New MSc-programme at the Faculty of Science - University of Copenhagen

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1 CB-møde nr. 28 Aftagerpanelet Bilag 11b New MSc-programme at the Faculty of Science - University of Copenhagen Climate Change, Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation by a cross-faculty working group: associate professor Bo Fritzbøger associate professor Jørgen Birk Mortensen professor Peter Pagh professor John Roy Porter associate professor Kjeld Rasmussen (chairman) April

2 Background The leadership of The University of Copenhagen has decided that a cross-faculty MSc-programme under the working title of Climate Change: Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation should be established. This may be seen as a consequence of the focus of the university on research into the field of climate change (CC), manifested in its strong research position in several sub-fields, including both the natural and social sciences. In addition, University of Copenhagen (UoC), as a member of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) has worked to promote collaboration on climate change research, resulting, among other things, in the organization of the Copenhagen Climate Conference in March The decision to establish CCIMA was followed by the appointment of a working group with the task to develop a proposal, describing the suggested objectives, structure and contents of CCIMA. The concept paper is intended to provide an input to a dialogue between The University of Copenhagen and the potential employers if graduates from the CCIMA-programme. Overall objectives The suggested new MSc programme, Climate Change: Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation, will aim at equipping the graduates with competences and knowledge within a wide range of CC-related fields, allowing them to contribute to addressing the strongly interdisciplinary tasks associated with understanding, predicting, mitigating and adapting to climate change, and qualifying them for the emerging job functions in government institutions, municipalities, companies, non-governmental organisations and academia associated with CC. Structure CCIMA is 2 year (120 ECTS) thesis-based MSc-programme which is accessible for students with a wide range of Bachelor-degrees. The suggested overall structure includes four elements: 1. Compulsory courses, forming the multi-disciplinary basis of the program Two 15 ECTS introductory courses, running in parallel over the first two blocks (September to January), representing the full range of subjects covered by CCMIA. One course is a web-based, the other includes lectures as well as project- and problemoriented group work. 2

3 2. Thematic courses and other CCIMA-associated study activities (45 ECTS) At least four 7.5 ECTS thematic courses must be selected from a list of 16 courses, listed below, allowing the students to specialize. Three lines of specialization are suggested (see below), yet the students are free to create their own profile by selecting courses from the list. Additional courses from the list of thematic courses. Other courses considered relevant to CCIMA (offered by UoC or other academic institutions). Summer-schools. CCIMA-relevant internships. 3. Free activities (15 ECTS) Study activities, at masters level, selected freely from the course catalogue of University of Copenhagen and other equivalent institutions. 4. Thesis Thesis (30 ECTS) within a CCIMA related theme, and supervised by a teacher accredited to CCIMA. The thesis may be done full time in the last two blocks of the second year of study (February-June), or part time and in parallel to course work or an internship over the full second year of study. Lines of specialization Students are advised (but not obliged) to follow lines of specialization, which offer a high degree of coherence between eligible thematic courses, and which lead to competence profiles corresponding to expected demands on the job market. Each of these lines of specialization have been designed with the view of giving graduates a well-defined competence profile. These are briefly outlined below. The lines of specialization are overlapping to some extent, and each of them includes more thematic courses than the minimum of four courses, which each student must follow. A line of specialization line may be chosen because it fits well with the Bachelor-degree of the student. If a student chooses a specialization in a domain very different from that of his/her Bachelor-degree, it may take an extra effort on the side of the student, yet all thematic courses are open to all students admitted into CCIMA, irrespective of the field of student s Bachelor-degree. The thematic courses will be designed to balance the need to maintain a high level and the need to allow participation of students with backgrounds from other disciplines. 3

