A grant worth EUR 2 650 000 has been awarded by the European Union (EU) for a new international Masters degree in Sustainable Development for which UJ’s Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies is one of the collaborating partners.

Of 98 applications for funding by the EU, only 23 were granted and the coursework Masters Degree in Sustainable Development, which is to be presented over a two-year period, was one of them. The first intake will be in 2017 with most of this grant going towards funding 16 to 20 students per year for the grant’s duration.

UJ’s Prof Nico Kotze said the students will commence their studies at the University of Padova (Italy) for the first six months, then continue their studies at Paris 1 in France, and the third quarter will be spent studying at the KU Leuven in Belgium. “In the final six months the students have a choice to complete their studies at UJ, or in Cairo and Sau Paolo. In this final six months a minor dissertation and an internship will be handled by the partners in South Africa, Egypt and Brazil.”

Students from UJ students will have to apply for and compete against students from all over the world to obtain these very lucrative bursaries that cover their tuition fees and subsistence for two years. “The students who will choose to complete their final six months at UJ will conduct their studies and research in Sustainable Urban Development,” Prof Kotze said.