AGRIS MUNDUS - Sustainable Development in Agriculture

 

As an MSc in Sustainable Development in Agriculture, you work with the interaction between technical design (of, for example, soil fertility control, pest and disease control and drainage) and social and market conditions influencing the agricultural development locally, regionally and globally. You become an expert in identifying and critically analysing key factors shaping the development of crops, forests and animal production, the management of research and rural development projects and, finally, the sustainable use of natural resources and the environment in ways which benefit growers and society.

 

Read an interview with Mayling Hortensia Fernanda José Flores.

 

Admission requirements

Only candidates with very good academic standing and a well-founded motivation have a chance to be admitted. Preference will be given to candidates with appropriate professional experience and strongly convincing recommendations from an academic or professional body. All students, irrespective of their country of origin or of the training track they are candidates for, are subjected to the same criteria.

• A BSc (180 ECTS) in a field related to agricultural development or a BA in social sciences or equivalent
• Verified excellent quality of the institution where this first degree was obtained
• Excellent academic background with grades placing the candidate among the 20% best students of his or her former studies (BSc or BA degree with 1st class or 2nd class honours as a minimum)
• Strongly convincing letter of motivation
• Two letters of support from references
• IELTS 6 in English for all training tracks starting with an M1 in Cork, Copenhagen or Wageningen
• Diploma de Espanol como Lengua Extranjera (DELE) Certificado Inicial de Espanol for all training tracks starting in Madrid

Profile

The Agris Mundus programme trains you to cope with the current global/international concerns in agricultural and rural development. You will deal with the interaction between technical design (i.e. soil fertility, irrigation, erosion and degradation control, pest and disease control, drainage, moisture conservation) and social and market conditions (local, regional and global). You will become an expert in identifying and critically analysing key factors shaping the development of crops, forests and animal production, the management of research and rural development projects and, finally, the sustainable use of natural resources and the environment. You will also be able to formulate and provide effective and appropriate responses to complex agriculture and natural resources-related issues.

 

Career opportunities

You will be qualified to identify and critically analyse key factors shaping the development of crops, forests and animal production, the management of research and rural development projects and, finally, the sustainable use of natural resources and the environment. You will also be able to formulate and provide effective and appropriate responses to complex agriculture and natural resources-related issues.

 

Career testimonials written by former Agris Mundus students can be found on the Agris Mundus website: www.agrismundus.eu.

 

Structure

Mobility is an integrated part of the Agris Mundus programmes. Thus, you will be studying at one partner university during the first year and at one of the other European partner universities during the second year. You can choose between ten study tracks distributed between the six partner universities.

 

Year 1

All Agris Mundus students attend a common orientation week before the commencement of the first year. One major objective of the orientation week is to introduce you to the Agris Mundus programme and to start collective discussions between staff and students regarding the choice of optional modules in their future studies.

 

Year 2

At the beginning of the second year, you will meet the other Agris Mundus students again for a joint research methodology workshop. This event is specifically organised to prepare you for the strong research orientation of the second year and to build up a common scientific corpus between the ten study tracks.

 

During the second year, you will be doing academic training and write a thesis based on at least five months of field work. In most cases, the field work will take place in a developing country in the Mediterranean or tropical zones.

 

Contact

Information on application deadlines and procedures can be found on the Agris Mundus website www.agrismundus.eu or by contacting the Agris Mundus Secretariat: Gisèle André .

 

Agris Mundus is offered by a consortium consisting of six European universities:

• LIFE – Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark

• Wageningen University and Research Centre, Netherlands

• University of Cork, Ireland

• Università degli Studi di Catania, Italy

• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain

• Centre National d’Etudes Agronomiques des Régions Chaudes, Montpellier, France

 

The Agris Mundus programme is a product of AgriNatura: The European Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development.

 

The programme is also linked to the European PhD course AgTrain offered by the same consortium of universities.

 

Student life

Students enrolled in the Agris Mundus programme are part of a truly international study environment no matter at which of the six partner universities they study. Read an interview with Mayling Hortensia Fernanda José Flores, who studied her first year at LIFE in 2009-2010.

 

Graduates have formed an Agris Mundus Alumni Association, which addresses student life at each of the six partner universities.