Ghent University, Belgium (Coordinator)
University or Natural Resources and Life Science, Austria
Aarhus University, Denmark
University of Goettingen, Germany
International Master of Science in Soils and Global Change (IMSOGLO)
Why IMSOGLO?
Increased population pressure, industrialisation and intensive land use are causing depletion of natural resources and are limiting the performance of land with respect to its functions such as biomass production, carbon sequestration, water purification, etcetera. The additive effects of climate change and the above-mentioned aspects of global change influence the capacity of soils to regenerate and may even cause soil degradation.
The future capacity of soils to support (human) life is at stake. Programmes have been developed to protect the environment and to increase ecosystem resilience. Numerous directives on soil response to external pressures have been developed and implemented. A wealth of scientific knowledge is available but dispersed due to the specialisation of research groups, which makes it difficult for students to follow a focused curriculum on soils and global change at any individual university.
The Programme
The International Master of Science in Soils and Global Change (IMSOGLO) programme aims at teaching the knowledge, tools, technologies and applications in the context of soils and global change by bringing together the expertise of research groups at 4 renown EU universities:
- Ghent University;
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Vienna);
- University of Göttingen;
- Aarhus University.
2 Tracks
The programme has two specialization options of 90 ECTS, to be chosen in advance (at application time) and to start after the 1st semester (30 ECTS).
- Specialization “Soil biogeochemistry and global change” is organized by Ghent University, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna and the University of Göttingen and leads to a joint MSc-diploma issued by these 3 universities.
- Specialization “Physical land resources and global change” is organized by Ghent University and Aarhus University, and leads to a joint MSc-diploma issued by these 2 universities.
Why again?
- You want to know what it takes to save our soils from degradation, how to make soils resilient to climate change and how to make soils healthy again. In short: you want to be a future researcher or policy maker with impact.
- You’re looking for a unique educational experience, in which you attend several higher education institutes and live in at least two countries.
- You want to join an Erasmus Mundus program, of which impact studies have proven the added value in terms of graduate employability, intercultural competence and foreign language skills.
- You want to attend the Universities of Ghent, of Aarhus, of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna and of Göttingen, who have joined their expertise to develop the only European Master of Science programme on Soils and Global Change.
Admission requirements
Academic requirements
- In order to enter the IMSOGLO programme you need to have at least an academic bachelor degree (minimum 180 ECTS credits) in pure or applied sciences (e.g., chemistry, biology, geology, civil or agricultural engineering, environmental or agricultural sciences, etc.) or an equivalent level from a recognised university or engineering college.
- The obtained bachelor degree must contain at least 40 ECTS credits in natural sciences (physics, chemistry, mathematics, ecology, biology, geography, environmental sciences and agricultural sciences).
Language requirements
Accepted official language test certificates:
- TOEFL IBT (at least total score of 90 out of 120)
- Academic IELTS (overall band score of at least 6.5 with at least 6 for writing)
- Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE)
- ‘Language of instruction certificate’ under certain circumstances: https://imsoglo.eu/admission-criteria/
About the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University
The faculty of Bioscience Engineering is one of the 11 faculties of Ghent University.
The faculty is strongly dedicated to
international education, welcoming an average of 350 international students from 100 different nationalities each academic year, on a total amount of almost 3000 students. The focal research topic of the faculty is
the living matter in all its diversity.
The research domains are clustered around Natural Capital, Sustainable Primary Production, Food and Health, Green Chemistry, Bio-Economy, Clean Environmental Technology, Biotechnology and Data-Analysis. Our research excellence is the basis of top-quality education and
high international rankings.
The faculty of Bioscience Engineering of UGent is top 12-ranked for Agricultural Sciences (QS Ranking, NTU Ranking, Shangai Ranking) and positioned 51 for Life Sciences according to the Times Higher Education Ranking.
Alumni of our international master programmes get a broad range of career options as entrepreneurs, policy makers and research experts.
The faculty is located in the
city of Ghent: a charming, medieval, multi-cultural city with 300.000 inhabitants and home to 77.000 students. 45,000 of those are students of Ghent University, of which our faculty is part.
The city centre of Ghent is a low emission zone with car-free parts and Ghent is a worldwide forerunner in the promotion of sustainable food.
Other courses offered by Ghent University
Master of Science in Aquaculture
Master of Science in Environmental Science and Technology
Master of Science in Health Management in Aquaculture
Master of Science in Nutrition and Rural Development
Master of Science in Physical Land Resources for Sustainable Land Management
Master of Science in Rural Development
Master of Science in Sustainable and Innovative Natural Resource Management
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