteria decision support systems for Mediterranean forest management planning in ULisboa | ||
| Social and Environmental responsibility in Mediterranean forestry in U Padua | ||
| Addressing risks in Mediterranean forest management planning-the case of fire in U Lleida | ||
| Adaptive forestry strategies to provide good and services while coping with global change challenge in U Valladolid | ||
| Advanced tools for sustainable management of Mediterranean forests in U Tuscia | ||
| Ecosystem based multi-use forest management planning in Mediterranean forests in U Karadeniz | ||
| Mediterranean Sustainable Forest Management - An Institutional Economics Approach in U Catholic Porto | ||
Figure 1. Course structure. MEDfOR teaching approach and mobility component. UL –University of Lisbon, UdL – University of Lleida, UP – University of Padua, UT – University of Tuscia, UVa –University of Valladolid, KTU – Karadeniz Technical University, UCP – Portuguese Catholic University
1in cooperation with other Partner or Associate institution; 2may be conducted in any of the institutions that are members of the MEDfOR consortium; 3Either the specialization coursework or the thesis work will have to be conducted in a country other than the one where the student completed the 42 credits (ECTS) graduate-level subprogramme in the 1st year. The thesis may be prepared in the framework of an internship supported by an associated partner or by a stakeholder.
