EACH – Excellence in Analytical Chemistry

Award Criteria

A - Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses (EMMCs)

The information below provides guidance on the type and scope of information to be provided by applicants under each of the five EMMC award criteria. Applicants should provide full but concise information on each point. Answers to the questions in italics should form part of this information. The information provided by applicants on the five EMMC award criteria should not exceed 25 pages in total (Font 11 - Times New Roman).

A.1  Academic quality - Course content (30 % of the max. score)

Under this award criterion applicants have to present the objectives of their EMMC proposal from an academic point of view and its possible contribution to the excellence, innovation and competitiveness of the European Higher Education sector.

A.1.1  Describe the EMMC objectives (including in socio-economic terms) in relation to the needs analysis in the field(s) concerned.
To what extent is the EMMC offer justified (notably in terms of inter/multi-disciplinary or newly emerging fields), and how is it linked to identified needs in a European and worldwide context?

A large fraction (estimated as 25% to as high as 70% by different surveys)[1],[2] of the chemistry master's degree holders are worldwide employed within the area of analytical chemistry. Analytical chemists who are responsible for the analysis results, quality assurance and technical issues in industry, in government bodies and in research have an important impact on the society. Decision making thus relies on the results produced by analytical chemists and they carry a tremendous responsibility in society.

During the recent years significant changes have been and still are taking place in the measurement, testing and analysis community all over the world. The importance of chemical analyses is constantly increasing. It has been estimated that measurements and chemical analyses[3] make up 4-6% of the GDP in developed countries.[4] More and more legal acts are issued that concern measurements and chemical analyses, thus chemical analysis is very important from the legal perspective. Fully functional quality system, accredited according to international standards (most often ISO/IEC 17025:2005 or GLP in the case of laboratories) is now a must in many areas (food, environmental, healthcare, citizen safety, hi-tech production, etc) where the laboratories are active. In addition to rigorous documentation the new requirements also include serious demands to the technical quality of measurements and analyses: measurement uncertainty of analysis results must be adequately evaluated, traceability of analysis results must be demonstrated, etc. A number of novel analytical techniques have emerged: LC-MS for trace organic contaminants, ICP-MS for trace elements, different sensors, etc. All these changes have led to very good employment perspectives of analytical chemists as evidenced by a recent review.[5]

The changes have been rapid and up to now the higher education sector (in the whole world) has generally been unable to respond adequately to the needs of the chemical analysis community. This is indicated above all by the lacking or insufficient coverage of the metrology topics (such, as traceability, measurement uncertainty, etc) in the study programmes. As an indication of the situation, it has been estimated that between 5 and 30% of the results of interlaboratory comparison measurements (the primary means for laboratories to assess and demonstrate their competence) contain large systematic errors and are incorrect.[6],[7] The strong need is also very well indicated by the high popularity of the related practitioner training courses Europe-wide, e.g. the TrainMiC programme.[8]

The EACH programme has been designed with the main objective to fill this gap by providing the "full package" education in analytical chemistry – on the one hand the fundamentals, metrological and quality assurance aspects, and on the other hand practical skills in specific methods of analytical chemistry. The students graduating from the programme will have both strong fundamental knowledge of analytical chemistry and measurement science as well as applied knowledge on the methods and their usage, as well as on the socio-economic aspects of chemical analysis.@Please comment!

All four partner countries are at the Baltic Sea and thus the programme also supports fulfilling the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region,[9] which has internationalization, collaboration between universities and mobility among its main objectives.

A.1.2  Explain the EMMC's added value compared with existing masters courses in the same field at national, European and international level.
To what extent will this added value contribute to European university excellence, innovation and competitiveness, and, if applicable, to the cooperation expectations of the non European partner countries?

All consortium universities have long-standing collaboration traditions with industry and laboratories (see A.1.6 for details) and the EACH programme has been developed in close collaboration with practitioners. EACH thus addresses besides the "classical" analytical chemistry also areas that have emerged during the last decade: metrology in chemistry (MiC) as a core sub-discipline of analytical chemistry and socio-economical aspects of analytical chemistry.

