Erasmus Mundus is a cooperation- and mobility program under the auspices of the European Community, and with a clear aim to make Europe world leading in higher education and research.
35 Erasmus Mundus master programmes have so far been established, and UiB is a partner in two of them. Four universities participate in European Joint Master in Water and Coastal Management, namely the universities of Cadíz (Spain), Algarve (Portugal), Plymouth (England), besides UiB, headed by the Centre for Studies of Environment and Resources.
Ten Norwegian and four foreign students are enrolled in the program, in addition to the twelve Erasmus Mundus students. Mkwetu Mweutota is one of them. She applied for UiB – in order to learn more about the coast of her own native country Namibia.
Great opportunity
– The Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre has lots of historical data on the Namibian coast, which is a great benefit to me. Bergen and UiB is perfect for someone like me, who studies aquaculture. UiB is world famous and leading in this field, and the expertise is better here than anywhere else.
Mweutota spent her first year of the master programme at the University of Algarve, Portugal. She is now in Bergen to write her paper, and is attached to the Department of Geography.
– I have a bachelor in aquaculture from Namibia, but there doesn’t exist any master programmes. This European master programme is a great opportunity to me, and I have really learnt a lot and also widened by perspectives.
At UiB she follows a course in GIS (Geographical Information System), a tool to analyse data for site selections.
– This is something valuable that I will bring back home and share with my fellow citizens. For the time being we have rather little aquaculture in Namibia. After finishing my studies, I want to return home to work for some years, and maybe afterwards I’ll take a PhD.
UiB is not like Namibian places of study, says Mweutota.
– Here the students constantly have opportunities to meet and discuss with experts. And there are computers all over, everything is available. So I feel really privileged to be a part of this university. Norwegians are very hospitable and helpful. All in all this is a great experience, but the programme takes lots of hard work, Mkwetu Mweutota points out.
New approaches
Russian Alexandra Ershova works on a PhD at the University of St. Petersburg, but when her supervisor tipped her about the Erasmus Mundus master programme, she went for it.
– The programme is closely linked to the things I want to investigate in my PhD, so this is a perfect opportunity to broaden the scope and find new approaches. Some of the things I learn here could clearly be used in my PhD.
Ershova chose to go to Bergen and UiB. In Russia she has studied the Baltic Sea and she says that the North Sea is related, and something she wanted to learn more about. She describes the city of Bergen as cosy and beautiful, and she has already started picking up the Norwegian language. To communicate is an important aspect of the programme, she feels. – Young people are like one nationality, so it’s easy to make friends. The Norwegian students on the programme are friendly and communicative.
More independent
But Norway is not quite like Russia. Especially the teaching plan can be quite different, Ershova points out.
– We don’t have to take notes her, because we are always offered hand-outs, which is really convenient. I already have a Russian master, so I am quite familiar with some of the subjects being taught, but they tend to focus on Norwegian case-studies, and this is really interesting. From Russia I’m used to lots of teaching, and also deeper teaching. The teacher will give you lots of information, so the students won’t have to read more than a book or two. This is not at all the case here. The teachers teach on general issues and give introductions to different topics, and the rest of it is self-study. I think this might be a good thing, since you become more independent, which is important if you want to continue with a PhD.
Practical work is important to Ershova. So far she has only been offered two field trips, and she hopes to see more during the next semester.
And there is this one thing that she still hasn’t become accustomed to: group work.
– I am not familiar with group work from Russia, and this is a challenge to me. Many things here are different from Russia, but that’s indeed one of the reasons why I’m here in the first place. It’s very interesting to see and experience different ways of organising studies, and also to meet people from so many different countries and cultures, says Alexandra Ershova.
Meets experts
Chienese Yongjin Xiao was about to conclude his bachelor courses this spring when his supervisor tipped him about the Erasmus Mundus master programme.
– It’s a very attractive programme. The opportunity to study at different European universities makes it even more interesting. Personally I’m interested in soccer, which makes Europe a better place to study than the US, Xiao chuckles. Just like Ershova and Mweutota he wants to write a paper about relevant issues from his homeland.
His impressions from Bergen are good. More than anything he is pleased with the availability of all sorts of technical remedies.
– Computers, library – everything is easily available here. Another benefit is that I learn how to speak English properly. In China English is basically for writing and reading, not for speaking. But the main reason for coming here is about quality in education. From China I’m used to one professor lecturing on different subjects, based on text books. Here we meet lots of different professors, experts within their specific fields, and in this way I feel that I get more and better information here.
After the master courses Xiao wants to take a PhD somewhere in Europe or in the US. Thereupon he’s planning on returning to friends and family back in China. If he by then is in a position to make a contribution to his homeland, this would be great, he says.
– The biggest problem with Norway?
– Food, lack of Chinese food. I have tried to make dinner myself, but I guess I’m not much of a chef after all, chuckles Yongjin Xiao.