Europe: Erasmus Mundus Programme in Flood Risk Management
Integrated flood risk management aims to reduce the human and socio-economic losses caused by flooding while taking into account the social, economic and ecological benefits from floods and the use of flood plains or coastal zones. The need for the adoption of a holistic integrated approach to managing flood risks has been reflected in the Flood Directive of the European Parliament.
Existing masters programmes on floods offered in the European Union cover many technical aspects but lack integration. This programme follows the holistic approach and is explicitly designed to cover a wide range of topics - from drivers and natural processes to models, decisions and socio-economic consequences and institutional environment and is therefore an important advance in water education for Europe.
The Erasmus Mundus Programme in Flood Risk Management is offered by a consortium consisting of
- UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (the Netherlands)
- Technical University of Dresden (Germany)
- Technical University of Catalonia (Spain)
- University of Ljubljana (Slovenia).
The associated members include European hydraulics laboratories, namely, DHI (Denmark), Deltares (the Netherlands) and HR Wallingford (UK), and key national organisations responsible for flood management, including Rijkswaterstaat (the Netherlands), ICHARM (Japan) and three organisations from Bangladesh. These partners bring their specific complementary expertise in flood risk management to the programme.
During the 2-year programme students will accumulate 120 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) study points. They will follow the programme in four institutions starting in Dresden, where they complete their 1st semester with courses on hydro-meteorological processes, global change and its impact, flood risk management and GIS.
Then students move to Delft for their 2nd semester where they receive courses on hydroinformatics, modelling for planning, forecasting, control and decision support, hazard mapping, ICT and fluvial flooding and urban flood disasters.
Subsequently, the students move to Barcelona to follow part of their 3rd semester with courses on hazards due to flash floods, debris flow, coastal flooding, and climate change.
The last part of the 3rd semester is hosted by the University of Ljubljana where students follow courses on spatial planning, and socio-economic and institutional framework of flood risk management.
Each semester provides a number of electives, and there are international fieldtrips. Finally, the students carry out their thesis work (30 ECTS) at one of the four institutes or with an industrial partner.
Participants who successfully complete the course will be awarded with the following multiple diplomas:
- Master of Science in Water Science and Engineering -specialisation “Hydroinformatics - Flood Risk Management” from UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, The Netherlands
- Master of Science in Hydro- Science and Engineering, Technical University of Dresden, Germany
- Master of Science in Flood Risk Management from Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
Application Procedure
Apply for the Erasmus Mundus Programme in Flood Risk Management by filling out and submitting the online application form. Make sure that before you start to apply online, the documents described on this page are collected. Those who have applied before can re-apply by following the instructions mentioned on this page.
Required documents(1):
- Photocopy(ies) of academic diploma(s)(2)
- Certified academic transcript(s)
- Curriculum Vitae (including work experience and research record (if any))
- Letter of Motivation (stating the applicant’s interest in the study programme)
- Two Letters of Recommendation (not older than six months either by two university teachers or by one university teacher and by one employer, or by internationally recognised scientist(s))
- Result of an IELTS or TOEFL test(3)
(1) Only PDF, Word/Doc and JPEG files with a maximum file size of 2 MB per file will be accepted.
(2) In case you have not yet obtained your BSc degree, and you are in the last year of your study, please attach a statement of your university confirming that you are in the last year of your BSc study (instead of copy of your BSc diploma) and stating that you are expected to graduate before August 2012. Also attach the transcript showing the subjects you followed and the marks and ECTS obtained so far.
(3) Applicants from the following English speaking countries and countries where English is used in higher education are exempt for an English test: Australia, Botswana, Canada, Cameroon (English-speaking region), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Ireland, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda (English-speaking region), South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, UK, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Candidates from countries where English is the language of instruction in higher education, but which are not on the list of exempted countries, are required to attach the English language test results.
Applicants that are required to provide proof of English language proficiency who do not yet possess the results of the test can apply for admission and scholarship now, however, the ultimate deadline that the test result should be in our possession is 1 May 2013. Those applicants will also be taken into consideration for scholarship award and can be selected for scholarship or placed on the reserve list. If, no sufficient English test results have been received by 1 May 2013, the scholarship offer will be cancelled and next candidate from the reserve list will be selected.
Application Deadline: 6 January 2013
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