4 The following lines of specialization are suggested: A. Climate change: Natural science aspects. The courses suggested as logical elements of this specialization are the courses 1-7 and 16 B. Climate change: Socio-economic and environmental science aspects. The courses suggested as logical elements of this specialization are 4-7, 9-10, 12 and 16 C. Climate change: Social science and cultural aspects. The courses suggested as logical elements of this specialization are 9-16 Competence profiles and the job market Graduates from CCIMA are expected to fit into a range of job functions in the expanding job market related to CC impacts, mitigation and adaptation, in government institutions, local communities, consultancy companies, NGOs and academia. The competences demanded on the market are expected to vary widely, from a strong focus on natural science aspects to a similarly strong focus on social science and cultural aspects. CCIMA will attempt to combine the need for a broad overview, encompassing all the fields mentioned, with the need for graduates with strong competences within each specific domain. This will be done by allowing students to specialize. While the specializations will be designed by the students themselves, the abovementioned three lines of specialization will be offered as guidance to students. It should be noted that CCIMA is not intended to respond to very specialized demands, e.g. for climate modellers, economic modellers or experts in climate law. Such demands are best met by the traditional disciplines. The lines of specialization point have been designed to produce graduates with competence profiles and potential job opportunities: A. Climate change: Natural science aspects. The graduates having followed this line of specialization are expected to be able to overview the complex interactions between the different components of the Earth System, including physical, chemical and biological systems use this insight in activities concerning prediction of climate change impacts have the capacity to contribute to designing relevant mitigation actions, and provide qualified contributions to teaching and outreach activities concerning natural science aspects of climate change. B. Climate change: Socio-economic and environmental science aspects 4

5 The graduates having followed this line of specialization are expected to be able to overview the complex interactions between the climate system, ecological systems and social systems, assess the vulnerability, adaptive capacity and social resilience of societies and communities exposed to climate change, contribute to planning of climate change adaptation activities at all scales from the national to the local community, and provide qualified contributions to teaching and outreach activities concerning socio-economic and environmental aspects of climate change. C. Climate change: Social science and cultural aspects The graduates having followed this line of specialization are expected to be able to overview the current systems of climate change governance and analyze economic and political aspects of climate change, including also the issues related to international relations and security, place the current discussions of climate change and their impacts in a historical context, analyze and deconstruct the scientific, ethical and political discourses associated with climate change, and provide qualified contributions to teaching and outreach activities concerning legal, social science and cultural aspects of climate change. The compulsory, introductory cross-disciplinary courses The first two blocks of the MSc-program (30 ECTS) are occupied by two introductory courses, both running over two blocks: A. Climate change: A cross-disciplinary challenge This course will include lectures as well as project- and problem-oriented group work under supervision of a cross-faculty group of climate change experts. The course will be organized around four themes: Understanding the Earth System and climate change Economic, political and governance aspects of climate change Mitigation of climate change and transformation of energy systems and land use Climate change seen from science studies and ethical perspectives 5

6 B. The web-based Climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation course This course is presently offered by LIFE. The course covers a wide range of natural and social science aspects of climate change and it draws upon expertise from five faculties. The two courses are coordinated to constitute a coherent and broadly covering introduction to the themes of CCIMA, using a wide variety of teaching methods. Further, the courses will allow students to be exposed to much of the expertise on climate change at the UoC. List of thematic courses The thematic courses listed below have all except two been designed specifically for the CCIMA program. This is due to the fact that few existing courses at Masters level allow participation from students coming with Bachelor degrees from substantially different disciplines. The criteria for suggesting these courses, among the many possible and desirable courses which might be envisaged, are (a) that there should be a strong scientific base at UoC for the course in question, (b) that the courses, seen as a whole, should span the most important scientific fields in relation to climate change as a research subject, (c) the courses, again seen as a whole, should allow students to design their own coherent competence profile, irrespective of their background, and (d) that there should be an expressed will to contribute to CCIMA within the research groups which are expected to develop and organize the courses. 1. CC mechanisms and climate models 2. Climate models, observations and projected climate change, tipping points and sea level rise 3. Paleo-climatology 4. Energy systems and CC mitigation 5. CC and water resources 6. CC and land use 7. CC and biodiversity 8. CC and biogeochemical cycles 9. The economics of CC 10. CC adaptation, vulnerability and resilience 11. CC, international relations and security 12. Global environmental governance 13. CC and the Law 14. Climate and history 15. The culture of CC 16. Summer-school: Climate change scenario building 6

