KU Leuven

Erasmus Mundus Master Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

The EMM-Nano+ master is a two-year, 120 ECTS, English language degree program. Thanks to its combination of partners, expertise and courses, it offers you a unique integrated master program, covering all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, while at the same time allowing you to design an individual study program with specialization in essentially any field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

It facilitates studying at two separate participating universities where you spend one year per country. It is strongly multidisciplinary: you receive a basic training in all the disciplines offered, one of which becomes your area of specialisation. At the end of the program you will receive a joint degree from the two universities where you studied.

The general objectives of the Master course EMNano+ are:

• to provide a top quality and broad multidisciplinary master course in the established and the emerging fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology;
• to provide an individual top-level specialization in one of the three major areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology: nanomaterials and nanochemistry, nanoelectronics and quantum computing, nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine;
• to provide excellence in education in a field of strategic importance for Europe and in line with European R&D initiatives;
• to fuel the existing European R&D collaboration and strengthen our efforts for more European integration;
• to enhance the profile and visibility of the European Higher Education Area in the field of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology education

The education fits in the worldwide growing convergence between these different basic sciences, and between science, technology and engineering in general and should create graduates who can think across the boundaries of their own specializations and background.

As a graduate of the Master of Science in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology programme, you will have thorough scientific knowledge of the fundamental structures of physical, biological, and chemical systems in terms of their molecular and atomic characteristics. You will also understand the formation of complex macro systems, which are unique in their operations and possess new functionalities, based on their molecular and atomic properties.

The programme is strongly connected to the latest innovations in the field and is embedded in ongoing research programmes at the participating universities and at the associated research partners. The courses are continuously updated following the progress of science and technology in this young and highly innovative field. Furthermore, you will spend one quarter of the study programme on elaborating your own research project in a Master’s thesis. There is ample opportunity to take elective courses, either to increase your level of proficiency, or to broaden your horizon, according to your own interest.

Upon the completion of the two year cycle, successful students will be awarded a joint Master’s degree. In addition, the EMM-nano consortium furnishes a joint degree-supplement providing a description of the nature and level of the programme followed.

The KU Leuven is acting as the coordinator of the proposed Master program. It offers the common part of the educational curriculum, which is followed by all 1st year students of the master. This common part consists of a set of Fundamental courses (0-12 ects) for students that are entering from various backgrounds and the Core courses (33 ects), which are compulsory for all students, and which contain the basic knowledge within the main disciplines physics, chemistry, electronics, biochemistry, as well as two practical courses where the students learn to carry out some practical experimental work. Next also profiling elective courses (6-18 ects) are offered as a preparation for the students specialization in the second year, as well as elective general interest courses (9 ects) to teach non-technical skills to the students. The KU Leuven is also responsible for the common application procedure, for the central student registration and administration of the students Individual Study Program, and for the delivery of the joint diploma and diploma supplement.

The role of Université Grenoble Alpes in the new program is to provide a second year of specialization which follows the first year courses offered by KU Leuven. Three different domains are proposed: Quantum and nanoscale engineering, Nanochemistry and Bionanotechnology. UGA offers for these 3 specialization options 15 ECTS specialization courses and the 30 ECTS for the master thesis. These three specializations are very active domains of research in the different labs in Grenoble. Besides this university offers also a large number of broadening courses (max 15 ECTS) in the other fields of nanotechnology. From the scientific context to everyday life, the Université Grenoble Alpes aims at providing a high quality welcome package to Erasmus Mundus students, including academic, administrative and individual support

The role of TU Dresden in the program is to provide a second year of specialization which follows the first year courses offered by KU Leuven. In the program TU Dresden offers three specialization areas: biophysics, organic and molecular electronics and nanoelectronics. TU Dresden has strong research groups and teaching capacity, especially at the Biotechnology Center for the option biophysics and bionanotechnology and at the Institute of Materials Science for the options organic and molecular electronics and nanoelectronics. The courses are offered in cooperation with several research institutes, in particular the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research and the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems. For these two specialization options 45 ECTS are offered including 15 ECTS specialization courses and 30 ECTS for the master thesis. To complete the specialization and give the necessary interdisciplinary knowledge, broadening courses are offered for 15 ECTS.

