Award Criteria 2012A - Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses (EMMCs)

A.1 Academic quality - Course content (30 % of the max. score )

A.1.1 Describe the EMMC objectives (including in socio-economic terms) in relation to the needs analysis in the field(s) concerned.

To what extent is the EMMC offer justified (notably in terms of inter/multi-disciplinary or newly emerging fields), and how is it linked to identified needs in a European and worldwide context?

A large fraction (estimated from 25% to 70% by different surveys)1 of the chemistry master's degree holders are worldwide employed within the area of analytical chemistry. Analytical chemists who are responsible for analyses results, quality assurance and technical issues in industry (chemical, pharmaceutical, food, materials, etc.), in government bodies and in research have an important impact on society. Decision making often relies on the results produced by analytical chemists so they bear a high responsibility.

During the recent years significant changes have taken place worldwide in the areas of measurements, testing and chemical analysis. The importance of chemical analyses is increasing. It has been estimated that measurements and chemical analyses2 make up 4-6% of the GDP in developed countries.3 More and more legal acts (e.g. estimatedly ca 25% of all EU directives) are passed that specify chemical analyses for conformity assessment, thus analytical chemistry is equally crucial from the legal perspective. A fully functional quality system, accredited according to international standards (e.g. ISO/IEC 17025:20054 or GLP) is now required from laboratories in many areas (food, environmental, healthcare, citizen safety, hi-tech production, etc). In addition to rigorous documentation, new requirements also include serious demands to the technical quality of measurements and analyses. A large part of these are related to metrological5 underpinning of analytical measurements: measurement uncertainty of analysis results must be adequately evaluated, traceability of analysis results must be demonstrated, etc. A number of novel analytical techniques have become widespread in modern analytical chemistry: LC-MS for trace organic contaminants, ICP-MS for trace elements, different sensors, etc. All these changes have led to a strong and increasing need for analytical chemists in industry and public bodies as evidenced by a recent review.6 The growing need for qualified specialists is also very well indicated by the active attendance in practitioners-oriented training courses Europe-wide, e.g. the TrainMiC programme.7

On the other hand, the changes have been rapid and up to now the higher education sector (in the whole world) has generally been unable to respond adequately to the needs of the chemical analysis community. This is demonstrated, above all, by lack or insufficient coverage of metrology topics (such, as traceability, measurement uncertainty, etc) and different newly emerging areas of analysis, often on the borderline of analytical chemistry and other disciplines, in the study programmes (e.g. determination of nanoparticles in environment, in vivo microanalysis in living cells, etc). As an illustration, it has been estimated that between 5% and 30% of the results of interlaboratory comparison measurements (the primary means for laboratories to assess and demonstrate their competence) contain large errors and are incorrect.8,9 The main reason is insufficient education of the personnel performing the analyses. Incorrect results can lead to wrong decisions

1 (a) American Laboratory 2006, 38, 32-34. (b) C. Tolond, RSC Careers Service, Trends in Remuneration Survey 2008.2 Chemical analysis (also called chemical measurement) is a measurement by which the amount of substance of some compound(s) is determined in the object that is analyzed.3 National and international needs relating to metrology: International collaborations and the role of the BIPM A report prepared by the CIPM for the governments of the Member States of the Convention of the Metre, CIPM, 1998.4 ISO/IEC 17025:2005 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. ISO, IEC, 2005.5 Metrology is the science of measurements and addresses first of all the correctness and quality of measurement procedures and measurement results. Metrology in chemistry is metrology applied to analytical chemical measurement.6 R. Salzer, Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2009, 394, 649–653.7 TrainMiC – Training in Metrology in Chemistry (http://www.trainmic.org/)8 Metrology in Chemistry. Current Activities and Future Requirements in Europe. Prepared by B. King, EUR 19074 EN, Luxembourg, 1999.9 IMEP – The International Measurement Evaluation Programme (http://www.irmm.jrc.be/interlaboratory_comparisons/imep/).

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in industrial production, environmental management, medicine, etc and can ultimately lead to failure of machines and equipment, worsening of environmental conditions, illness or even death of patients.

The EACH programme has been designed with the main objective to fill this gap by providing top quality and "full package" education integrating the fundamentals and practical skills in modern analytical chemistry with metrological, quality assurance and socio-economic aspects as well as the emerging areas of analytical chemistry. The graduates of the programme will have both strong fundamental knowledge of analytical chemistry and measurement science as well as applied knowledge of the methods of analysis and their usage. The programme has been designed to strengthen European quality in analytical chemistry and address the demand that has become very obvious in recent years.

A.1.2 Justify – using concrete evidence - the EMMC's added value compared with existing masters' courses in the same field at national, European and international level.

To what extent will this added value contribute to European university excellence, innovation and competitiveness, and, if applicable, to the cooperation expectations of the non European partner countries?

EACH addresses, besides "classical" analytical chemistry, which has firmly become indispensable in today's industry and other fields of economy, also areas that have become very important only during the last decade by incorporating four coherent modules:(1) metrology in chemistry (MiC)Error: Reference source not found (first year) as a core sub-discipline of analytical chemistry,(2) socio-economical aspects of analytical chemistry (first year). These include economic parts (such as economic impact of analyses on society in terms of costs and benefits, direct and indirect benefits as well as practical management of an analytical laboratory, etc), and legal parts (analyses specified in legislation, requirements for laboratories in terms of competence and accreditation status, legal consequences of non-compliances with jurisdictional limits, etc), and(3) emerging areas in analytical chemistry (Winter School). These include novel instrumental developments, such as miniaturization and automation, determination of nano-particles in food, environment, etc; remote sensing and wireless sensors; advanced techniques of characterization of materials, such as different microscopy, ion beam, etc techniques; determination of genetically modified organisms in food, in vivo analytical chemistry in cells, etc. The emerging areas of analytical chemistry are so diverse that it is almost impossible to cover all of them by any reasonable number of partner universities. Thus, these areas will be taught by invited scholars and the representatives of associated partners (Annex 5).

Our 2011 proposal was criticized for not sufficient addressing innovation. The updated programme (Table 1) now explicitly includes the emerging areas of analytical chemistry. These areas will be taught by associated partners with the relevant competence and cutting-edge research programmes in analytical chemistry.

In addition, to further enhance the practical value of the programme and the employability of our graduates, EACH includes:(4) practical training (between I and II year) which enables to get hands-on experience of working in real industry or analytical laboratory environment.

The partner universities have long-standing cooperation traditions with industry and laboratories (see A.1.6 for details) and the EACH programme has been developed in close collaboration with the best qualified practitioners in Europe. The geographical proximity and extensive cooperation adds to the ease of collaboration between partner universities and non-educational associated members (e.g. organizing internship placements). The well-established network of our associated partners represents both diversity of industry the EACH graduates can be involved in as well as the best quality of research laboratories across Europe.

There are other master's programmes in analytical chemistry in Europe. However, programmes similar to EACH are virtually missing, as no other master's programme incorporates the above mentioned modules 1-3. These modules provide expertise that has become especially important for industry and laboratories during the last decade, but is still rarely found in analytical chemistry programmes worldwide.

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To the best of our knowledge the only remotely similar international master's programme in the world is EMQAL – European Master for Quality in Analytical Laboratories. According to its web page "EMQAL is a master course for laboratory managers and scientists who wish to implement and manage Quality Systems in analytical laboratories, or work in Quality System environments in accredited analytical laboratories". EMQAL differs from EACH in important ways: (1) it rather focuses on quality management than on analytical chemistry, (2) its learning outcomes lack the socio-economic aspects and newly emerging areas or analytical chemistry and (3) it is targeted to working practitioners rather than recently graduated bachelor degree holders seeking for options to pursue studies in analytical chemistry.

We are convinced that the well-integrated and labour-market-oriented EACH programme increases the competitiveness of the European higher education in the field of analytical chemistry.

A.1.3 Present the structure and content of the EMMC and justify the added value and relevance of the mandatory mobility component.

What will be the course structure and main teaching topics? To what extent do the course topics/structure/modules justify their relevance in relation with the course objectives and the needs of the field(s)?

How is the students' mobility relevant and instrumental to the course's purposes? If applicable, explain how the internship / placement / fieldwork activities fit in the joint course model and objectives.

The EACH programme includes 120 ECTS credits, which are divided as shown in the module scheme outline (see Annex 1 for the full programme scheme). The learning outcomes of the modules derive from the learning outcomes of the programme, outlined in section A.1.4.

Table 1. Module scheme outline of the EACH programme.

MODULE NAME AND VOLUME FOCUS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE MODULES

YEAR 1 60 ECTS UNIVERSITY OF TARTU (GENERAL ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, METROLOGY IN CHEMISTRY, QUALITY ASSURANCE,SOCIO-ECONOMICAL ASPECTS, TRAINING PLACEMENT)

General analytical chemistry module (21)

Student acquires the basic knowledge and skills in analytical chemistry:(1) general principles of chemical analysis: chemical analysis workflow, ana-lysis procedures, their characteristics; skills for evaluating the analysis results;(2) main methods of chemical analysis (gravimetry, titrimetry, electrochemistry, chromatography, mass spectrometry, optical spectroscopic methods) and the underlying processes (precipitation, chemical equilibria, quantum and electronic processes in atoms and molecules); (3) analysis objects and samples, principles and main methods of sample preparation (digestion, extraction, etc).

Metrology module (9) Student acquires the knowledge of the main metrological concepts (traceability, measurement uncertainty) and approaches (validation of analysis procedures, reference materials, interlaboratory comparisons) relevant to chemical analysis, as well as the related practical skills (experiment planning, data treatment) in their application to analytical chemistry (metrology in chemistry).

Socio-economical module (13)

Student has the understanding of the importance of analytical chemistry for society from the economic and legal point of view; is able to understand legislative acts related to chemical analysis; knows the principles of operation of an accredited quality system and is able to work within it; has basic proficiency in one of the three languages spoken in the universities involved in the EACH programme and is familiar with the main cultural characteristics of the countries where studies take place.

Training placement (8) Student acquires understanding of the analytical chemistry issues in a professional environment at industry, research institution or a professional laboratory as well as the knowledge and skills for performing specific tasks. This module is important for (1) preparation of the student for future employment and (2) possible selection of the master's thesis topic.

Elective module (9) Student acquires additional knowledge according to his/her interests. Also the levelling course in chemistry is included in this module. In the beginning of the first semester there is an introductory test to identify lower level students who need the levelling course.

