Call for Applications: EIT RawMaterials Academy seeking international master's programmes

EIT RawMaterials invites European-based international master’s programmes to apply for assistance in obtaining the prestigious EIT Label and become part of the esteemed EIT RawMaterials Academy. 

This Call for Applications aims to identify existing international master’s programmes in Europe to join the EIT RawMaterials Academy Master School. Successful applicants will receive support from EIT RawMaterials, encompassing marketing and technical assistance, as well as access to the extensive EIT RawMaterials network. The selected master’s programmes will have the unique opportunity to enhance their innovation and entrepreneurship skills through engaging in additional activities, including summer schools, bootcamps, and other extracurricular events. 

The EIT RawMaterials Academy Master School serves as a collaborative platform for various master’s programmes from partner universities across Europe, focusing on raw materials, innovation, and entrepreneurship. These programmes benefit significantly from industry input, research organisations, and collaboration with leading higher education institutions. The Academy is dedicated to raising awareness throughout society about the paramount importance of raw materials and nurturing the entrepreneurial and innovative skills, knowledge, and attitudes essential for the future generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.

The primary objective of EIT RawMaterials is to ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials by spearheading innovation, education, and entrepreneurship within European industrial ecosystems. This entails fostering robust connections between businesses, academia, research, and investment.

The EIT Label: Make entrepreneurship and innovation integral to your courses

The EIT Label, a distinguished quality seal bestowed by the EIT, recognizes educational programmes that meet stringent criteria in five key areas. These include the EIT Overarching Learning Outcomes (EIT OLOs), robust entrepreneurship education, highly integrated innovative curricula, mobility, and a well-defined strategy for outreach and access. These programmes seamlessly integrate specialised knowledge with skills that foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

Benefits for EIT Labelled Programmes:

The EIT Label offers several benefits to successful programmes. Once a master’s programme is awarded the EIT Label, it will be fully integrated into the EIT RawMaterials Master School, providing the following benefits:

• A demonstration of the programme’s quality and alignment with EIT Overall Learning Outcomes through the award of the EIT Label
• Increased visibility through EIT RawMaterials’ marketing and student recruitment activities
• Opportunities for programme staff to network with academic and administrative staff from international master’s programmes in raw materials-related topics from across Europe through bi-annual meetings (EIT RawMaterials will fund travel and accommodation for one administrative representative and one academic representative from each successfully EIT-Labelled programme to attend these meetings)

Benefits for students enrolled in EIT Labelled Programmes:

Upon the successful award of the EIT Label to the master’s programme, students enrolled in the programme will be entitled to several benefits, including:

• The EIT Label Certificate, recognising their achievement of innovation and entrepreneurship training in addition to technical education upon graduation
• Access to the EIT RawMaterials Alumni network, providing opportunities for students to connect with industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and fellow students from raw materials fields across Europe
• Participation in EIT Label activities to support their innovation and entrepreneurship training (a full list of eligible activities can be found in the Call Text)

Thematic Scope:

To be eligible for support in EIT Labelling, programmes must focus on one or more of the following thematic areas within the scope of EIT RawMaterials:

• Exploration and raw materials resource assessment
• Mining in challenging environments
• Increased resource efficiency in mineral and metallurgical processes
• Recycling and material chain optimised for End-of-Life products
• Substitution of critical and toxic materials in products and for optimised performance
• Design of products and services for the circular economy.

Selected programmes must also be aligned with one or more of the EIT RawMaterials Lighthouses:

• Responsible sourcing
• Sustainable materials
• Circular societies

For further information regarding the EIT RawMaterials Lighthouses, visit https://eitrawmaterials.eu/lighthouses/.

Who can apply?

Applicant consortia must meet the following criteria:

• Run a master’s degree programme with student recruitment for 2024 and 2025.
• Align with European guidelines for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and be accredited or recognized in all countries of the awarding universities.
• Be delivered by universities established in EU or Horizon Europe eligible countries.
• Mandate international mobility, providing a learning experience for students in at least two different European countries.
• Include a mandatory master thesis project.
• Be taught and assessed in English.
• Already involve non-academic partners, such as industry or research bodies.
• Be financially sustainable, e.g. through institutional, national, or European funds and/or student tuition fees.
• Be able to successfully meet all requirements of the EIT Label for degree programmes, as outlined in the EIT Label Handbook, within the defined timeframe.

Applicants should read the Call for Applications and the 'Quality for learning' EIT Quality Assurance and Learning Enhancement Model: EIT Label Handbook for planning, labelling and reviewing degree programmes, Revised Edition (June 2021) carefully before applying. The Call for Applications and EIT Label Handbook are available for below.

For more information about EIT RawMaterials, its activities, and governance structure, visit https://eitrawmaterials.eu. The existing master’s programmes within the EIT RawMaterials Academy Master School are presented at https://masters.eitrawmaterials.eu.

Important Timelines:

EIT Label application timeline for selected programmes (indicative)

• 2024-Q2: Preparation of documentation for EIT Label application with external support
• 2024-Q3: Submission of EIT Label application; hearings with evaluators
• 2024-Q4: Results of EIT Label application received. For programmes awarded the full or provisional EIT Label, integration into the EIT RawMaterials Master School

Programmes selected in this call for applications which require additional time in order to comply with the EIT Label requirements are expected to follow a similar timetable during 2024, with the time period from 2023-Q2 to 2024-Q1 used to make the necessary alterations to the programme in order to be ready to apply for the EIT Label in the 2024 round of applications, which is expected to be launched in 2024-Q2.

Important Documents:

1. Call Text
2. EIT Label handbook

3. EIT Impact Framework 2021-27

    

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