Back The UPF coordinates a new Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Artificial Intelligence that will be launched in the academic year 2023-2024

The UPF coordinates a new Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Artificial Intelligence that will be launched in the academic year 2023-2024

The new international postgraduate programme funded by the European Commission is the first of this kind to be coordinated by UPF. It is offered jointly with the University of Rome Sapienza (Italy), Radboud University (Netherlands), and the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia).

17.01.2023

Imatge inicial

Next academic year, 2023-2024, Pompeu Fabra University will offer the new Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Artificial Intelligence (EMAI). It is a two-year programme (120 ECTS) that provides a comprehensive framework of theory and practice in the field of AI. The joint master, organized by four European research universities, the University of Rome Sapienza (Italy), Radboud University (Netherlands), and the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), under the leadership of UPF, will provide students with the basic knowledge needed to explore both the key contextual areas and the complex technical applications of AI systems.

The four universities driving the new master are leading academic institutions at the forefront of research in Europe in the area of Artificial Intelligence. In addition, the consortium has prestigious partner centres, such as the Centre for Artificial Intelligence at University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom.

Vicenç Gómez, professor at the UPF Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC) and coordinator of the master, emphasizes that “being the coordinating university for the first time of an Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in AI has been possible thanks to the excellence in AI research of our department on an international level”.

The EMAI curriculum provides knowledge of the main paradigms of AI (machine learning and symbolic reasoning), as well as their application in specific domains, such as robotics or cybersecurity

The EMAI curriculum provides knowledge of the main paradigms of AI (machine learning and symbolic reasoning), as well as their application in specific domains, such as robotics or cybersecurity. The EMAI is a research-oriented master where students will not only acquire the skills to use existing technologies, but will also learn to innovate and develop new ones.

The programme is structured into four semesters and all students will study the first at UPF, in Barcelona. The second semester, which brings the first year to a close, will be taken at any of the other three organizing universities (in Italy, Holland or Slovenia). From the second year, students will be able to choose between the four universities of the consortium depending on their area of specialization of preference:

  • Smart decision-making – Pompeu Fabra University
  • Robotics – University of Rome Sapienza
  • Cybersecurity – Radboud University
  • Data science – University of Ljubljana

The specialization also involves carrying out a master’s thesis project, working closely in an academic environment with one of the research groups of the four universities, or with one of the associated partners, which include 17 industrial partners.

Students of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Artificial Intelligence will also participate in two specific events during their training. On the one hand, the summer school organized by the UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence, where they will be trained in entrepreneurship and have the opportunity to meet industrial experts from companies with great technical expertise in Artificial Intelligence. And on the other, the three-day event that will be held during the spring at one of the four driving universities where first and second year students will meet and take part in debates on the responsible use and development of AI, as well as aspects of European standards and regulations.

A Master with a powerful scholarship programme of its own

The master is funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, which provides economic support over six years. Among others, it offers full scholarships that cover the cost of the programme and a monthly allowance of €1,400 over the two-year duration of the master’s degree to cover transport, accommodation and living expenses.

The first Erasmus Mundus Joint Master coordinated by UPF

Pompeu Fabra University is already participating in three Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, linked to the Social Sciences: Law and Economics, coordinated by the Erasmus University of Rotterdam; European Politics and Society, coordinated by the Charles University of Prague; and Sports, Ethics and Integrity, coordinated by the Catholic University of Leuven.

This will be the first time UPF is to lead the consortium that teaches a master of these characteristics, thus consolidating the positioning of the University internationally and helping it to be an even more significant benchmark in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

For Vicenç Gómez, “coordinating the EMAI is quite a challenge that requires the work of many people from different areas of the University: academic management, the international office, promotion, teachers, etc. It is a task that often requires breaking the established moulds and making possible what was not previously possible”.


 

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