YEAR 2 60 ECTS3

UNIVERSITY OF OULU (INORGANIC AND TRACE ELEMENT ANALYSIS, ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPY)

Inorganic and physical chemistry module (15)

Student acquires a wide knowledge of the chemistry areas that are needed to understand chemical and physical properties of elements, their compounds and behaviour in different chemical environments. This is needed to get a profound understanding of analytical systems, e.g. sample preparation and spectroscopy.

Trace elements analysis module (10)

Student obtains theoretical background and practical skills in trace element analysis using various instrumental techniques as well as basic skills for common statistical methods and statistical experimental design. Trace elements in environment and their impact on society and economy.

Finnish language (5) Student acquires basic skills of the Finnish languageUPPSALA UNIVERSITY (ADVANCED SEPARATION METHODS AND ORGANIC ANALYSIS)

Open advanced course in chemistry with focus on separation and mass spectrometry (10)

The module will give practical and theoretical knowledge and skills of modern analytical separation (chromatography, electrophoresis) and detection (mass spectrometry, fluorescence, electrochemical, etc) methods with emphasis on mass spectrometry.

Applied chemical analysis of complex samples (15)

To obtain practical skills of analysis of different complex objects, related to the master's thesis topic.

Swedish language (5) Student acquires basic skills of the Swedish languageÅBO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY (SENSORS, ELECTROCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, ADVANCED ANALYTICAL DEVICES)

Electroanalysis module (25)

Student acquires theoretical background and practical skills in electrochemistry and chemical sensors. Modern design and fabrication of electrochemical sensors are emphasized in laboratory exercises and seminars where student also becomes familiar with analytical chemistry research.

Swedish language (5) Student acquires basic skills of the Swedish language.ALL SECOND YEAR UNIVERSITIESMaster's thesis (30)(together with Winter school)

Student develops practical skills in planning, executing and reporting of scientific research in the field of analytical chemistry. Student, who has passed the module:- is intimately familiar with one specific field of analytical chemistry both in terms of knowledge and skills;- is able to evaluate and present analytical results, compose and present public presentations and present one's viewpoints, conclusions and generalizations and discuss them with experts in the field;- knows the principles and requirements for scientific work and scientific ethics and is able to work according to these requirements.- is able to put the results into a wider socio-economic perspective.

An important preparatory element of the master's thesis is the Winter School consisting of short courses on the emerging areas of analytical chemistry, discussions with lecturers and presentations by students about the progress of their master's theses.

Scheme 1. Study tracks of the EACH programme.

University of TartuGeneral analytical chemistry, metrology in

chemistry, quality assurance,socio-economic aspects

Uppsala University

Advancedseparation methods

and organicanalysis

University of Oulu

Inorganic and trace element

analysis, atomicspectroscopy

Åbo AkademiSensors,

electrochemistry, advanced

analytical devices

Year 1: Fundamentals + Internship

Year 2: Specialisation

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The students spend their first study year at UT (also referred to as the home university) learning the fundamentals of analytical chemistry (including the mainstream practical skills for working in an analytical laboratory), analytical quality and metrology in chemistry as well as the socio-economic aspects of analytical chemistry. These fields are particularly strong at UT (see A.1.5). Starting at UT ensures a solid foundation for the students' analytical chemistry education. The advantage of having all first year students at the same university is that their knowledge and skills are of the same level to successfully continue at the second year universities. The first year ends with the training placement (often at one of the associated partners), which is a mandatory component of the programme yielding 8 ECTS.

The second study year is specialisation-oriented and is spent either at UO, UU or AAU (also referred to as host universities). Each of these universities is strong in one of the branches of applied analytical chemistry:- UO: trace element determination, atomic spectroscopy, especially as applied to environmental and food

analysis.- UU: organic and bio-analysis, separation methods and mass spectrometry, especially as applied to

biological objects.- AAU: electrochemical sensors, electroanalytical chemistry, advanced analytical devices.

Students will be assigned to second year universities based on (1) their preference, (2) study results of the first semester, and (3) admission quotas of UU, UO and AAU. Thus, all students will be ranked based on their academic merits of the first semester at UT, and these rankings (evaluated jointly by the consortium) will be one of the criteria when nominating to the second year university. Consequently, the students with the better first semester's study results have the best chances to continue at their desired II year university. At the time of nominations, all four partners present their potential master's thesis topics and the students can choose the topics according to their rankings (higher ranking enables a wider choice).

Every year, Winter School (WS) is held in the second half of January (duration: approximately 1 week). It includes (1) short courses on emerging areas of analytical chemistry delivered by invited scholars, (2) presentations by the second year students on the progress of their master theses and (3) presentations of the professors and teachers of UU, UO and AAU for the first year students on the specialisation possibilities at II year universities and potential master's thesis topics. All I and II year students, as well as the invited scholars, participate in WS (see A.1.5). From every university at least two members of the academic staff teaching in the programme will participate at each Winter School.

The fourth semester is dedicated to the master's thesis preparation under the supervision of the host university (in some cases the home university also participates). A master’s thesis is a scientific or applied research project in the volume of 30 ECTS. Some research topics are carried out at the second year universities and some in the facilities of the non-educational associated partners in the format of a practical placement (internship). In the latter case, the associated partners provide topics that are of practical interest for their activities and the thesis is jointly supervised by an academic and a staff member of an associated partner.

The complementarity of the partner universities' strengths justifies the mandatory mobility – only by studying at two universities students can get solid fundamental analytical chemistry education with a strong practical application component.

A.1.4 Justify the learning outcomes relevance in view of the students' future academic opportunities (e.g. at doctorate level) and employability.

The objective of the EACH programme is to educate analytical chemists who contribute to the wellbeing of the European citizens and sustainability of the European economy. The learning outcomes of the EACH programme directly address the needs of personnel (in terms of skills and expertise) both in industry and laboratories, in private and public sector. On completion of the EACH programme, the student:

1. Has systematic understanding of the physical, chemical and metrological foundations of analytical chemistry; factors affecting analytical results; methods for calculating and presenting of results and evaluating their quality for the widespread chemical analysis methods; has a good overview of the emerging areas of analytical chemistry.

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2. Has systematic understanding of quality systems, economic and legal aspects of chemical analysis and basic understanding of managing an analytical laboratory, including maintaining a quality management system.3. Has the skills to work with the widespread analysis and sample preparation techniques and to tune them according to specific analysis tasks; to optimise analysis procedures; to make data evaluation and sampling.4. Is able to define the problem, choose the methods, test them and determine their characteristics, assess their suitability for the task and apply corrective actions in one of the subfields of analytical chemistry:

4.a. Separation science and organic analysis, including multimodal separation techniques and complex samples of biological importance;4.b. Determination of trace elements using modern atomic spectroscopy techniques in complex samples of environmental, health or technological importance;4.c. Electroanalysis and electrochemical sensors, including their design, miniaturization and uses for different analytical tasks.

5. Has the knowledge and skills to evaluate the adequacy of chemical analysis results obtained either by him/herself or by others.6. Has basic proficiency in one of the three languages spoken in the universities involved in the EACH programme and is familiar with the main cultural characteristics of the countries where studies take place.

As described above, chemists with a strong background in analytical chemistry are increasingly needed in industry and laboratories, in private and public sector10. Job requirements vary: in some areas good competence in organic analysis is needed (e.g. pharmaceutical or food industry and clinical laboratories). For these chemists a high-level education in organic analytical chemistry and bio-analysis is given at UU. In other places good knowledge in inorganic analysis is needed, e.g. in materials and high-tech industry. For example, very low critical element concentrations have to be determined from ultrapure semiconductor materials. For these chemists, a well suited education is given in UO. Environmental and occupational safety problems are nowadays a common concern worldwide. Analytical chemistry is an essential tool in studying and solving these problems. Traditionally, the sampling and analysis steps are separated from each other and analytical determinations are carried out in a separate laboratory, situated often apart from the sampling site. In the future we will see more and more on-line analytical methods in many applications (e.g. when water for household consumption is prepared or in environmental monitoring). These on-line methods are sophisticated, including on-line measurement and data transfer. The key component of an on-line measurement systems is an analytical sensor (or probe) that gives response to the species measured. For developing such measurement systems, a high quality training dealing with chemical sensors is given in AAU. Whatever the application fields of the analyses are, knowledge and skills in data processing, metrology and quality assurance, as well as socio-economic aspects, are demanded from analytical chemists. Comprehensive and first class education in these fields is given to the students at UT.

The programme does not only address established fields and issues of analytical chemistry. It is very important to include also the emerging areas of analytical chemistry. These are difficult to plan into dedicated courses in advance – completely new directions can come out very quickly – and will therefore be covered in the framework of the Winter School, and mostly taught by the invited scholars.

Due to this quite complete coverage of analytical chemistry, we are convinced that our graduates will have very good employment opportunities, both in Europe and world-wide (see also A.1.1). Additionally, as learning will take place in multicultural classrooms at outstanding European universities, the graduates will have a good understanding of cross-cultural communication and at least basic knowledge of one or two less widely spoken European languages.

Chemists with high-quality training in metrology, knowledge about the emerging directions and specific skills in the fields of analytical chemistry have also excellent possibilities to continue their studies for PhD. More and more research is now carried out in large research groups, where researchers from many branches of science are collaborating. It is obvious that analytical chemistry is very often a prerequisite for successful research work in the different fields of science (especially in natural sciences, engineering and medicine) and a PhD degree is often required. In all three countries of EACH, there are special support systems established to complement and expand the existing schemes of funding of PhD student places.

A.1.5 Justify the relevance of the consortium composition and the expertise of the key academic staff 10 R. Salzer, Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2009, 394, 649–653.

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involved to achieve the EMMC objectives.

What are the different fields of expertise of individual partners, and how are these complementary and of added value in the context of a joint and international masters programme? If applicable, what is the rationale and added value of having third-country partners in the consortium?

What is the profile of key actors (administrative and academic staff) in the EMMC implementation (provide short and targeted information)? How will invited scholars contribute to the course?

High-level and complementary expertise of the partner universities is the main argument for this consortium composition. Besides that, an important aspect of selecting partners was long-standing and successful collaboration between the universities (UT, UU and AAU in the Coimbra group; UT and UO in the MSC Euromaster consortium; plus numerous joint projects) and mutual trust in academic standards. The participating universities are renowned research and educational institutions in Europe and their distinctive strengths are described in detail in A.1.3.

This consortium composition was criticised in the 2011 proposal round for being geographically narrow. After careful consideration, we decided not to involve new full partners as the current structure can be considered optimal.11 Instead, we attracted a significant number of associated partner universities from 8 EU countries and 5 countries outside the EU to extend our geographical coverage (see section A.1.6).

Competences of the key academic staff are outlined here.

UTThe unit responsible for teaching and coordinating the EACH programme is the Institute of Chemistry, a Europe-wide known centre of education in metrology in chemistry (MiC) and fundamentals of analytical chemistry. The initiator and Academic Coordinator of the EACH programme is Professor Ivo Leito. He is one of the leading educators and researchers in the field of MiC and quality aspects of analytical chemistry in Europe. Under his leadership teaching of MiC started at UT in 1999 making UT one of the first universities in Europe where MiC as a separate subject was taught.12 The first year of the EACH programme will be based on modules from the award-winning master’s programme Applied Measurement Science,13 which will provide a high quality education in analytical chemistry and metrology in chemistry. A number of international interlaboratory comparisons in analytical chemistry have been carried out under his guidance. Prof. Leito directs the chair of analytical chemistry with staff of ca 25 people, out of whom ca 10 teachers and researches will actively participate in teaching of the EACH programme. He has been and is the coordinator of several international projects related to analytical chemistry and metrology. Among them especially relevant to mention is the Euromaster-labelled consortium "Measurement Science in Chemistry" (http://www.msc-euromaster.eu/), which he initiated and coordinated during 2007-2009. He has been visiting professor at Kyushu University (Japan), Bremen University and guest researcher at the EC JRC IRMM.

The leading lecturer of analytical chemistry at UT in the framework of EACH is Associate Professor Koit Herodes (Chair of Analytical Chemistry). He teaches analytical chemistry at all study levels and received the "UT teacher of the year in natural sciences" award in 2011. His research interests include fundamentals and applications of chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods. He is the Head of the ISO/IEC 17025 accredited UT Testing Centre – a metrology and analytical service providing unit (http://www.ut.ee/katsekoda/). Since summer 2010 this unit is the Estonian National Designated Institute in the field of trace organics analysis and actively participates in two projects of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP).

11 The consortium composition is justified via the following criteria: (1) The partner universities teaching the programme are among the best in their respective fields and have ample experience in teaching in English. UT is strong in the fundamentals and metrological basis of analytical chemistry; UU, OU and AAU are each strong in one of the main fields of modern applied analytical chemistry. (2) The student mobility is optimal thanks to: (2a) student studies at two universities, (2b) the study period at one university is one year, thus not making the programme very fragmented, (2c) all students study jointly during the first year (get to know each other) and (2d) the second year study groups are not too small (on average 8 students per university). Involving an additional degree awarding partner would make it impossible to fully keep this arrangement. (3) Geographical proximity allows cost-effective organization of pan-consortium events and cost-effective management of the consortium. (4) The pan-European dimension is guaranteed in the consortium by involving associated members from altogether 8 EU countries.12 MiC in Chemistry Curriculum at the University of Tartu: the current status. I. Leito, E. Koort, K. Herodes, I. Kaljurand. Accreditation and Quality Assurance. 2002, 7, 159-162.13 See http://www.ut.ee/ams for full information about the Applied Measurement Science program

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The Administrative Coordinator of EACH is Mrs Ülle Tensing, Head of the International Student Service at UT. This unit is responsible for offering the best possible support services for international UT students. She has been the primary architect of the current support system for international students and this system is now running under her coordination. She is the local contact person of the two Erasmus Mundus consortia where UT participates – NordSecMob and IMESS. She is also in charge of development of international (including joint) programmes: providing support to academics to design, maintain and develop further, if necessary, international programmes at UT. The quality of the student support system has been recognised on several occasions, the most recent being the "I-Graduate survey 2009"14 where UT scored highly compared to many other European universities.

UUThe unit responsible for implementation of the programme is Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry headed by Professor Jonas Bergquist. He teaches biological and clinical applications of modern analytical chemistry including multidimensional liquid-based separations and high-resolution mass spectrometry. He has an interest in modern analytical tools applied in biomedical and clinical issues. He uses multi-dimensional liquid based separations (CE, CEC, nanoLC) together with modern high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) such as matrix assisted laser desorption ionization tandem time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF MS) and nanoelectrospray MS such as Fourier Transform MS (ESI FT- MS). He has published over 150 ISI-cited papers with almost 3500 citations and h-index of 31, making him a worldwide leader in the field. So far 24 PhD degrees have been awarded under his supervision.

UOThe unit responsible for implementation of the programme is Department of Chemistry. The academic coordinator at OU is Professor Paavo Perämäki, a very experienced educator in the field of trace element sample preparation and analysis by atomic spectroscopy techniques. He is a co-author of two textbooks on atomic spectroscopy and has published more than 80 papers on the subject. 5 PhD degrees have been awarded under his supervision. The main teacher is Research Fellow Dr Matti Niemelä – a skillful hands-on researcher and teacher of atomic spectroscopy. Kimmo Kuortti, Director of the Office of International Relations, is responsible for the overall management of the services for the international students. The Office of International Relations administers student exchanges and organises services for the international degree students. The office has over 20 years of experience in international services for higher education (students, academics and support personnel).

AAUThe unit responsible for the execution of the EACH programme is Department of Chemical Engineering which includes the laboratory of analytical chemistry. The latter is one of the four units that constitute the Process Chemistry Centre (PCC), a Centre of Excellence of the Academy of Finland. The key personnel involved in EACH are Associate Professor Johan Bobacka and Professor Ari Ivaska. Associate Professor Bobacka is an experienced researcher whose research interests are electroanalytical chemistry, process analytical chemistry, chemical sensors and conducting polymers. He has published 95 ISI-cited papers (his h-index is 27), 7 PhD degrees have been awarded under his supervision. Professor Ivaska teaches analytical chemistry, including process analytical chemistry and flow injection analysis. His research interests include electroanalytical chemistry, chemical sensors, process analytical chemistry, conducting polymers, flow injection analysis and automated methods of analysis. He has published 263 ISI-cited papers (his h-index is 36). 17 PhD degrees have been awarded under his supervision. He is a member of numerous societies, academies and journal editorial boards (incl Analytical Letters and Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry). The Administrative Coordinator at AAU is Ms. Gurli-Maria Gardberg who has been working as International Officer at the Office of Academic and Student Affairs for more than 10 years. She is responsible for international admissions and works closely with all international degree programmes.

All partner universities have efficient cooperation with renowned scientists whose research areas are directly related to our master’s programme and who can be potential invited scholars to EACH. For the time being contacts have been established with several internationally known experts (see Annex 5), some of them from our associated partners.

The benefits of having invited scholars are significant. They contribute first of all by teaching the emerging areas in analytical chemistry in the Winter School. Since several of them are worldwide known educators

14 See http://www.ut.ee/798504 for more information.8

they also participate by giving training sessions to consortium lecturers on efficient and innovative teaching practices. In addition, they act as messengers disseminating information about the programme around the world. The academic requirements for the invited scholars are: PhD degree in analytical chemistry (or related field), a long track record in analytical chemistry and teaching experience. The procedure of electing of the invited scholars is described in A.3.1.

A.1.6 Explain the EMMC interaction with the professional socio-economic/scientific/cultural sectors concerned.

What types of interactions exist between the EMMC and non-educational actors of the sector concerned (including if applicable, the consortium's associated partners)? What type of involvement, if any, do these actors have in the course implementation (course evaluation, internship/placement providers, financial sponsors, research providers, employment perspectives, etc.)? What is their degree of commitment to the course?

There are in total 19 associated partners from industry and laboratories as well as from universities linked to the EACH consortium:

1) Industries and laboratories: the industrial (Stora Enso, Tallinna Vesi, Rautaruuki OYj), and laboratory (SP, SYKE, SYP, TLHB, EERC) partners enable a strong link with the socio-economic community. Their interest in the programme stems from the need to hire well-qualified analytical chemists. They have clearly expressed their readiness to serve as destinations for our students’ practical training. Having compulsory training placement integrated to the programme clearly advances our graduates’ employability.

2) Universities from the target countries and regions of the EACH programme: Tongji University (China), University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (China), Jawaharlal Nehru University (India), St Petersburg State University (Russia), University of Zagreb (Croatia, Balkan), Nebraska Wesleyan University (USA) and universities from EU countries: University of Regensburg (Germany), University of the Balearic Islands (Spain), Dublin City University (Ireland), University of Urbino "Carlo Bo" (Italy), Vienna University of Technology (Austria). These universities have been carefully selected, the main criterion being that each of them has research group(s)/department(s) particularly advanced in some of the emerging areas of analytical chemistry (such as determination of nanoparticles in environment, in vivo microanalysis in living cells, etc, see Annex 5). Several of such groups/departments are worldwide known centres of excellence in such areas. One of their main roles is to teach these at the EACH Winter School. In addition, the partner universities outside the EU will be our representatives in the key regions for student recruitment: China, India, Russia, Balkan countries and the USA. They play an active role in marketing and promoting the programme to their students and academic staff as a study/teaching abroad option.

To sum it up, associated members, depending on their status, provide added value mainly in the following ways:1. Their staff participates in teaching the non-traditional and highly practical courses. Some examples:

-- In the course "Quality management" (at UT), the quality system of TLEHB serves as a "field example" of a well-functioning ISO/IEC 17025 quality system. Students, after having gained basic knowledge about ISO/IEC 17025, will visit the laboratory and act as technical assessors, trying to find non-conformities in the operation of the laboratory.-- In the course "Sampling and sample preparation" (at UO) personnel of SYP participate. They teach environmental sampling under field conditions.

2. Their staff participates in teaching the emerging areas of analytical chemistry (see Annex 5).3. Associated members offer highly up-to-date research topics and their laboratory facilities for internship placements and master's theses. The results of the master's theses are exploited in the activities of the associated members.4. They will contribute to marketing by promoting EACH to the potential students in their countries, and send their students for exchange to the EACH universities.5. All 8 of our non-academic partners are ready to financially support EACH by paying stipends to our students.

Associated members are also involved in the external quality assurance of the programme (see A.5.2.).

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A.2 Course integration (25% of the max. score )

A.2.1 Justify the extent to which the EMMC is organised in a truly integrated way.

