If you are planning on studying the EIT InnoEnergy Master’s in Renewable Energy or are already a student asking yourself this question, you need to read this!
Choosing subjects is always challenging. Many of them sound interesting, you fear missing out if you make the wrong choice. Perhaps you are interested in a particular topic but fear it might be too time intensive, challenging or even feel influenced by your peers’ selection. Don’t worry, here are some tips based on my experience.
I recently graduated from Master’s in Renewable Energy with my first year in Barcelona (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) and my second year in Stockholm (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) so I had to make this choice myself!
How to choose
You can select two out of the four partner universities as study location. Your second-year choice will depend on the specialisation that interests you. For example, UPC focuses on solar photovoltaics while IST focuses on wind power. So, the first step for you is looking into what the different universities offer and the courses available.
Once you chose the university, select your favourite subjects. Look into the agenda and the content and if in doubt, reach out to the professors listed. They are always open to help and can give you a better overview of what will be covered during the lectures.
You can also ask your colleagues! Get on the phone or invite a former student for coffee and ask them about their experience. They can give you a different perspective and even share some tips about how to structure your study year, how big is the workload and describe how the deliverables and the exams look like.
Remember to check how the subject is evaluated and if the schedule works for you. If you prefer to be more hands on, look for group projects. But if you’d rather work at your own pace, look for an option that has only a final exam and individual deliverables – I recommend combining both. Make sure to count the number of ECTS credits you have available and match that with the subjects in a way that makes sense.
Studying Year 1 at UPC
The academic year in UPC is divided in 2 semesters, autumn (Q1) and spring (Q2) semester, with 30 ECTS each. During the first year, most of the subjects are mandatory, you can choose two electives for Q1 and one for Q2. There are many options, but the most popular subjects are Wind Power and Solar Photovoltaics – and those were the ones I chose as well. Both are great, and they give you an excellent foundation of the two main renewable energy sources. The lectures are dynamic, with group projects that allow you to put into practice what you learned during the lectures. During the Wind Power course, you even have the chance to present one of your projects to EDPR (EIT InnoEnergy industry partner), during their University Challenge.
Other options available are Hydrogen & fuel cells, Energy storage, Smart Grids, Integration of Renewables in the Energy Grid or Solar Thermal Energy, amongst others.
Studying Year 2 at KTH
During the first semester you can choose from a list with diverse electives and on the second semester you focus on your master thesis, which can be done at the university or as an internship with a company.
At KTH, the list of electives is very extensive. In my case, I chose:
- Energy System Economics, Modelling & Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development: great course, perfect complement to an engineering background. As deliverables, you must read papers that give you the necessary foundation so that you can follow the lectures.
- Achieving Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings: Highly practical course in which you must carry out an energy efficiency audit of a building in KTH campus. It was very different from what I’m used to, and I really enjoyed the change! The picture of this article was taken during the audit!
- Practical Energy Network Optimization: It consists of two group projects. It involves a lot of coding (mainly python), so only for those who have previous knowledge and experience with it or who are motivated to learn at a fast pace.
Other subjects available are Global Energy Markets, Green Buildings, Advanced Refrigeration & Heat Pump Technology, Energy Policy or Wind Energy Aerodynamics. There are plenty of options to choose from and you can even consider courses from other master’s programmes.
Want to know more?
You can find the information about the electives on both UPC and KTH’s websites. Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions about a particular subject! And if you are studying at IST or École Polytechnique you can contact me as well and I can point you to other students or alumni who will be more than happy to help.
by Alba Forns, EIT InnoEnergy Master School graduate
Virtual Open Day: winter edition
22 February 2022. 16.00 CET. Want to find out what it’s like to study with us? Join EIT InnoEnergy Master School Virtual Open Day to explore your future study destination while meeting the universities, our staff and speaking to current students and graduates! With guest presenters from UPC: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (Spain) and TU/e: Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands) you’ll learn what it’s like being an EIT InnoEnergy student!