Co-operation in mineral engineering education in Europe

In order to survive with small educational disciplines, like mining and mineral engineering, a close co-operation among universities on an international level is inevitable and, just as important, between universities and industry. Over the years, much attention has already been paid in Europe to student exchange within the community through the Socrates (formerly Erasmus) program. The lower number of students in mining and mineral engineering has called for a solution in rationalizing the education through the structural combination of the programs at the point of specialization. Since 1996, two co-operative programs have been established among four countries (Germany, The Netherlands, Finland the United Kingdom), in which students jointly follow the fourth year program. The European Mining Course (EMC) focuses on the mining engineering education, while the European Mineral Engineering Course (EMEC) covers the mineral processing and recycling education. Development of these programs was supported by the European Commission through the Socrates Pilot Project Program. The involvement of industry in the programs stimulates interaction with the universities and improvement of the quality of the program. Further internationalization has also taken place. The 1998/1999 course includes students from the four countries and also students from Austria and Canada (Queen's University).