Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems (Erasmus Mundus, start in Brussels)
This study track is composed as follows:
Semester 1: Basic and specialised introductory courses
Semester 2: In situ experience and specialised field courses
Semester 3: In-depth specialisation semester
Semester 4: Joint master's thesis
In the first semester, students start at the VUB/ULB to acquire similar competences. In the second semester, field experience and courses will take place in a university in a non-EU country. The third semester will cover a specialisation in a European university, different from the first one. Courses vary this semester. In the fourth semester, students return to where they started out for their thesis research.
Provided agreement by the inter-university jury the student can choose in each semester optional courses outside the proposed courses, but accepting the risk of overlapping schedules.
Master of Science in Biology: Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Semester 1: Basic and specialised introductory courses - VUB/ULB Brussels
Compulsory courses (Brussels Courses)
At ULB or VUB: one course to be chosen:
Electives (Brussels Courses)
15 or 16 ECTS to be chosen in combination with VUB courses below:
15 or 16 ECTS to be chosen in combination with ULB courses above:
N.B. Provided agreement by the inter-university jury the student can choose optional courses outside the proposed modules, but accepting the risk of overlapping schedules. A climate-oriented course is obligatory either in S1 (courses with *) or S3 (course with *). For languages of instruction and course details please consult https://www.tropimundo.eu/.
Semester 2: In situ experience and specialised field courses
During the second semester in situ field experience and courses will take place in one of the universities in the south with their specific expertises.
The courses heavily depend on the regional and geographic settings of the third-country Higher Education Institutes in the south, which in part shapes the specialisation of the student.
Important: Only students attending the University of the Philippines will register for the 6 ECTS variant of ‘Geomatics’ and ‘Skills and Qualifications in tropical biodiversity’. All other students must register for Geomatics of 3 ECTS and Skills and Qualifications in tropical biodiversity of 9 ECTS.
Compulsory
Field school
You select one of the following options (depending on the tropimundo trajectory)
Tropical biodiversity and ecosystems field school: from montane to coastal ecosystems and landscapes
15
15
Tropical biodiversity & ecosystems field school: Trop forest ecosyst of Reunion & SWIndian Ocean isl
15
Tropical biodiversity and ecosystems field school: biodiversity and habitats of the South-Pacific ar
15
Semester 3: In-depth specialisation semester
The Sorbonne Université, Paris (SU) and the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (MNHN)
‘PARCOURS’ to choose from
PARCOURS: Systématique, Evolution, Paléontologie (SEP) – SU and MNHN
PARCOURS: Ecologie de la Conservation – Ingénierie écologique : Recherche et Expertise (ECIRE) – SU and MNHN
PARCOURS: Ecologie Evolutive et Fonctionnelle (EEF) – SU and MNHN
PARCOURS: Ecophysiologie et Ecotoxicologie (EPET) – SU
At least 30 ECTS to be chosen:
RECOMMENDED for SEP:
RECOMMENDED for ECIRE and EEF:
RECOMMENDED for EPET:
Other optional courses
Florence: Università degli Studi di Firenze (UNIFI)
Compulsory
Optional (at least 6 ECTS)
Université de la Guyane (UdG)
Compulsory
N.B. Provided agreement by the inter-university jury the student can choose optional courses outside the proposed modules, but accepting the risk of overlapping schedules. A climate-oriented course is obligatory either in S1 (courses with *) or S3 (course with *). For languages of instruction and course details please consult https://www.tropimundo.eu/.
Semester 4: Joint Master's thesis
Total number of ECTS
120