European Master on Control of Renewable Energy Systems (EU-CORE)

The objective of the two-year EU-CORE programme is to train top-level engineers from across the world on the design of advanced control technologies for renewable energy systems and to contribute to the emergence of a new generation of graduates who are needed to achieve Europe's environmental and energy ambitions under the Green Deal.

Unlike other Erasmus+ programmes linked to renewable energy systems which focus on one source of energy, EU-CORE will cover all the main renewable energy sources and their associated control issues. Thanks to a selection of top-level academic and industrial partners, the skills developed throughout the EU-CORE programme will open the door to a wide variety of careers in the renewable energy industry.

The complementary nature of the consortium's partners means that students will be trained in specific fields in which the partners are internationally recognised. For example, students will be studying the control of wind energy systems, the management of energy storage, the control of solar and hydrogen systems and their integration into the grid. To be fully in line with labour market requirements, the academic programme is completed by soft/transferable skills training during Winter/Summer Schools. In this way, EU-CORE offers a high degree of permeability between education, research, innovation, soft-skills, industrial needs, and environmental concerns. In short, EU-CORE will train future experts in the field of RES and thus contribute to the EU's climate neutrality objectives by 2050.

The language of instruction throughout the programme, which is coordinated by Centrale Nantes, is English.

EU-CORE Consortium Partners

The three partner institutions for the EU-CORE programme are:
 

• Centrale Nantes, France (co-ordinator)
• Brandenberg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU), Germany
• University of Zagreb (UNIZG), Croatia

The EU-CORE Programme runs full-time over 24 months (120 ECTS) for each cohort and comprises:
 

• Master courses (90 ECTS)
• A Master Thesis/Internship + (30 ECTS), completed in cooperation with academic/industrial partners or other professional R&D environment specialists.

Soft skills including languages, economics, humanities, project management and entrepreneurship and sustainable development issues will be introduced within the academic programme, as well as in the Winter and Summer schools. The 4 semesters are totally complementary. The students will attend the same programme during the first 3 semesters, each semester addressing several specific RES and control approaches:
 

• The 1st semester at ECN will focus on Wind Energy, basics on Linear/Nonlinear Control Systems and Power Systems, and general topics in RES from Economics to Law;
• The 2nd semester at UNIZG will focus on Solar Energy, Smart Grids Management, Predictive Control and Estimation/Diagnosis;
• The 3rd semester at BTU will focus on Thermal Energy, Hydrogen, Storage and Integration in Power Grids.

Semester 4 is devoted to the Master’s thesis and can take place in any of the partner or associate HEI partner or in industry. It will enable the students to choose a specialisation in one particular field (Wind, Solar, Thermal, Storage, etc.) in order to be duly integrated into the working world in line with their professional objectives.
 

Winter/Summer Schools will be organised every year. These events will boost the students’ professional, entrepreneurship and soft skills, and will strengthen the RES network.

Download syllabus | EU-CORE at Centrale Nantes

M1 year - coming soon
M2 year - coming soon
 

The EU-CORE programme is open to holders of a university degree with the equivalent of 180 ECTS credits in the European system, comprising at least three years of studies, at Bachelor of Science level, in a field related to electrical engineering such as:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Process Engineering

Knowledge of automatic control is mandatory.

Applicants must have graduated before 31 July for non-European students and before 30 September for European students. They must speak and write English fluently. An applicant whose native language is not English is required to pass a recognized international English test:

• TOEFL (CBT 220, PBT 550, IBT 80),
• Cambridge Advanced English Test (B or higher),
• IELTS (6.5 or higher),
• TOEIC (800)

Scholarship opportunities

Erasmus Mundus scholarships covering tuition fees, living expenses and travel costs are available.
Applicants can also apply for a consortium scholarships covering part of the tuition fees.

Learn more: https://master-eu-core.ec-nantes.fr/admission/students/fees-scholarships

How to apply for EU-CORE

Apply online: https://eu-core.ec-nantes.fr/

The 1.5°C pathway put forward by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in its World Energy Transitions Outlook will lead globally to 30 million jobs by 2030 and 72 million jobs by 2050. It is expected that the renewable energy sector will start facing a skills shortfall from 2025 if the number of graduates in those topics does not rise. Students who complete the EU-CORE master’s programme will have combined knowledge to tackle issues in companies acting for energy transition:

• Renewable energy sources
• Power conversion
• Energy efficiency
• Smart grid management
• Energy storage and integration to power grids

Students with more theoretical skills will have a strong background to move in the research field, i.e., to start PhD in these challenging fields raised by the development of renewable energy sources.