Smart Systems Integration (Erasmus Mundus) MSc

This Erasmus-Mundus-funded, two-year Masters programme is co-ordinated by Heriot-Watt University and involves two other partner universities: Vestfold University College in Norway (HiVe) and Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary (BME). Students spend one semester at each institution: semester one at Heriot- Watt, semester two at HiVe, Norway, and semester three at BME, Hungary. In the final semester of year two a project is undertaken at one of the three partner institutions. The award to successful students is a joint degree bearing the seals of all three Universities.

Smart Systems are self-sufficient intelligent (sub)systems with advanced functionality, enabled by underlying micro-, nano-, and bio-systems and components. They enable and enhance products and services in every walk of life and are of strategic importance for the competitiveness of entire sectors and economies in Europe.

The programme aims to develop talented engineers with in-depth knowledge of Smart Systems, such as airbag crash sensors, miniaturised spectrometers, inkjet printer heads and smartphones, which operate through the integration of electronic processing with biological, mechanical or optical functions.

It is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, requiring excellence in many traditional fields of engineering and science. It will be applicable to many industrial sectors, including the automotive, semiconductor, medical and biomedical industries, environmental monitoring, aerospace, consumer goods and telecommunications.

Through the programme students will have access to the research infrastructures in each of the three European countries and will benefit from learning in different settings. They will also experience three different regions of Europe, helping to prepare them for a multi-cultural career.

The SSI project is endorsed by the European Technology Platform EPoSS (European Platform on Smart Systems) whose membership includes major multinational European companies (Bosch, ST Microelectronics, Infineon, EADS) that manufacture or use integrated microsystems.

International non-EU and EU students will be eligible for funding through the Erasmus Mundus programme. Applications will be evaluated by the European Commission. The deadline for applications is 9 January 2017.

Erasmus Mundus is a cooperation and mobility programme in the field of higher education that aims to enhance the quality of European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with Third-Countries. In addition, it contributes to the development of human resources and the international cooperation capacity of Higher education institutions in Third Countries by increasing mobility between the European Union and these countries.

Two years (full time MSc)