To what extent is the course based on a jointly developed curriculum or composed of modules developed and delivered separately but complementarily? What is the level of participation and institutional commitment of individual partners to the course?

The programme has been developed with active participation of all four partners. The modules of the programme are complementary in their content enabling the universities to apply their specific strengths as explained in A.1.3. The year one provides the foundation of analytical chemistry, metrology in chemistry and socio-economical aspects. Most of the knowledge acquired during the first year is generic – applicable to any specific area of analytical chemistry. On this generic foundation, a practical application-oriented specialisation is "built" upon during the second year: concrete analytical techniques and their applications to relevant samples are studied in detail both theoretically and in practice. Every university of the consortium has its own specific teaching responsibilities: UO: trace element determination, atomic spectroscopy, especially as applied to environmental and food analysis; UU: organic analysis, separation methods and mass spectrometry, especially as applied to biological objects; AAU: sensors, advanced analytical instrumentation and electrochemistry. For more detailed information on three study tracks offered, please see A.1.3. The learning outcomes of the programme are achievable only in collaboration.

To further support programme integration:(1) The first year courses contain numerous practical examples and case studies that are provided by the

second year universities (via communication between the teachers of the universities) and are related to the research topics offered to students for performing during their second year.

(2) At all four universities there are courses that are delivered partly by teachers of other partners. The details are found in the programme layout (Annex 1).

(3) The Winter School (WS) is delivered jointly by the teachers from the four partner universities. There are interactive discussion sessions on the emerging areas of analytical chemistry and training for lecturers of EACH (see A.5.1). WS contributes to regular physical networking of partner universities and building of relationships between the key personnel.

The whole process of a master thesis preparation – from topic selection to final presentation – supports the achievement of the joint goals as described in A.2.4. The EACH consortium has designed guidelines called “Presentation and assessment of master's theses” to ensure jointly approved standards for both technical and quality aspects of theses (Annex 9). The final presentation of the thesis takes place as a public discussion in front of a joint committee.

Academic staff dedicated to teaching in the programme is highly qualified. Strong ties between universities ensure institutional commitment of the partners. All partners have agreed to allocate resources (academic and administrative manpower, facilities, instruments, etc) for teaching as specified in the endorsement letters. The key personnel of every partner involved with EACH are described in A.1.5.

All partners provide their study facilities for the implementation of the programme. In particular, UT will make available altogether ca 250 m2 of laboratory space in the new Chemicum building, equipped with all necessary instruments and accessories for the analytical works. Some work will be carried out in the ISO/IEC 17025 accredited Testing Centre in order to give students real-life experience of working in an accredited laboratory. In addition, top-level lecture rooms, computer facilities and library are at students' disposal. The number of staff that will be involved in teaching is 13. At UO all contemporary trace element determination methods (ICP-MS, ET-AAS, ICP-MS, ICP-OES), as well as facilities for sampling and sample preparation that are used for trace and ultra trace elemental analysis, will be accessible to the students. 7 members of staff will be involved in teaching. UU will offer facilities and equipment for use in applied analytical chemistry, specifically focusing on advanced separation science, mass spectrometry and their applications in a variety of fields, such as proteomics, lipid analysis and molecular diagnostics. 8 members of staff will be involved in teaching. AAU will provide advanced electrochemistry setups for the most diverse set of applications in modern electroanalysis and sensors. 8 members of staff will be involved in teaching. The letters of the main partners supporting this application are in Annex 0

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Mutually recognised high academic standards have enabled to construct an academically coherent programme that contributes to the strategic goals of the four universities in many ways, but above all, it supports internationalisation of education and research and facilitates recruitment of the best students interested in analytical chemistry.

A.2.2 Justify the extent to which the EMMC is recognised in participating countries and leads to the award of an official degree by each of the partner institutions. Describe the type of degree(s) that will be awarded to successful students.

How is the course integrated within the partners' courses/degrees catalogues? What is its recognition status in each of the partner institutions? If applicable, describe the ongoing recognition/accreditation process in the relevant countries and the actions taken to award a joint degree on behalf of the consortium partners. If available, provide a copy of the proposed degree(s).

As specified in section E (of the e-form), all the degrees awarded are recognised by the respective national authorities. In each university the programme is officially recognized and at on its completion a nationally recognized Diploma and Diploma Supplement are awarded. All quality assurance mechanisms, both internal and external, established in these universities also apply for the EACH programme.

The legal systems governing degree awards in Estonia and Finland require the award of a national degree for students completing studies within a cross-border joint study programme. This secures national recognition and therefore graduates of the EACH programme will receive double degrees accompanied with diploma supplements. The combinations of the degrees to be awarded are:

1. Master of Science in Engineering (Applied Measurement Science) - UT + Master of Science in Chemistry - UO2. Master of Science in Engineering (Applied Measurement Science) - UT + Master of Science in Chemistry 120 Credits - UU3. Master of Science in Engineering (Applied Measurement Science) - UT + Master of Science in Technology - AAU

In addition to the nationally recognised diplomas and diploma supplements, the consortium will issue a Joint European Diploma Supplement. This DS will follow the model developed by the European Commission, Council of Europe and UNESCO/CEPES and is designed to provide a description of studies successfully completed. The DS will be issued in English and awarded to the graduates of all the three pathways.

The courses taken at any partner university will be officially recognised and fully count towards the degrees awarded by the consortium. The consortium is actively cooperating with the respective ministries of the participating countries to find out when and under which circumstances awarding of officially recognised joint degrees will be legalized. Annex 7 presents the sample diplomas and diploma supplements awarded by the partner universities.

A.2.3 Describe the consortium joint student application, selection and admission procedure.

What common mechanisms, approaches, criteria will be used? How will the related tasks be shared? How will the procedure in place guarantee the recruitment of the best candidates through a transparent, fair and objective procedure? How will the equity issues (including balanced gender participation, students with special needs) be addressed?

Application, admission requirements and selection procedure of the EACH programme have been jointly designed to meet the standards of all four universities. The application process will be technically administered by UT: announcing the application period, updating the programme’s website at www.analyticalchemistry.eu, collecting application documents, coordinating of the education certificates’ evaluation by academics, and informing candidates of their admission.

EACH will be using a successfully operating application system: www.estonia.dreamapply.com/ which enables online submission of all application documents.

Admission requirements:

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1. Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) encompassing at least 75 ECTS15 in chemistry and 20 ECTS in mathematics and/or physics during the prior learning periods (minimum eligibility requirement for application is 60% of the maximum grade available, as the average of all courses included in the transcript).2. English language test score. One of the following international tests is required: IELTS: 6.5; TOEFL cb: 230, TOEFL ib: 89, TOEFL pb: 573. This requirement does not apply if student has obtained a university degree taught in English in one of the following countries: Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia, or in any EU/EEA member states.3. CV.4. Motivation letter (of maximum 3000 characters) addressing the following questions: (1) Please give a short overview of the physical and chemical basis of modern analytical chemistry. (2) In which role do you see yourself in your job after completion of the EACH programme and what is your personal motivation to study analytical chemistry? (3) What is the role of analytical chemistry in the world's economy and society?5. Recommendation letter from a teaching staff member of the previous study level.

Additional documents to be submitted:- copy of the applicant's passport (personal data page) - copy of the original secondary school leaving certificate if an applicant has not completed Bachelor’s

studies (or corresponding level of education) by the time of applying to the EACH programme, and a certified translation into English.

All copies must be officially attested.

The consortium members process the submitted documents jointly. During the first phase – administrative screening – applicants’ eligibility is checked: access to master’s studies and authenticity of the educational certificates submitted. This process is coordinated by UT with administrative support from all partner institutions. All applicants' education credentials are evaluated individually and the following sources are consulted:- Estonian ENIC/NARIC Centre and its website www.enic-naric.net;- The official list of recognised universities, such as International Association of Universities website:

www.iau-aiu.net/onlinedatabases/list.html or any international handbook completed by a recognised international organisation;

- Research or any other cooperation networks of the EACH programme academics.The evaluation of a foreign education credential and the qualification it certifies is carried out in accordance with relevant international legislation. The second phase of the selection, academic evaluation, is done by academics (members of the Consortium Committee, Academic Board): they first evaluate each applicant’s academic performance. The relevant documents are easily downloadable from the online application system at www.estonia.dreamapply.com/.

The final evaluation, during which the scores given by each evaluator are examined and the final assessment scores are given, will be done at a special admissions meeting. Admission to the EACH programme is granted on a competitive basis. The applicants are ranked based on the following criteria (also known to applicants via the EACH website):- average grade of the previous study level (yields 60% of the final score);- knowledge of the field, motivation and argumentation skills presented in a motivation letter (30%).In addition to the mentioned aspects, selection criteria include (10%):- recognition and quality of the applicant’s home university;- persuasiveness of the recommendation letter;- relevant work experience or other relevant activities (publications etc.).

Applicants scoring less than 75% are not considered for scholarship nomination.In the application form the students are guided to select the study track they are interested in. The consortium is committed to balance the distribution of students to all partners, however, principles of assigning students to their study tracks has been agreed and are described in A.1.3.

At admission the principles of equity of genders will be respected,16 EACH is equally accessible for students with special needs (see A.4.3). Admission requirements apply to all students regardless of their country of origin. However, as education systems differ immensely across the world, the consortium has introduced

15 This volume corresponds to approximately 2000 hours of chemistry studies (including all learning methods, such as lectures, seminars, practical classes and independent work).16 Traditionally, in chemistry programmes both genders are comparably represented.

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country specific requirements for submitting education certificates to help applicants prepare well for admission. Further information is given in Annex 8.

The application deadline will be announced later and complies with deadlines established by the European Commission for Erasmus Mundus scholarships. The meeting, where successful applications will be selected, is held during the Winter School in January. The period from February to May will be used for sending out admission letters and admission packages and taking care of students’ visa and residence permits issues. All applicants admitted to the programme will be informed of their admission both electronically (a letter of admission by e-mail) and by regular post. Admission letters along with relevant admission packages are sent by UT. Admitted students are requested to inform the EACH programme whether they accept a study place or not by the deadline that allows the consortium to offer a scholarship to other students in the reserve list.

A.2.4 Describe the joint examination methods and mechanisms in place between the consortium partners to assess the students' achievements.