7 Requirements for access to CCIMA Access to CCIMA is open to students holding a bachelor degree in a relevant discipline, with above average grades, from a recognized university. Relevant disciplines include the natural sciences, agricultural science, medical science, the social sciences, the humanities and Law. English skills corresponding to standard demands for MSc programme are required and must be documented. A maximum number of students of 60 will be allowed into the program. A committee will evaluate the applicants qualifications, and in case not all qualified can be admitted due to resource restrictions, the committee will prioritize the applicants on the basis of objective criteria. It should be noted that UoC will strive to make CCIMA a truly inter-disciplinary program, and a balance between students with different disciplinary backgrounds will therefore be sought. The applicants will not be requested to sign up for the line of specialization when enrolled. During the first two blocks, all students will be introduced to the full range of themes covered by CCIMA, giving them a basis for selecting a line of specialization or creating their own by combining thematic courses in innovative ways. However, it should be noted that an extra effort on the side of the students is required, if they choose to follow thematic courses far from their own background. Students will be offered advice when selecting their line of specialization and thematic courses. Further, it should be noted that the suggested structure of CCIMA implies that students will only be able to commence CCIMA once a year, since the joint introductory courses will only be held in block 1 and 2. Recruitment potential of CCIMA CCIMA is expected to appeal to students from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. While the study of CC used to be a natural science subject, it is increasingly seen as including a much wider range of disciplines, and the international scientific literature on CC is extremely diverse in terms of the disciplines contributing. Also, students increasingly appear to wish to master many aspects of CC and see them as strongly interacting. A program such as CCIMA will certainly appeal to those feeling that the individual disciplines offer an insufficient basis for understanding and addressing the issues involved in CC, including its impacts on human livelihoods and on natural ecosystems, the technological solutions involved in mitigation, the social responses to CC (at all levels from the global to the household), as well as its cultural connotations. The recruitment potential is likely to overlap with many individual disciplines, yet it may be assumed that the overlaps with masters programs in disciplines such as geography, biology, agricultural science, political science and anthropology are particularly significant. The overlaps 7

8 may be expected to be smaller with disciplines such as geo-physics and -chemistry and economics, as well as with medical science, Law and most of the humanistic disciplines. CCIMA is expected to become part of the Copenhagen Masters of Excellence (COME) program, as it builds upon strong research positions at UoC, as well as on collaborative links with other IARU universities. This also implies that the recruitment of students is expected to be highly international. The potential job-market for CCIMA candidates There is little empirical evidence allowing an analysis of the potential job-market for CCIMA graduates. However, there has been a strong growth in the demand for people filling posts directly related to climate change issues in ministries, local municipalities, consultancy companies, as well as industrial and agricultural enterprises, NGOs, international organizations, media and research institutions. Many of these new jobs are expected to require generalists with a broad view of many aspects of CC. CCIMA will aim at producing graduates for this niche. It should be noted that since the recruitment of students is likely to be highly international, the job market will be international/global as well. Relations to other masters programs of UoC, and the implications for these programs of the establishment of CCIMA Many Masters-programs of UoC include courses on CC, as documented in the mapping of climaterelated courses carried out in However, these programs seldom offer more than a few courses on CC. Thus, the implications for these programs are expected to be limited. The potential loss of students in these programs, due to the establishment of CCIMA, e.g. in Geography and at the Faculty of Life Sciences, is expected to be balanced by the extra inflow of external students, taking CC-related masters courses offered as part of CCIMA. Similar programs at other universities Masters programs on CC may be found in many universities. In most cases programs are, however, narrow in terms of the themes covered, relative to CCIMA. Among the broadest in scope, the program at Australian National University should be mentioned ( Most programs are anchored in cross-disciplinary centers/schools ( environmental studies, earth system science or sustainability science ). 8