“Being included in the EU’s cooperation project is very prestigious. We are delighted that the Department of Chemistry is the only university department in Norway whose applications have been granted,” says Øyvind M. Andersen, head of the Department of Chemistry.

In 2004, the EU launched its Erasmus Mundus cooperation programme to promote education in Europe and to compete against the USA by attracting the brightest students outside the EU. The students must attend at least three different universities or university colleges in Europe, which work together in consortiums to offer Master's degrees. The programmes accept European students, but are primarily aimed at students from the third world who have at least 240 credits.

Unique composition
After the fifth round of applications, UiB is part of four programmes that have Norwegian participation.  A total of 160 projects applied for the title of Erasmus Mundus programme, 16 of which were from Norway and five from UiB.

The two programmes which the Department of Chemistry is involved in are “European Joint Master in Quality in Analytical Laboratories (EMQAL)” and “Advanced Spectroscopy in Chemistry (ASC)”, which will both start in autumn 2008.

In EMQAL, the Department of Chemistry will offer courses and Master’s theses in cooperation with the University of Algarve (coordinator), a university in Poland, two in Spain and one in Portugal. Each institution will offer courses in the areas in which its competence is greatest.

Associate Professor Bjørn Grung is the coordinator for EMQAL at UiB and he believes the main reason the application was granted is that the Department of Chemistry offers a study programme with a composition not found elsewhere.  Part of the study programme consists of the traditional analysis system, another of quality management and the last part, which is the Department of Chemistry’s main contribution to this programme, comprises data analysis and statistics.

“Our education programme is aimed at students who will work in modern laboratories accredited for analysis,” says Mr Grung.

Bright students sought
ASC is a cooperation project with Lille University in France (coordinator), the University of Leipzig, the University of Bologna, the University of Helsinki, the University of Krakow and the University of Madrid.

“The point is that we have recognised that society lacks people who are able to make the best possible use of instruments that are available in industry and research institutions,” says George W. Francis, the coordinator for ASC at UiB.  

Head of Department Øyvind M. Andersen is confident that the Department will now have access to some of the brightest student in the field. He believes that having access to bright Master’s students will make it possible to offer research-oriented education.

The third Norwegian project whose Erasmus Mundus application was granted is Gjøvik University College’s “Master Erasmus Mundus in Color in Informatics and Media Technology”.