How will the ECTS (including the “grading scale”) or other built-in mechanisms be used for the recognition of study and performance assessment? Will there be a (Joint) Diploma Supplement issued on behalf of the consortium (if available provide a model)? What will be the common requirements and methods developed by the consortium for the examination of students and the organisation of the thesis work (if applicable)?

The overall student workload in the programme is 120 ECTS. All courses have ECTS credits allocated to them. In all universities the amount of work to be done to earn credits is equal: 15 ECTS credits requires, on an average, 10 weeks of student's work (including independent work). Assessment criteria and methods have been described for all the courses of the programme. The courses and modules are described in terms of learning outcomes. Every course is considered completed after obtaining a positive result in assessment of learning outcomes. Detailed description of the assessment scale with the corresponding achievement level of learning outcomes is given in Annex 6. In addition to the assessment scale, the percentages of acquired knowledge are recorded for all exams, so that the grades can be recalculated if necessary. The following scaling table shall be used when transferring the grades.

Table 2. Scaling table for recalculation of the grades.

Status Grade UT UO UU AAU Percentage of acquired knowledge

Pass Excellent A 5 5 5 91-100

Pass Very good B 4 486-90

481-85

Pass Good C 3 3 71-80Pass Satisfactor

yD 2 3 2 61-70

Pass Sufficient E 1 3 1 51-60Fail Insufficient F F F F 50 or below

Table 3. Joint assessment activities of the EACH programme.

Type of evaluation Time of evaluation ResponsibleAcademic performance of the applicants (see A.2.3)

In accordance with the application deadline, before admission

Consortium Committee

Academic progress, selection of students to second year universities

First year students at Winter School (Jan)

Consortium Committee

Academic progress of the second year students

Second year students at Winter School (Jan)

Consortium Committee

Joint evaluation of the master's theses Second year students upon graduation (May-June)

Evaluation committees

Assessment methods used in all EACH universities include: written examination, oral examination, practi-cals. Students must meet the requirements set for regular examinations in each university. The joint assess-

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ment activities are presented in Table 3. The annually held Winter School is very useful for efficient moni-toring of students progress and is to a large extent facilitated by the geographic proximity of the partners.

Supervision and evaluation of master's thesisA master's thesis is written on the topic approved by the Consortium Committee (membership of the CC is described in A.3.1). The content of the thesis can be either a scientific or an applied research project. In order to guarantee high-level supervision of the master's thesis, at least two supervisors are appointed to every thesis by the Consortium Committee. One supervisor is always from the second-year host university. As a rule, a professor of the host university is the main supervisor. The second supervisor is usually a junior academic staff member who will follow the progress of the thesis on a daily basis. The jointly designed thesis guidelines for both technical and quality requirements are described in Annex 9.

Evaluations of the presentations of the theses will be organised by a joint committee. The evaluation committee includes at least four members and all four partner universities are represented in the committee.

Master theses are submitted for defence not later than on May 31 and presentations will be carried out during June-July (not later than Jul 31). The thesis is submitted both electronically and in print. The presentation of the thesis will take place at the second year university. The following agreed points are considered in evaluation of the theses: execution of the task; layout, including logicality and readability; linguistic correctness; structure and quality of the presentation, presentation skills and the ability to answer questions; the amount of knowledge of the specialty demonstrated in the presentation and during the discussion; reviewer’s assessment of the thesis. See Annex 9 for details on the presentation and evaluation procedure.

Diploma and Diploma SupplementInformation on diplomas and a joint diploma supplement issued upon completion of the studies is given in A.2.2.

A.3 Course management, visibility and sustainability measures (20 % of the max. score )

A.3.1 Describe the organisation of the cooperation mechanisms within the consortium.

What is the role of each of the partners in the EMMC implementation tasks (financial, evaluation, student support, promotion/marketing, etc.)? Describe the level (/quality) of human (/logistic) resources that will be dedicated by each of the partners to the EMMC implementation? What type of governing body(/ies) will be put in place? How are these roles defined and endorsed in an EMMC Consortium agreement (if available, attach a model as an annex)? To what extent are the students involved in the course coordination and implementation tasks? What type of management tools / methods are in place to ensure the appropriate implementation of the course (work programme, roadmap, milestones, work packages, etc.)

The EACH programme has the following governing and management structure (see Scheme 2):17

1. Consortium Committee (CC), the governing body of the consortium, has two subdivisions:1.1 Academic Board (AB) (in charge of the programme’s content, updating and evaluation, evaluation of each applicant’s academic performance both at admission and at later stages; teaching and research) and1.2 Management Board (MB) (in charge of administrative and legal matters and programme development support mechanisms, such as administrating student surveys, defining admissions requirements etc).

The CC is chaired by the Academic Coordinator. Members of the AB and MB are also the members of the CC. The division of the CC into two boards allows the academics to be more focused on content matters and frees them form administrative issues. However, the CC meetings, both boards, will be held twice a year, in addition to a student selection meeting. So both boards meet regularly, have some joint sessions and the decision-making at consortium level is mostly organised around regular meetings.

2. Secretariat includes two administrative staff members of UT, one of them is directly in charge of the programme’s administrative work, called Administrative Coordinator, working at the central administration

17 These bodies and their functions are described in detail in the model consortium agreement (Annex 2).14

of UT, and the other is working at the Faculty of Science and Technology. Routine programme management (administrative and financial) is performed by the Secretariat. These tasks include but are not limited to:- management of finances, scholarship payments;- maintenance of the EACH website;- preparation of information and marketing material;- information exchange on matters requiring immediate attention;- managing of the feedback surveys and preparing their results for analysis by the CC members.

3. External Advisory Board (EAB) includes the representatives of the associated members plus a few most active graduates of EACH. EAB participates in external evaluation of the programme (see A.5.2) and gives recommendations on development directions of the programme.

Scheme 2. Management scheme of the EACH consortium.

Specific management tasks of the partnersThe coordinating university, UT, manages the EACH programme towards the European Commission. The rest of the workload is shared between partners in a way that each partner has specific tasks to perform.1. The EACH programme’s Winter School (WS), which is organised every year, is coordinated by UU who

compiles the programme, assists the local organiser of the WS, collects feedback, summarises and makes proposals for the next WS, if necessary. The location of WS rotates among the second year universities, so that every year one of the partner universities is in charge of preparation and management of the WS.

2. Calls of invited scholars are coordinated by UO. This consists of announcing the call, setting up the online application form, collecting the applications, initial screening of the applications for eligibility and passing the documents to the AB of the CC. The applicants will be ranked according to their level of expertise and area-wise suitability of their qualifications and the highest ranked scholars will be invited.

3. AAU coordinates the collection of II year students’ feedback surveys: distributes the e-forms, summarizes feedback and presents the results to the Consortium Committee.

4. In addition, each partner contributes to the promotion of the EACH programme along with their institution specific marketing activities.

The students are actively involved in the management of the programme via student representatives in the Consortium Committee and through regular evaluation and feedback system. Students are asked to give feedback and evaluate the academic content and management of the programme at the end of the first and second academic year. In addition, all universities will apply their own teaching and learning evaluation mechanisms, i.e. those in place for regular programmes. This is explained in more detail in section A.5.

Management tools of the EACH programme include: an online student application system, and an online Study Information System (on the basis of the SIS functioning at UT: https://www.is.ut.ee/pls/ois/) that enables students to see schedules, register to courses and examinations and to keep an eye on their academic progress. It includes all the teaching materials students are provided with and stores information on each individual student from admission to graduation.

A.3.2 Explain how the students' participation costs to the EMMC have been calculated and agreed upon by the consortium.

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Consortium Committee (CC)

Academic Board (AB):

key academics of the four universities, AC plus one student

from each intake

Management Board (MB):

key administrators of the partners plus members of the

Secretariat

Academic Coordinator (AC)

External Advisory Board (EAB)

Representatives of the associated partners plus representatives of EACH graduates

Secretariatheaded by Administrative Coordinator

Taking into account the needs and means of each individual partner, provide a detailed description of the fees and other costs that justify the amount of participation costs that will be requested from the students for their enrollment in the masters course. If applicable, explain how the portion in excess of the EM maximum contribution to participation costs will be financed.

Calculation of a student's participation costs is outlined in Table 4. This is the average of the consortium universities and has been calculated based on the assumption that 24 students will be enrolled every year. The average cost of studies is 6332 EUR per student per annum. This estimate includes all costs related to the routine teaching and learning activities at any EACH university, but does not take into account the specific costs related to the EACH consortium (consortium coordination, Winter School, etc). The latter costs are calculated and accounted for separately (see A.3.2).

To cover the programme’s costs, we charge from category A students the fee of 8000 EUR per annum and from category B student 4000 EUR per annum.This fee is higher than in the previous year, because the number of the EM scholarships to be awarded per programme is now smaller.The fee covers: 1. Tuition throughout the programme and essential study materials (including the language courses); 2. Pick-up service from Tallinn (Estonia) airport; 3. Orientation course and reception upon arrival; 4. Ongoing support service and counselling by the International Student Services; 5. Tutors/student assistants who help with everyday issues like settling in the dormitory, registering for courses, getting medical help, etc.; 6. Health insurance.

Section A.3.3 outlines how the consortium will be financially managed.

Table 4. Calculation of the student participation costs.

Estimated workload of teaching personnel: h per week h per year Overall teaching work per programme per student:Average load of a lecturer 11 440 Lectures 375 hAverage load of a seminar teacher 14 560 Seminars 257 hAverage load of a practicum teacher 19 760 Practicums 236 hSupervising master's theses 28 1120 Supervising master's theses 800 h

Average monthly salary of teaching personnel (EUR): Personnel costs per year (with taxes):Average monthly salary of senior lecturers 2500 Personnel costs 39990 EURAverage monthly salary of seminar teachers 2100 Personnel costs 33592 EURAverage monthly salary of practicum teachers 1700 Personnel costs 27193 EURAverage monthly salary of lecturers 1500 Personnel costs 23994 EUR

Number of students: 24 Students in a practicum group: 12Students in a seminar group: 12

Teaching personnel costs Effective Costs2 years 1 year years EUR

Lectures 375 187.50 0.426 17041Seminars 514 257.00 0.459 15416Practicums 472 236.00 0.311 8444Supervising 1920 960.00 0.857 20566Teaching personnel costs total 3281 1640.50 2.053 61468 2561 per student

Other Faculty costsMaterials and equipment in practicums 1300 per studentNon-teaching personnel costs 430 per studentInsurance 600 per studentOther faculty costs 500 per studentOther Faculty costs, total 2830 per student

Overhead costsLiterature, library, IT 287 per studentAdministrative and central costs (heating, electricity, water, admin, ...) 654 per studentOverhead costs, total 941 per student

ANNUAL COST PER STUDENT: 6332 per student

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A.3.3 Describe the way the EMMC will be managed from a financial point of view.

In complement to criterion A.3.2, provide comprehensive information on the overall estimated implementation costs of the course and partners' complementary funding (e.g. contribution from partner institutions' own resources to finance additional scholarships, contribution from non educational organisations, etc.). Explain how the EMMC financial resources will be managed by the consortium, and how will the Erasmus Mundus grant (more particularly the consortium lump sum and the students' contribution to the participation costs) be used and distributed among the partners.

A detailed financial calculation for the first ten years of the programme management is given in the EACH Financial Plan in Table 5. The funds of the consortium will originate from a) the state-funded study placesError: Reference source not found available at the partner universities, b) participation fees of the Erasmus-Mundus scholarship holders (8000 EUR and 4000 EUR per student per annum, see A.2.5), c) the lump sum of 30 000 EUR per annum, d) participation fees of the self-paying students, and e) financial support by the associated members and possibly other interested enterprises and laboratories. The participation fees and the financial support from the associated partners will be combined and this pool of money will be distributed, on an annual basis, between the partners proportionally to the number of students studying at each university at that particular year, regardless whether they are category A or B students. The lump sum is also distributed proportionally to the administrative costs of the partner universities as detailed in Table 5. This plan has been endorsed by the rectors of all the four full partner universities (Annex 0).

On average, we estimate the tuition costs of 6332 EUR per student annually (see A.2.5). However, the average participation fee to be collected (assuming equal number of cat A and cat B students) is 6000 EUR, and as detailed in Table 5 not all the admitted students are charged this fee. The remaining deficit and the costs of the non-charged students will be covered mostly by the state-funded study places.

Every partner has clearly stated their financial commitment in the signed endorsement letter. According to the presented Financial Plan, Table 5, the partners commit themselves to the following:- assigning study places18 (i.e. manpower and technical resources) to the EACH students and

organising studies for the students, in terms of human resources and facilities (A.2.1);- providing master's thesis topics and staff for competent supervision of the master's theses;- providing financial resources for travel and accommodation of their personnel and students during the

Winter School; - appointing at least two of their staff members to be in charge of the programme and actively participate

in the work of the consortium governing bodies (see part D.2 of the e-form).

In the case of UT, the coordinator, the financial contribution additionally includes the following: (1) A position of Administrative Coordinator will be created and the salary costs covered;(2) A sum of 30 000 EUR has been allocated by the UT to support launching of the EACH programme;(3) During the years 6-10 of the programme, when the EU funding has finished, each year 50 000 EUR will be allocated by UT to secure smooth and solid management of the programme. This decision, regarding financial commitment by UT, was taken at the university’s council on February 22, 2011.

Each partner will seek to find additional stipends for the best students. The most realistic sources are national science funding agencies and associated partners who are determined to see the sustainability of the programme. All 8 of our associated industrial and laboratory partners have agreed to donate funds for setting up the EACH Fund. The consortium will apply for NordPlus programme funding to support the coordination activities of EACH. See A.3.3 for more detail.

18 All partners allocate some state-funded study places – equal to those the partners have for domestic students and where all the teaching costs are paid by a respective state – to the EACH students. The annual state funding, in broad terms, equals to the average cost of a study place as calculated in section A.3.2.

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Table 5. Financial plan of the EACH consortium for the first ten years of operation.

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101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO APManaging of the EACH EMMC from financial point of view(all amounts in Euros)

Study year: 1 Study year: 2 Study year: 3 Study year: 4 Study year: 5 Study year: 6 Study year: 7 Study year: 8 Study year: 9 Study year: 10Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum Students Participation Sum

Revenues:1 Revenues: Revenues: Revenues: Revenues: Revenues: Revenues: Revenues: Revenues: Revenues: Revenues:

Student grants1

Category A:2 12 8000 96000 11 8000 88000 10 8000 80000 9 8000 72000 8 8000 64000 4 8000 32000 4 8000 32000 4 8000 32000 4 8000 32000 4 8000 32000Category B:3 12 4000 48000 11 4000 44000 10 4000 40000 9 4000 36000 8 4000 32000 4 4000 16000 4 4000 16000 4 4000 16000 4 4000 16000 4 4000 16000External funding4 5000 12500 20000 24000 26000 28000 30000 32000 34000 36000University contributions5

UT 97576 129597 132847 137847 143847 148847 147847 146847 145847 144847UO 0 36532 37616 39282 41282 49616 49282 48949 48616 48282UU 0 36532 37616 39282 41282 49616 49282 48949 48616 48282AAU 0 36532 37616 39282 41282 49616 49282 48949 48616 48282Lump Sum6 30000 30000 30000 30000 30000 0 0 0 0 0From EACH fund7 0 0 0 0 0 28000 28000 28000 28000 28000

Total Revenues: 276576 Total Revenues: 413695 Total Revenues: 415695 Total Revenues: 417695 Total Revenues: 419695 Total Revenues: 401695 Total Revenues: 401695 Total Revenues: 401695 Total Revenues: 401695 Total Revenues: 401695

Costs:1 Costs: Costs: Costs: Costs: Costs: Costs: Costs: Costs: Costs: Costs:

Participation:1,8

UT 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968 24 6332 151968UO 0 6332 0 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656UU 0 6332 0 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656AAU 0 6332 0 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656 8 6332 50656Management, travel, winter school, etc5,6,9

UT 47988 48939 48939 48939 48939 48939 48939 48939 48939 48939UO 2207 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607UU 2207 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607AAU 2207 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607 9607Total Management, travel, winter school, etc 54608 77759 77759 77759 77759 77759 77759 77759 77759 77759Financial support (stipends) for students7 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 20000 20000 20000 20000To EACH fund7 60000 20000 20000 20000 20000 0 0 0 0 0

Total Costs: 276576 Total Costs: 413695 Total Costs: 415695 Total Costs: 417695 Total Costs: 419695 Total Costs: 401695 Total Costs: 401695 Total Costs: 401695 Total Costs: 401695 Total Costs: 401695

Notes and comments1. Student grants will form a main revenue of the consortium and will be distributed among partners according to the number of students studying at the partner in a given year.

The number of grants awarded will decrease form year to year. However, the number of self-paying students will increase. They have also been counted into the number of grants.Starting from year 6 the EU support will terminate and from there on the numbers of student grants correspond to self-payers only, with an expected maximum reaching 7.Costs are given in a simplified way, broken down to participation (i.e. costs of routine teaching the students) and extra costs, scuch as management, winter school, travel, etc.

2. Category A students are those from outside EU. Their contribution is 8000 EUR per annum.3. Category B students are the EU students. Their contribution is 4000 EUR per annum.4. Financial contribution from associated partners, foundations, ministries of the participating countries, etc.5. Contributions from the universities. Part of the university contributions will be used for supporting the teaching and part for travel, necessary for the winter school, master's thesis presentations, etc.

An important part of university contribution is the so-called state-funded study places.The contribution of UT is formed as follows:

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10State-funded study places: 77102 77102 77102 77102 77102 77102 77102 77102 77102 77102Direct expenditure: 20474 52495 55745 60745 66745 71745 70745 69745 68745 67745

6. The lump sum is the EC contribution to management of the consortium. It will be divided among the partners proportionally to their share in managing the consortium, travel, managing thewinter school, etc:

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10UT 26363 18881 18881 18881 18881 0 0 0 0 0UO 1212 3706 3706 3706 3706 0 0 0 0 0UU 1212 3706 3706 3706 3706 0 0 0 0 0AAU 1212 3706 3706 3706 3706 0 0 0 0 0

At UT the lump sum is used mostly for funding the costs related to the travel and accommodation of students and the teachers, connected to the winter school and master's thesis presentations.7. The EACH fund is meant for buffering the decrease of revenues in the later years and especially after stoppig of the EU support as well as for supporting financially handicapped students. Money to the EACH fund will be contributed by UT (including the initial sum of 30 000 EUR),

using the central resources, as well as by the associated partners.8. The numbers of students at partners are given as averages over the years. In any given year the numbers can differ.9. These costs include the cost of the winter school, travel to and from defences, possible other travels, as well as, in the case of UT, the general management of the programme (salary of the administrative

coordinator). All partners will cover these costs themselves, but they can use for this their share of the lump sum and/or tuition fees.

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A.3.4 Describe how the consortium's development and sustainability plan is designed in order to ensure the proper implementation and continuity of the joint programme beyond Community funding and present the Consortium's proposed actions for complementary funding

What strategies have been envisaged, and over which period? What are the enrolment projections and the mid/long-term benefits for the partners? If applicable, how associated members are involved in this sustainability plan and what degree of commitment can they provide. To what extent have complementary funding possibilities been explored and/or secured? How do these possibilities provide additional scholarships to additional students and, if applicable, top up the difference between the fixed programme contribution to the student's participation costs and the actual cost for the consortium?

The basis for sustainability is the strong and identified interest from society and clear need for analytical chemists in the world as indicated by recent surveysError: Reference source not found,Error: Reference

source not found (see A.1.1) and by the commitment of the full and associated partners (Annex 0 and section A.1.6). Our enrolment projection is 24 students annually. During year II they will be distributed among UO, UU and AAU according to the quotas agreed by the consortium committee (expected to be roughly equal). The estimated numbers of EC scholarship holders and self-payers are presented in rows 8 and 9 of Table 5. The teaching costs of the remaining students will be covered by state-funding.Error: Reference source not found The respective amounts are included in the university contributions (rows 12-15, Table 5). Details are given in the footnotes of the Financial Plan (Table 5).

Key activities for ensuring sustainability of the consortium are:1. Every partner university’s support includes financial commitment to co-fund the implementation of the

programme as explained in A.3.3.2. During the years 6-10 of the programme, when the EU funding has finished, UT will allocate

altogether 250 000 EUR (50 000 EUR annually) to support the management of the programme.3. An important instrument for achieving the sustainability of the programme is the EACH Fund, which is

used for (a) students' financial support and (b) starting from the year 6 for covering the consortium's management costs. The finances to this fund are committed by the partners (see A.3.3) and most importantly by the associated members (industry and laboratories): all 8 associated members from industry/laboratories have agreed to contribute financially (see the agreement letters in Annex 0).

Our 2011 proposal was criticised for not having a clear indication of financial support from the associated partners. Now readiness to financially support the programme is clearly indicated in their agreement letters (Annex 0).

4. Increase the number of state-funded study places for the programme. Negotiations with the ministries of Education in the partner countries are underway.

5. Find other funding possibilities: regional (Nordforsk, Nordplus, etc) and Europe-wide (ESF LLP, etc).6. Attract more self-paying students.7. Academic staff can benefit from the Erasmus-funding scheme. Mobility support is available via Doctoral

Schools running at partner universities (e.g. "Functional Materials and Technologies" at UT).

A.3.5 Describe the course promotion measures taken by the consortium to increase the course's (and the EM programme's) visibility and attractiveness.

What type of promotion / visibility mechanisms will be implemented (e.g. via professional/academic associations, media, newsletters, conferences, fairs, etc.). How will the EMMC's dedicated website be promoted?

All the partners contribute to the promotion of the programme by marketing it along with their other regular programmes, using the established marketing channels as well as professional networks.

In Estonia there is a government-funded programme "Study in Estonia" (http://www.studyinestonia.ee/), which aims at promoting international study programmes by a united effort of all major Estonian universities. It has proven to have significantly better visibility than the promotion of individual programmes of individual universities. Also in Sweden and Finland central agencies have taken considerable efforts of marketing the higher education opportunities to potential international students.

In order to capture the attention of the best applicants, the main marketing tools to be used are:19

a) EACH website (http://www.analyticalchemistry.eu/, already operational);b) Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/AppliedMeasurementScience, already operational);c) EACH brochure;d) direct marketing via professional networks of other universities that teach relevant areas (e.g. chemistry).

All these channels communicate the advantages of being enrolled in EACH (employability, career prospects, financial aid, quality of partner universities, practical training options, etc). Besides containing all the necessary admission information and details about the structure and contents of EACH, the website is interactive (e.g. instant contact through Skype and blog) and incorporates attractive visuals (videos, student and alumni testimonies). Prospective students, as well as the alumni, will have an opportunity to share their personal experience during their own studies and later on their career. The aim is to create a professional community of the EACH students and alumni to promote the programme and analytical chemistry. YouTube channel will be used to broadcast selected lectures, seminars, etc.

Direct marketing activities will include (executed by UT and partners under the coordination of UT):- attending education fairs with the help of the "Study in Estonia" and similar national agencies in Finland

and Sweden (CIMO and Högskoleverket) and our associated partners representing the EACH programme in the respective countries;

- traditional advertising and promotional articles in print and online media of general interest (e.g. leading national newspapers) as well as professional media (e.g. analytical chemistry journals);

- Internet advertising via listing the programme on portals dedicated to Master studies, Erasmus Mundus programmes, "Study in Estonia", study in Europe and study abroad in general, Google Adwords;

- direct mail to professional associations, chambers of commerce, laboratories, agencies, etc. in the field;- including information in institutional newsletters (UT has a monthly electronic newsletter to 2500+

recipients including prospective students, academic partners, alumni);- encouraging academic staff of partner institutions to travel with guest lectures to universities outside of

the consortium making publicity for the programme among students and academic staff;- participating in scientific conferences (Euroanalysis, Analytica, Nordic MS meetings, etc) and enabling

the best students of EACH to present the results of their research at the mentioned conferences.

A.4 Students’ services and facilities (15% of the max. score )

A.4.1 Describe the nature of the information (/support) provided to students prior to their enrolment and the way this information will be delivered.

What type of information will be provided to students about the consortium (partners profile and expertise), the course (content, structure, delivery methods, learning outcomes and final degree(s) awarded), the student selection procedure and criteria, the services offered, etc? Which facilities will the EMMC's dedicated website provide (e.g. online application)?

The main information channel is the EACH programme’s website http://www.analyticalchemistry.eu/, maintained and updated by UT. UT is also responsible for providing information to students prior to their enrolment and offering interactive support to applicants during the application process: online counselling of applicants via the online application system. The selected students will be contacted by email, they will receive a comprehensive information package, welcome-letters and a study guide ”Getting Started“.

The information available to prospective students on the website includes:- Description of the EACH programme, its structure, a list of courses offered at each university

together with learning outcomes and assessment criteria. The programme’s layout attached to the current proposal (Annex 1) is available for prospective students. There is a clear distinction between the study tracks available in the programme and students will be able to see what skills and competences they master by choosing a particular track.

- Admission information and the online application system are available on the website. The candidates will learn that apart from meeting the eligibility criteria, they are assessed on the basis of their previous academic record (see section A.2.3 for details).

- Section on fees and funding principles of the programme: amount of the participation fee and what is covered by it (as described in A.2.5). Information on scholarship categories application information (necessary documents, deadlines) and how the payment of the scholarships is arranged.

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- Overview of student's average living costs in the participating countries.- Short descriptions of the four universities and their infrastructure: labs (incl key instruments and

experimental setups), computer classes, libraries and databases.- Principles of nominating students to the second year universities (see section 1.3).- Teaching staff responsible for academic excellence and involved in the programme delivery

(including their research areas).- List of industries and labs offering training placements, and details of organization of the

placements.- Names of the degrees to be awarded.- Description of support services and contact people in each university and a section on students

social life. Various interactive social media channels present on the website are described in A.3.4.- Employment perspectives of the graduates both in Europe and outside, plus further information on

PhD opportunities in each partner university.- Winter School (aims and content of the academic and entertainment programme)

In addition to the website, we will design a students’ handbook of the EACH programme, similar to the one introducing UT at http://www.ut.ee/en/studies/practical/getting-started

A.4.2 Describe the content (and, if available, provide a model) of the Student Agreement defining the rights and obligations of the two signing parties.

What are the joint course implementation rules and mechanisms, mutual rights, obligations and responsibilities of the two parties as concerns the academic, administrative and financial aspects of the student’s participation in the EMMC?

For ensuring that the students are well informed of their rights and obligations, the EACH programme Student Agreement is signed with all students. The agreement (see Annex 3 for the model) has been jointly developed by the consortium and will be renewed, if necessary, before each admission round. The content of the agreement agrees with the regulations established in each university for organisation of studies.

The Student Agreement (SA) covers the following topics:1. Structure of the programme and a list of courses/modules taught by four universities;2. Study tracks available and the principles of assigning students to host universities;3. Credits and grading systems used in each university, scaling of grades;4. Students’ rights and obligations, including the Academic Code of Conduct and Safety in Laboratories are annexed to the SA. The latter is very relevant for students of analytical chemistry and to emphasise its importance students are reminded of safety issues when signing the agreement;5. Rights and obligations of the EACH consortium;6. Erasmus Mundus scholarship description and participation costs (what services are included in the participation costs);7. Degrees to be awarded.

Students’ academic progress is monitored in all universities. They are obliged to follow the courses for the value of at least 54 ECTS in the first year. If one earns fewer credits than required, he/she is asked to submit to the Consortium Committee a clear individual study plan for the successful completion of the programme. However, the midterm progress evaluation of students’ performance is mandatory for both years and collected by UT, and that helps to minimise students’ insufficient academic progress.

A.4.3 Present the services that will be provided by the partner institutions to host students / scholars, including the nature and coverage of the mandatory insurance scheme.

Which services will be offered by the “international office” or contact desk in terms of support for accommodation and financial facilities, coaching, assistance with visas and administrative formalities especially for third-country students/scholars? To what extent will specific services be available for students with a family or with special needs? How will this insurance scheme meet the EM Programme minimum requirements? How will it be managed (/funded) by the partners?

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Administrative and academic support will be a joint effort of the respective faculties’ student advising staff as well as International Student Offices’ people of all four partners. The central hub of information will be the EACH programme website www.analyticalchemistry.eu , which includes up-to-date and structured information for students and scholars.

Support services offered at the home university – UTUT is the first contact point for all new students. There is a procedure in place to maximise students’ welfare at the beginning of studies. Each academic year, the International Student Service offers an Orientation Course to newly arrived international students, during which the sessions on learning environment, study regulations and cultural integration are held. A sample Orientation Course programme is in Annex 4. For the EACH programme students a separate session will be held detailing the specifics of this programme (meeting main contacts at UT in person; timetables of courses; brief introduction of the second year’s study tracks; payment of monthly stipends, etc).

The International Student Service of UT provides information and invitations for visas and residence permits prior to coming to Estonia and assists students with all practical and administrative matters in the course of study. As for financial facilities, students are advised how to open a bank account and what documentation is needed to prove their student status. Students will be informed of when they will receive a scholarship and how to pay the participation fee. International students get a personal tutor to assist them with arrival, settling in the dormitories, course registration and other practical issues before arrival and during their stay in Tartu. Students will be provided an online accommodation form to apply for housing prior to coming to Estonia. All students of the EACH programme are guaranteed with accommodation in one of the UT dormitories.

To guarantee that all students will have sufficient information regarding their second year of studies (at UU, UO or AAU) both from academic and administrative aspects, a pre-departure orientation is held at UT at the end of the first academic year (in April).

Support services at the host universities – UU, UO, AAUOrientation days will be organised in each of the second year university covering the aspects the students need to be aware of. For accommodation, the International Student Offices provide students with info as how, and when to apply. Academic personnel in each university help and advise international students in regards to academic aspects of their studies. Each university has one person who is in charge of academic matters (see section B.2 of the e-form). Administrative counselling is provided both at central and departmental/faculty level by experienced staff. Universities’ websites give well structured and detailed information regarding study related matters.

Students with families: All universities provide support in practical matters to students and scholars with families. At UT, Student Union has organised a day care support service for students with small children, which is available during the intensive examination periods. Students with special needs: Each university offers services to students with special needs. As all students start at UT, then every student with a disability will be able to contact a Student Advisor at the Counselling Centre of UT for personal support: http://www.ut.ee/en/studies/practical/students-with-special-needs/. This website gives comprehensive information on the services available at UT and links to respective units at partner universities. In each university all study work is carried in facilities accessible in a wheelchair.Financially handicapped students: There are stipends foreseen for such students (funded from the EACH Fund). Funding conditions are defined and decisions are made by the Consortium Committee.

Invited scholarsCalls and selection of invited scholars will be coordinated by UO (A.3.1). All partners offer full support service to teaching staff mobility, including third country scholars: visa support, health insurance, orientation, cultural programming, accommodation, contracts and other employment details. The relevant information is available at www.analyticalchemistry.eu, which also contains application information.