There are other master's programmes in analytical chemistry in Europe. However, programmes similar to the EACH programme are virtually missing. EACH differs from the other analytical chemistry programmes by the inclusion of the following two modules (in addition to the main analytical chemistry part, see programme layout in Annex 1): (1) a metrology module (traceability, measurement uncertainty, etc) and (2) a socio-economical module. These modules contain knowledge that has become especially important for analysis laboratories during the last decade, but is still rarely found in analytical chemistry programmes in Europe.

This combination of (1) and (2) is the key to the excellence of this programme and it has become possible thanks to the complementarity of the competences and research areas of the partners (see A.1.3).

We are convinced that emergence of the well-integrated and labour-market-oriented EACH programme increases the competitiveness of the European higher education in the field of analytical chemistry.

The closest international master's programme by its topic is EMQAL – European Master for Quality in Analytical Laboratories. According to its web page "EMQAL is a master course for laboratory managers and scientists who wish to implement and manage Quality Systems in analytical laboratories, or work in Quality System environments in accredited analytical laboratories". EMQAL differs from EACH in two important ways: (1) it rather focuses on quality management than on analytical chemistry and (2) it is targeted to working practitioners rather than recently graduated bachelor degree holders seeking for options to pursue studies in analytical chemistry.

A.1.3  Present the structure and content of the EMMC and justify the added value and relevance of the mandatory mobility component.
What will be the course structure and main teaching topics? To what extent do the course topics/structure/modules justify their relevance in relation with the course objectives and the needs of the field(s)?
How is the students' mobility relevant and instrumental to the course's purposes? If applicable, explain how the internship / placement / fieldwork activities fit in the joint course model and objectives.

The programme includes 120 ECTS credits, which are divided as shown in the module scheme outline (See the Annex 1 for the full module scheme):

Module scheme outline@teha need outcomid pikemaks

module name and volume / Learning outcomes of the modules
YEAR 1 60 ECTS / University of Tartu
General analytical chemistry module (27) / Student acquires the basic knowledge and skills in analytical chemistry:
(1) General principles of chemical analysis: chemical analysis workflow, analysis procedures, their characteristics.
(2) Main methods of chemical analysis (gravimetry, titrimetry, electrochemistry, chromatography, mass spectrometry, optical spectroscopic methods) and the underlying processes (precipitation, chemical equilibria, quantum and electronic processes in atoms and molecules).
(3) Analysis objects and samples, principles and main methods of sample preparation (digestion, extraction, etc).
Metrology module (9) / Student acquires the knowledge and practical skills in metrology and its applications to analytical chemistry (metrology in chemistry).
Socio-economical module (15) / Student acquires the socio-economical knowledge of analytical chemistry, quality management and language skills.
Elective module (9) / Student acquires additional knowledge according to his/her interests. Also the levelling course in chemistry is included in this module. In the beginning of the first semester there is an introductory test to identify students of lower level who will need the levelling course.
YEAR 2 60 ECTS
University of Oulu
Inorganic and physical chemistry module (15) / Student acquires a wide knowledge of the background chemistry areas that are needed to understand chemical and physical properties of elements and compounds and their reactivity. This is needed to get a profound understanding of analytical systems, e.g. sample preparation and spectroscopy.
Trace elements analysis module (10) / Student obtains theoretical background and practical skills in trace element analysis using various instrumental techniques as well as basic skills for common statistical methods and statistical experimental design.
Finnish language (5) / Student acquires basic skills of the Finnish language
University of Uppsala
Open advanced course in chemistry with focus on separation and mass spectrometry (15) / The module will give practical and theoretical knowledge and skills of modern analytical separation and detection methods with emphasis on mass spectrometry
Applied chemical analysis of complex samples (10) / To obtain practical skills of analysis of different complex objects, related to the master's thesis topic.
Swedish language (5) / Student acquires basic skills of the Swedish language
Åbo Akademi UNIVERSITY
Electroanalysis module (25) / Student acquires theoretical background and practical knowledge in electrochemistry and chemical sensors. Modern design and fabrication of electrochemical sensors are emphasized in laboratory exercises and seminars where student also becomes familiar with analytical chemistry research.
Finnish or Swedish language (5) / Student acquires basic skills of the Finnish or Swedish language
All second year universities
Master's thesis (30) / Student develops practical skills in planning, executing and reporting of scientific research in the field of analytical chemistry. An important preparatory element of the master's thesis is the winter school consisting of short courses, discussions with professors and presentations by students about the progress of their master's theses.

