Frequently Asked Questions

The EMerald Master Programme is a two year course. It starts every year in September and ends in August two years later. Students are invited to arrive on September 1st.

Participation costs are 8000EUR/year for non-EU students and 2000EUR/year for EU students.

These include:

• Registration fees
• Management fees (including laboratory expenses, supervision and running costs)
• Health insurance (only for non-EU students)
• Access to the infrastructures of the universities (library use, WIFI access etc.)
• Assistance from the international relations department of each university regarding administrative matters such as accomodation, banking advice)

The programme is aimed at candidates that have a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering with basic knowledge in Geology (minimum of 3 years study or 180 ECTS credits), or a Bachelor’s Degree in Minerals Engineering, Mining Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Geological Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering or a Master degree in Geology.

The programme will deliver an engineering diploma, therefore at least 22.5 ECTS in Mathematics at university level is required.

• A copy of your passport (or ID) and an English or French translation of your birth certificate (at this stage the English document is sufficient, only selected students will have to send us a French version of the document
• A photo (ID format)
• Your updated resume in English (maximum 1 page)
• A personal motivation letter in English
• A copy of your High School Diploma and with a sworn translation into English
• A copy of your higher education studies diploma and transcript of records with a sworn translation into English
• An English Proficiency test/document for non-English speakers (TOEFL min.90, IELTS min. 6.5 or any other document stating your English proficiency B2-C1 min)
• An official document highlighting your accomplishments over the last five years (studies, internships, employment
• A recommendation letter in English
• An official document issued within 12 months before the submission deadline (Feb. 2025) showing your place of residence. Your document must be dated.

All copies have to be sworn. Simple translations can be accepted at this stage of the application, but once you are in Belgium you will have to provide the original documents.

The programme takes place across Europe in four universities. Please find below a breakdown of the programme paths.

Semester 1:

• University of Liège (Belgium)

Semester 2:

• University of Lorraine (France)

Semester 3:

• Luleå University of Technology (Sweden)

or

• TU Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany)

Semester 4:

• One of the above 4 universities (dependent on thesis choice)

There are several options for fuding for the EMerald Master Programme:

• Erasmus mundus scholarships – covering participation costs, travel costs and subsistence costs. Find more information here.
• EIT AVSA grants – 15000EUR to cover any of your expenses (check with coordinator for availability in 2025).
• ULiège grants – covering your travel and subsistence costs, but not the participation costs (not available in 2025)

• Create an account to access the online application process
• Submit the online application with all the mandatory attachments before the deadline
• Take the online math, chemistry, physics and geology quiz and achieve a score above 30%
• If you are pre-selected you will then be contacted for a Teams interview

An English proficiency certificate is required (TOEFL min. 90; IELTS min 6.5 or any other official document stating your English proficiency of min. B2-C1)

No. All documents must be uploaded in the online application form.

Supply the information you have at the time of applying, such as grade transcripts and courses in progress and submit a document stating when you will graduate. Your degree must be completed by semester start in September.

All students from outside the EEA require a visa to study in Europe. You will be provided with details once your application has been accepted. If you hold EU/EEA citizenship, then you do not need a visa.

No. If your language of instruction was English you can upload a document from your university stating so.

Working part-time is possible, but quite difficult to conduct in parallel with your studies. Students will move to a different country and study in a different university each semester. In addition to the change of location, intense study periods are required. It’s also important to point out that to apply to a Schengen visa, students will need to show that they have enough funds to cover their living expenses for the duration of the programme.

A student can take exams for all learning activities at least twice (except in certain cases duly specified in the programme description). If a student fails to obtain all the credits from the first academic year, he/she will have the possibility to repeat the year, but the payment of the grant provided by a partner university or European organisation will be stopped. In order to graduate the student must successfully pass 120 ECTS of the programme.

Several weeks before arriving on the programme students receive a vademecum containing very practical and detailed information regarding the formalities to enter and stay in Belgium (visa and residence permit), tutoring, insurance/health care system, accommodation, French courses, Erasmus Mundus Alumni association information as well as information regarding the first steps upon arriving and some preliminary information regarding the next semesters.

“EMerald” is not a diploma in itself. It is the name of the Erasmus Mundus programme.

The following degrees can be provided by the different consortium universities, depending on the tracks chosen by the student:

• ULiège: Master en ingénieur civil des mines et géologue (master in Geology and Mining Engineering)
• UL: Master en Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes, Environnement, spécialité “Georesources Engineering”
• LTU: Master of Science – Major: Geosciences
• TUBAF: Master of Science in Mechanical and Process Engineering

Yes. The fourth semester of the master programme is exclusively dedicated to the master thesis research work. Most theses are partly supervised by an industrial partner. Students often go on-site to collect samples and run tests. You can check out the previous theses completed by the students here.

Between year 1 and year 2, students are invited to attend a three-week summer business school sponsored by EIT Raw Materials. The EMerald programme already gives the students the opportunity to get an insight into the industrial world through professional seminars and technical visits. Though more than an insight we aim to raise their awareness and understanding of the whole raw materials value chain rather than having them focus on resources only. The summer school includes theoretical courses about marketing, business, accounting, project management, financing of start-ups etc. In order to acknowledge the density of the content, the lecturers also employ interactive and activating teaching methods. For example, a business simulation game is organised at the end of the school to give the students the opportunity to translate theory into practice and build links between the different subjects.

At the stage of application you don’t need any sworn translations. We can use simple translations to enable the selection committee to understand your documents, however if you are selected you will need to hire a sworn/accredited translator to translate all your documents.

If a document is missing the application will be automatically rejected.

If you have a double citizenship it is very important to let the consortium know. Having a European citizenship will exempt you from all burdensome administrative procedures.

You should budget around 10.000EUR per year to cover your living expenses (accommodation, transport, food, entertainment etc.). An additional 16000EUR (for non EU students) or 4000EUR (for EU students) is necessary to pay the participation costs.

You can contact the coordinator to check if you are eligible to a tuition fee waiver.

The EMerald Master Programme receives far more eligible applications than the programme has capacity for. Around 20 students enrol each academic year, so it is important that you provide a strong application in order to be considered.

No. The programme doesn’t consider applications for the second semester. All the students are expected to start in the beginning of the academic year (September).

Students are selected on the basis of their CV, their motivation letter, their English proficiency and academic results.

All the candidates will be contacted by email by the EMerald programme administrative coordinator.