Health insuranceThe consortium has chosen DKV Globality to provide health insurance to Category A and Category B students, as well as to invited scholars. DKV provides high quality health and accident insurance with worldwide coverage, so it meets the coverage requirement of the Erasmus Mundus programme. UT will provide students with relevant information as how and when to obtain DKV insurance. For all students in the programme the insurance fee is included in tuition fee.

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The insurance covers the following: (1) classic outpatient, inpatient and dental expenses, including doctors' fees, medicines, examinations and analyses prescribed by a physician, urgent dental care following an accident and all hospital expenses and surgical fees (including advances on hospital expenses); (2) medical treatment during pregnancy and childbirth; (3) dental treatment – (including pain relief treatment, dentures, implants and orthodontic treatment); (4) any accidents; (5) medical evacuation and repatriation; (6) in the event of death (in all cases, even suicide): transport of the mortal remains to the place chosen by the deceased's family, funeral and laying-out costs, cost of the coffin.

The insurance cover includes all worldwide travel required for the participation in the EACH programme and is valid 24 hours a day. The cover is valid until two months after the end of the EACH programme. All necessary medical costs related to permanent disability are covered independently from the reason of disability. No disability pension or lump sum will be paid. The legislation support covered under the insurance conditions means that DKV will organise lawyer assistance through the DKV Service Centre.

Documents depot service is available: the copies of identification documents can be delivered to the DKV service centre and in case of loss DKV will send the copies to the appropriate authorities in order to simplify the procedure for obtaining the replacements. UT will inform the EACH students and make sure that the copies of identification documents get sent to DKV. Students receive a personal Globality Service Card with the address and main telephone numbers of their relevant Service Center. The Globality Service Card is the student’s personal proof of insurance for all medical providers.

A.4.4 Describe the consortium language policy.

How does the consortium intend to meet the objective to offer students the possibility to use at least two different European languages? How do the partner institutions intend to equip students with the necessary language skills to ensure that they will get the full benefit from participating in the EMMC course (e.g. training facilities, mentorship, local language learning, etc.)? How does this policy fit into the course itself (e.g. integration, availability, costs coverage, recognition of the language courses in the EMMC)?

As the language of instruction in the EACH programme is English, all applicants need to prove very good language skills both in written and spoken English (see A.2.3.). To ensure that students' knowledge of programme-related technical English is at the required level, UT offers a specifically designed course “English for Analytical Chemistry”.

In addition, all universities offer courses of local languages (see Annex 1). At UT, during the first study year, the students are offered a course of the Estonian language, as well as the languages of the second-year universities, Swedish and Finnish. Students are encouraged to select either Finnish or Swedish based on their preference for the second year university. This provides at least basic language background necessary for continuing language studies during the second year at UU, UO or AAU. Participation in language courses is covered with the tuition fee, no additional fee is charged. Language courses are a mandatory part of the programme (see Table 1), and fully count towards the degrees to be awarded.

A.4.5 Indicate the measures taken to facilitate networking among the Erasmus Mundus students and between these students and other students from the partner institutions.

What activities/facilities are foreseen to ensure the socio-cultural integration of the EM students? What type of relations will the course foresee with the EM Alumni Association? If applicable, how often will the EM students (from the same or different cohorts) meet and exchange? What facilities are offered in this perspective? What is foreseen to ensure the proper academic induction of third country students?

During year I all EACH students study at UT attending mostly the same courses. This ensures that they will know each other very well. In the second year, when the students are placed in different universities, a meeting point for the first and second year students will be the annually held Winter School. In addition to academic coursework, each WS incorporates a free-time programme focused on local highlights, such as wildlife, sightseeing etc.

Erasmus Mundus students are an important sub-community of universities’ general student community. At the UT Orientation Course (A.4.3) which is held a week prior semester’s start, students will be introduced to

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the rich student life of Tartu. At UT, each academic year starts with freshman days and one can find a social activity, whether fun or edifying, every day. These include international food fests, international film nights, sledging, sauna days, bog-walking weekends, and many more. The definite highlights of each semester are the Spring and Autumn Student Days, filled with dozens of entertaining and educating events, competitions and festivals. Students come from all over Estonia to be a part of the Tartu Student Days. For some activities like the “Sea Battle”. This is a party cruise between the cities of Stockholm and Tallinn where more than 1500 exchange students currently studying in Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Latvia join in resulting in a memorable multicultural experience. As befits a true university town, Tartu is bustling with student life. In Tartu one can find representatives of every major international student organisation, like ESN, AIESEC and AEGEE. ESN is the main student organisation that coordinates student social life and events that often go beyond the borders of Estonia.

Similar social activities are organised in the partner universities as well, so the students of the EACH programme will have an active interaction with local students' community in every university.

The EACH programme will support our graduates to get to know the EM Alumni Association, and benefit as well as contribute to the activities organised by the Association.

A.5 Quality assurance and evaluation (10 % of the max. score )

A.5.1 Describe the internal evaluation strategy and mechanisms in place.

How (and with what periodicity) will this evaluation be organised (by the institutions themselves, through an integrated approach agreed by all partner institutions, with questionnaires and feed-back systems, etc.)? How will the assessment outcomes be used to monitor, upgrade and improve the quality of the course? How will the actors (students / professors) be involved in this exercise?

The internal evaluation of EACH is organised at two levels: at a university and consortium level. The primary responsibility for the teaching and supervision quality is with the university providing teaching.

1. Internal evaluation at each partner universityInternal evaluation systems are well functioning and adhere to the quality assurance procedures established in each institution. Their main components are (1) evaluation by the study committees of the respective faculties and (2) evaluation by students.

(1) Faculty study committees in partner universities evaluate annually the content of the EACH programme, courses taught in the programme, as a part of the regular evaluation procedure.

(2) At the end of each semester, students give feedback to every course passed during the semester. Students evaluate the following: academic content, level of teaching, appropriateness of study materials, achievability of learning outcomes and feedback from lecturers regarding student’s academic progress (amount and adequacy of feedback). The evaluation forms are presented in Annex 10. In every university academic positions are filled through competition (based on scientific and educational record). The results of students’ evaluations and development of teaching competences factors that are taken into account during re-election.

2. Consortium internal evaluationThe consortium’s jointly developed internal evaluation includes several components: (1) I year feedback interview carried out at the end of the year I. In addition to academic matters, this feedback also focuses on central and faculty level support services and learning environment in general.(2) II year feedback survey, to be collected at the end of studies before a master’s thesis presentation (this task is coordinated by AAU). In this feedback students are requested to report specifically about: a) transition from UT to II year university, including overlapping courses etc; b) workload discrepancies for earning credits in I and II year university; c) master’s thesis supervision quality; d) learning outcomes being achievable and e) support services. (3) Graduates feedback, from six to twelve months after graduation, focusing on graduates’ success in the labour market, post-graduation career rate, and how they assess the relevance of the courses, including those

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targeted to generic skill, for their jobs, Additionally, they are asked to assess overall satisfaction with the programme, teaching staff and practical placements.The data received and summarised, from the three types of feedback listed above, is presented to the Consortium Committee for implementation of changes (if needed) in the programme’s content, support services, lecturers and supervisors. (4) The programme’s comprehensive internal evaluation, where 5 main domains are evaluated, is carried out by the Consortium Committee every two years. The following points are addressed: a) programmes’ content and structure; b) assessment of teaching and learning process - teaching methods, Recognition of Prior Learning etc.; c) academic capacity of the teaching staff (including practitioners); d) students’ academic progress – graduation and drop out rate, admissions efficiency; e) learning environment, including quality of labs and facilities. Evaluation is based on statistical data and students, graduates and other stakeholders’ feedback results. Data on students’ academic progress and academic recourses in terms of academic staff and practitioners will be compiled by UT. Based on the analysis of the evaluation results, an action plan for the next 2-year period will be created.

Academic excellence of the teaching staff is of key importance. This is ensured via two activities:(1) At the end of one’s election term, all lecturers in every university can take a semester off (sabbatical) for upgrading their qualifications, during which they maintain salary while having no teaching duties.(2) Training is offered for teaching staff involved in EACH on new teaching methods (incl. the web-based learning environments) and skills, teaching in intercultural classroom as well as on advanced topics of analytical chemistry (nano-analytics, in vivo microanalysis in living cells, etc). This training is organised in the framework of the Winter School and the courses are taught by the invited scholars.

A.5.2 Describe the external quality assurance envisaged.

What will the roles of the national, international or professional quality assurance bodies be, if any? Will external experts be recruited for this purpose and - if yes - on what basis and how often? What methodology will be followed? If applicable, will associated members be involved in this exercise?

There are two main mechanisms of external quality assurance:

1. National quality assuranceParticipating universities will follow their national quality assurance processes. In Estonia, quality assess-ment is based on study programme groups (of the same higher education institution). Applied Measurement Science programme (the core of the EACH programme) successfully passed quality assessment in 2010. Once in every seven years, external evaluation of the EACH programme will take place by the Higher Edu-cation Quality Agency of Estonia (HEQAE) or by any other agency belonging to EQAR (European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education). As the EACH programme is based on Applied Measurement Science assessed in 2010, the next external evaluation of the EACH programme would be completed by HEQAE in 2017.

2. Evaluation of the EACH programme by the External Advisory Board (see also 3.1). The members of the External Advisory Board (including representatives of the associated members) meet every two years, monitor the comprehensive internal evaluation results (see Section A.5.1.) and approve /disapprove the proposed action plan. They assess the programme in the context of worldwide development of analytical chemistry and advise how it can better respond to the needs of industry and research. They will compile a report with recommendations for the Consortium Committee's annual internal evaluation meeting.

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Annexes

Annex 0. Endorsement letters from the full partners and agreement letters from the associated partnersAnnex 1. Programme layoutAnnex 2. Model consortium agreementAnnex 3. Model student agreementAnnex 4. Sample orientation course planAnnex 5. List of potential invited scholars and other external lecturers for the EACH programmeAnnex 6. Assessment scale with the corresponding achievement level of learning outcomesAnnex 7. Sample diplomas (degree certificates) awarded by the partner universities on graduationAnnex 8. Country-specific requirements for submitting education certificatesAnnex 9. Presentation and assessment of master's thesesAnnex 10. Course evaluation forms

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