The University of Barcelona is providing the options on Nanomaterials and Nanopharmacology, during the second year of the EMM-nano course. Students following one of these two trajectories will specialize in the fabrication, characterization and manipulation of nanostructured materials, for the Nanomaterials option, or in their use in biological or pharmacological applications, divided in 15 ECTS of specialization courses, 15 ECTS in broadening courses, plus 30 ECTS in the master thesis projects which is typically developed within the research groups of the IN2UB. The University of Barcelona offers topics for the development of the master thesis related to nanobiotechnology and nanorpharmacology, to develop nanostructured systems for controlled drug delivery and to improve drug therapeutic efficiency, and nanostructured materials for the development of new nanostructured materials which offer an improvement as far as the properties of already existing materials are concerned.

Chalmers offers the second year of the Chalmers trajectory of the EMM-Nano+ course. Students following this trajectory can specialize in molecular electronics or quantum computing and will get hands-on training in clean-room fabrication of nanodevices. 30 ECTS of specialization (15 ECTS) and broadening (15 ECTS) courses are followed by the 30 ECTS master thesis project, typically carried out within one of the research groups within the departments of Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Physics, or Chemistry and Bioscience. Chalmers provide master thesis topics in a wide range of nanoscience, e.g. (superconducting) nanoelectronics, quantum computing, photonics, microwave electronics, sensors, and micro/nanofabrication. Extensive training in nanofabrication techniques and the students’ working themselves in the Chalmers Nanofabrication Laboratory cleanroom during project courses and especially in their MSc thesis is a central part of the Chalmers-year of EMM-Nano+. Moreover, Chalmers organizes the annual “EMM-Nano+ Spring School” in basic cleanroom working routines and processing technology for all first year students in the EMM-Nano+ program.


Student grants / Financial assistance

EU funded scholarships

Erasmus+ scholarships will be awarded to top students whose nationality is one of the Erasmus+ Partner Countries and are not residents nor have carried out their main activity (studies, training or work) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in any Program Country.

The 12-month residency rule does not apply to candidates from Partner countries who for various reasons and under various circumstances have sought refuge and received a refugee status in a Programme country.

The Consortium will define the number of scholarships for each round based on the total budget, the quality of the students and the requirements of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

On top of this a limited number of Erasmus+ scholarships are available for students from the following targeted regions:

ENI South: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia – 2 scholarships
Latin-America: Brazil and Mexico – 1 scholarship
Latin-America: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuele – 2 scholarships

The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) Scholarship includes:

Contribution to the participation costs
9.000 EUR per year per scholarship holder

Contribution to the travel and installation costs
1.000 EUR per year for scholarship holder resident of a Programme Country for travel costs
2.000 EUR per year for travel costs + 1.000 EUR for installation costs for scholarship holder resident of a Partner Country whose location is situated at less than 4.000 km from KU Leuven
3.000 EUR per year for travel costs + 1.000 EUR for installation costs for scholarship holder resident of a Partner Country whose location is situated at 4.000 km or more from KU Leuven

Contribution to subsistence costs
1.000 € per month for the entire duration of the JMD study programme (24 months maximum).
Contribution to subsistence costs will not be given to the scholarship holders for the JMD (study /research /placement / thesis preparation) periods spent in their country of residence.

The contribution to the travel and installation costs takes into account ONLY the residence of the scholarship holder, regardless of the category (programme country or partner country) under which the student will be enrolled.

Students can apply to a maximum of three different programmes. Students that already received an Erasmus Mundus scholarship before are also not eligible anymore.

Consortium Scholarships

Max 10 scholarships are granted, these are for students from all nationalities.

Program country Citizens
Contribution to travel & installation costs of 500 €/year
+ a monthly allowance of 300 € during max. 24 months

Partner country Citizens
Contribution to travel & installation costs of 1000 €/year
+ a monthly allowance of 600 € during max. 24 months

Tuition Fee Waiver
Tuition fee can be waived down to 1500 €, for Partner country students, except for Partner country students going to Chalmers (they will always have to pay the full tuition fee in Chalmers), or down to 900 € for Program country students