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A new European Master’s programme on wind energy is about to start in September. Few students are aware of this cooperation between four leading European universities.
The European Wind Energy Master (Ewem) hasn’t started yet, but already it has been rewarded the Erasmus Mundus label – approval by the European Commission. Ewem is a partnership between TU Delft, the Technical University of Denmark, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and the Carlo von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg, Germany. Depending on their chosen specialty (wind physics, rotor design, electrical power systems or offshore engineering), students will spend a semester at two or three of the universities involved. The thesis will generally be written at yet another location: a university, research centre or with one of the industrial partners.
Dr Carlos Simao Ferreira, who coordinates the program at TU Delft, explains that the European Commission only awards the Erasmus Mundus labels to Master’s programmes after a very strict selection process based on the program’s relevance, the employability of graduates, track records of the partners and the participation of industry. Ewem was awarded the prestigious label only this summer, so there has hardly been an opportunity to advertise this new Master’s programme.
Projections foresee a large boom in the wind energy industry in the coming decades. According to the EU’s Directive, renewable energy sources should contribute 35 percent of all power output by 2020. Wind energy is projected to deliver a third of the renewable power generation, or about 10 percent of the European power supply by 2020. Global growth, particularly in China, the US and India, is expected to be even faster. The Ewem aims to educate 120 – 150 graduates a year, covering the top 1 -2 percent demand of Wind Energy Professionals‘, according the programme’s initiators.
An important consequence of the Erasmus Mundus label is the availability of 19 scholarships, covering tuition costs and a monthly allowance. Until now, some 130 students – most of them non-European – have applied for the scholarships. As the application is only open until 1 April 2012, Simao Ferreira urges European BSc students interested in wind energy, and TU students especially, to take notice of this opportunity.
