The three key experiences within MSc EMINE are international, practical and entrepreneurship. Studying and living abroad in two main European universities and cities was, indeed, one of the most relevant reason why I, personally, applied for the programme. Current in my 2nd year, I can reaffirm that my goal was reached and I am everyday in contact with different cultures and like-minded people from distinct backgrounds - and the values and skills developed out of this experience cannot be teach in any classroom.
Concerning the education itself, it is extremely interesting for us, young students, to learn, understand and provide possible solutions to address modern energy challenges in real world-approach projects. Truly, my 1st year in Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, UPC, was mainly lead by assignments rather than exams which reflects a positive interested of the programme to graduate students that can actually deal with the requirements of the market. In addition, the constant presence of industry stakeholders in the classroom and the several events we participated outside the university were a plus on consolidating our knowledge towards nuclear energy.
Before InnoEnergy I was quite skeptical about the opportunities of innovation within the nuclear industry. However, although still limited when compared to the renewables generation energies, the actual nuclear industry does have engaging projects aiming to diversify the dominant Light Water Reactors (LWRs) market. And here, it is emphasized the commitment of MSc EMINE on providing an entrepreneurial training for its students. For this, the Grenoble Summer School suits perfectly by addressing energy challenges through managerial and innovation skills.
Overall, being part of the InnoEnergy community is a boost to your personal and professional life. Not only the programme itself but all the events promoted by Innoenergy and its partners must be wisely exploited as tools for the student’s formation. Thus, it is also the student responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by this involving experience.
What would you improve about this program?
As the programme has its students splitted in 2 different locations, it would be enriching to promote a meeting for them to interact right in the beginning of the 1st academic year. Indeed, it is something experienced by other InnoEnergy Master’s programmes and deeply powerful as reviewed by the students. At the end, the whole idea of establishing and promoting a community is not well developed for the MSc EMINE as the students only meet after 1st year for the Summer School. By that time it is perhaps a bit too late for the students who were the whole year apart to connect and merge naturally and thus, possibly compromising their performance when working in teams and providing interesting outputs from the proposed activities.