@Partneritelt nimetuste kohta.

The students spend their first study year at UT (also referred to as a home university) learning the fundamentals of analytical chemistry (including the mainstream practical skills for working in an analytical laboratory), analytical quality and metrology in chemistry as well as the socio-economic aspects of analytical chemistry. These fields are particularly strong at UT. Start at UT ensures solid fundament for the students' analytical chemistry education.

The second year is more application-oriented and is spent either at UO, UU or AAU (also referred to as host universities). Each of these universities is strong in one of the branches of applied analytical chemistry:

-  UO: trace element determination, atomic spectroscopy, especially as applied to environmental and food analysis.

-  UU: organic and bio-analysis, separation methods and mass spectrometry, especially as applied to biological objects.

-  AAU: Electrochemical sensors and advanced analytical instrumentation.

The "educational pathway" of EACH is as follows:

The two-week winter school is held in January of each study year. It includes (1) short courses on novel and timely topics of analytical chemistry and metrology in chemistry delivered by external scholars, (2) presentations by second year students on the progress of their master theses and (3) presentations of the professors and teachers of UU, UO and AAU on the specialization possibilities offered at the second year universities and potential master's thesis topics. From every university at least two members of academic staff will participate at each winter school.

Students will be assigned to second year universities based on (1) their preference, (2) study results of the first semester and (3) on the number of second year students that UU, UO and AAU can take. Principles of nominating students to host universities: Students are ranked according to their study results of the 1st semester at UT. The students are distributed between the 2nd year universities according to their preferences and their ranks (evaluated jointly by the consortium): the better the results of the first semester, the more likely that the student can continue the studies at the desired university. The students can choose the master's thesis topics according to their rankings (higher ranking enables wider choice).

This complementarity of the strengths between UT and the second year universities justifies the mandatory mobility – only by studying at two consortium universities is it possible to get both the solid fundamental analytical chemistry education and the strong practical application component. @Iga partneri juures veel rohkem rõhutada, mis see partner toob.

As a practical discipline analytical chemistry involves a lot of practical and field work. A part of that will be done with the help of associated members and is explained in section A.1.6.

Master thesis is a scientific or applied research project in the volume of 30 ECTS. Some master's theses topics are performed at university and some are performed in the facilities of the associated members. In the latter case the thesis is jointly supervised by a staff member of the university (or universities, in case the topic is proposed jointly by two universities) and a supervisor at the associated member.

A.1.4  Justify the learning outcomes relevance in view of the students' future academic opportunities (e.g. at doctorate level) and employability.

The students who graduate from EACH have excellent possibilities to continue they career either in doctoral studies or in employment by private or public sector. Upon completion of the EACH programme, the student:

1. Has systematic understanding of the physical, chemical and metrological foundations, factors, affecting the results, methods for calculating and presenting of results and evaluating their quality for the widespread chemical analysis methods.

2. Has systematic understanding of quality systems, economic and legal aspects of chemical analysis.

3. Has the basic skills to work with the widespread analysis and sample preparation techniques and tuning them according to specific procedures and optimize measurement and analysis procedures, making data evaluation and sampling@vaadata veel

4. Is able to define the problem, choose the methods, test them and apply corrective actions in one of the subfields of analytical chemistry: