Master in Advanced Materials: Innovative Recycling

The Challenge

Materials are the building blocks of the modern global economy and are instrumental for the transition to a green, circular economy which emits less CO2. Twenty-seven of these materials of these materials have been defined by the EU as critical, meaning that they combine high importance to the EU economy with a high risk associated with their supply. Accessing the known primary raw material sources has become more challenging, while the amounts of industrial waste and end-of-life-products are rapidly increasing. These waste streams contain secondary raw materials, many of which are critical and can be recovered, diversifying supply and contributing to meeting increasing materials demands.

To strengthen raw material supply for a growing global population with increasing welfare, increasing recycling rates can contribute. For this to happen, skilled professionals with advanced technical knowledge of recycling, an understanding of the full raw materials value chain and the skills required to transform knowledge into solutions and business, are in demand. The AMIR Master programme was created to fulfil this need by educating future international professionals who will develop new routes for materials recycling.

AMIR: Master in Advanced Materials: Innovative Recycling

The AMIR Master programme focuses on the raw material value chain, with particular emphasis on recycling. The two main objectives of the programme are:

• To educate students to become highly-skilled European professionals with expertise in various types of materials. This expertise will enable them to develop, on a large and ambitious scale, new methods for materials recycling. In addition, the AMIR programme includes classes on transversal skills such as innovation, ethics, intellectual property, life cycle assessment, sustainability, and advanced research strategies.
• To develop a deep entrepreneurship mindset among students with the help and expertise of associated businesses, incubators and innovation services as well as a large panel of industries.

AMIR students benefit from a high-level education and research environment including access to advanced research laboratories. High-quality internships, together with mandatory international and intersectoral mobility, ensure that students gain the practical experience and skills necessary to make a difference as a recycling professional.

The curriculum of AMIR was designed with the strategic goal of producing T-shaped professionals and entrepreneurs for the raw materials sector with:

• solid knowledge of the properties and processing of various types of materials (metals, minerals ceramics, polymers), based on multidisciplinary training by physicists, chemists, process engineers, and others.
• in-depth proficiency in recycling, material chain optimisation for end-of-life products, and design of products and services for the circular economy.
• an entrepreneurial mindset, formed with the help and expertise of partners from industry and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs), as well as associated business and incubators.
• essential transferable skills for researchers such as intellectual property, research ethics, and scientific communication.

Programme structure

The first year of the Master programme takes place at the University of Bordeaux or NOVA University Lisbon. Students learn about general and technical aspects of the raw materials value chain (general chemistry, material science, the lifecycle of materials), as well as about the main learning outcomes expected from an EIT-Labelled programme: sustainability, intellectual transformation, value judgments (ethical, scientific and sustainability challenges), creativity, innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship.

The second year takes place at one of the partner universities, allowing students to gain specialist knowledge in their area of interest. This is followed by an industrial internship and completion of the Master thesis.

Participating Universities

• University of Bordeaux (France)
• NOVA University Lisbon (Portugal)
• TU Darmstadt (Germany)
• University of Liège (Belgium)
• Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain)
• University of Miskolc (Hungary)

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training

As an EIT-Labelled programme, the AMIR Master integrates high-level training on entrepreneurship and innovation into its curriculum, giving students the skills that they need to become game-changers in the recycling sector.

• During year 1, the Leading Innovation and Entrepreneurship module focuses on market/customer orientation and cooperation with stakeholders. You will learn to develop and apply Customer/User focus thinking as well as how to identify and cooperate with stakeholders. The objective is to train the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, able to create innovative projects, understand problems, detect needs and devise solutions.
• The University of Bordeaux works closely with the incubator ‘IRA’ and with the technology transfer organisation ‘AST’. These are open to AMIR students and interact closely with the university’s laboratories, in which all AMIR students spend 8 weeks during internships.
• Industrial seminars allow AMIR students to learn directly from some of the most important industries in the sector. For example, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission; ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel producer and one of the main actors in metal recycling; and Veolia, a world leader in water, waste and energy management.
• Industry internships give AMIR students up to six months of experience with an industrial or research partner, gaining extensive real-life experience in research or industry. Partners include Arkema, ArcelorMittal, Veolia, and Fraunhofer, ensuring that students gain the top-level experience necessary for success in finding employment or becoming an entrepreneur on completion of their studies.

Professional profiles after graduation

Are you a student who is:

• Interested in the full value chain of raw materials?
• Keen to make a difference in confronting the challenges surrounding waste, and to contribute to the development of sustainable solutions to these challenges?
• Motivated to spend time working with top companies and research organisations in the recycling sector?
• Driven to become an entrepreneur or intrapreneur who makes innovation happen?

Graduates of the AMIR programme will be fully equipped to take on professional roles in the recycling sector:

• Process optimisation
• Materials design
• Plant administration
• Project administration

Furthermore, the skills gained are widely required across sectors, including information and communication technologies, building construction, energy, machinery tools, and mobility. Graduates also obtain the necessary skills and knowledge to set up their own company or work in sales and marketing.

Finally, doctoral studies are another possibility, and graduates of the AMIR programme will be fully equipped to enter PhD programmes in the recycling sector to pursue engineering careers or academic research.

Fees

Annual programme fees for the 2019-2021 edition are 2000€/year for EU students and 4000€/year for non-EU international students

​Scholarships

For students beginning in September 2019, EIT-Label scholarships from EIT RawMaterials of up to €9,000 per eligible student are available with additional financial support for student involvement in conferences, summer schools, and other events. For information on how EIT-Label scholarships will be awarded and who is eligible, please contact the coordinating university directly: amir-master@eitrawmaterials.eu.

Application

Applications for the 2019-2021 edition of the AMIR program are now being accepted (Deadline on 15th March 2019 at 23:59 pm CET)

Who can apply?

The program will deliver a Master's degree (120 ECTS) and is aimed at candidates who have a Bachelor's degree in Engineering and Environmental Sciences with advanced knowledge in Chemistry (minimum 3 years of study or 180 ECTS credits), or a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry, Physical-Chemistry, Materials (or Matter) Sciences.

​Selection criteria

Selection of candidates will be a cooperative process between partner institutions and will be based on a consensus. The selection procedure is based on academic qualifications, quality and quantity aspects:

• Academic background
• Motivation letter
• Language skills
• Work experience
• Entrepreneurial potential

Application process for student selection

1st step: All applications must be submitted through our online system and by the deadline given above. If you are missing one mandatory document, you can upload an explanatory letter instead, or send an e-mail to amir-master@eitrawmaterials.eu.

2nd step: Students whose application successfully passes the first step based on their motivation and English proficiency will then be contacted in late March and invited to participate in a Skype interview in early April. Candidates who are successful at this stage, and those selected for the reserve list, will be informed by e-mail within one week following their interview.