Content

Aquaculture, the controlled production of aquatic (food) organisms, plays a crucial role in relieving the growing need for health, tasty and sustainably produced food. For decades, aquaculture sector is the fastest growing food production system globally and is the only option to reduce the pressure on levelling or declining wild fisheries.
The ever-continuing intensification in aquaculture systems, along with an increased production scale has, however, inevitably resulted in the increased occurrence of viral, bacterial or stress-related disease outbreaks. This calls for innovative solutions to be developed and implemented by appropriately trained experts. In order to respond to the need for an expert training in aquaculture health management, the AquaH consortium combines the expertise of the 4 European excellency centers in the field:

• Ghent University (UGent – coordinator), Belgium
• the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway
• Wageningen University - Aquaculture & Fisheries Group (WU), Netherlands
• Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Spain

Each partner has a long standing and strong reputation in aquaculture research, with a growing focus on health and disease management.

Learning Outcomes

Participants that successfully terminate the programme will be able to understand and control the interaction between aquaculture species and their environment, in order to produce robust and healthy animals with attention for epidemiologic, environmental and welfare regulations.

Structure

The programme offers 3 distinct learning lines, each addressing aquaculture health issues on a different level:

1. @ NTNU: relationship between the ecosystem and health
2. @ WU: preventing disease and maintaining adequate health, whilst minimising the impact on the environment
3. @ UAB/UB: the relationship between animal physiology and health

Mobility scheme of the programme

Courses

All course details will be available in the course catalogue early 2021.

• Course schedule* (pdf, 90kb)

* updated January 2021. This schedule is indicative; minor modifications are possible

Admission Requirements

1. Academic requirements

Candidates must:

1. • Hold a Bachelor's degree of 180ECTS (is equivalent to 3y) from a university or recognized equivalent
   • Demonstrate through their transcripts or records to have successfully acquired:
   • Basic science training in at least 5 out of 7 of the following fields: (i) Mathematics; (ii) Physics; (iii) Chemistry; (iv) Biochemistry; (v) Biology; (vi) Microbiology; (vii) Engineering
   • Statistics level 1 and 2*
     * see Wageningen University study guide for details

Some academic or professional background in aquaculture is highly recommended 

2. Language requirements

The applicant must be proficient in English. The English language proficiency can be met by providing a certificate (not older than 5 years) of one of the following tests:

• TOEFL IBT 80
• ACADEMIC IELTS 6,5 overall score with a min. of 6 for writing and 6 for speaking
• CEFR B2 Issued by a European university language centre
• ESOL CAMBRIDGE English CAE (Advanced)

TOEFL/IELTS predictive tests and TOEIC will not be accepted

Language of instruction is not accepted anymore, except for:

1. 1. applicants who have a diploma (Secondary Education, Academic Bachelor Degree, Master Degree) awarded by a recognised institution in the Flemish Community
   2. applicants who are nationals from or have obtained a bachelor and/or master degree in a higher education institute with English as mode of instruction in USA, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland or Canada, and in the latter case a certificate that the mode of instruction was English has to be submitted.

Application Procedure

Academic Admission

Apply for admission to the consortium and a scholarship via the eConsort online platform. Do respect the deadlines for academic admission.

1. First you need to register to the platform
2. You will then receive an email with a link where you can complete the application form.

For all questions in relation to the scholarship procedure and other questions regarding tuition fee, accommodation, visa matters, etc. please contact applications.itc@ugent.be.

After having submitted your application file in EConsort, your academic admissibility will be assessed. In case the outcome is positive, you will will receive a Letter of Admission (LoI) and you will have to complete your application by sending legalised copies of your Bachelor degree and Transcripts of Academic Records, as well as a valid language certificate to our offices. You will be informed via email throughout the application process on how to proceed.

More information about the legalisation procedure can be found here.

Application deadline

Study costs

Participation (tuition) cost

• for Programme* country students: 4.500€ per academic year
• for Partner* country students: 9.000 € per academic year

* Programme countries are: EU + Republic of North Macedonia, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Serbia.
Partner countries: all other countries.
For a detailed list of Partner and Programme Countries: check the pages of the Erasmus Mundus programme .

Estimated living & accommodation expenses

Check the cost of living in Ghent or at the European partner institute of your programme with the Numbeo site 
Note: figures tend to overestimate true costs for students. Our estimate: in Ghent € 850/month (minimum!)

Possibility of Erasmus Mundus Scholarships covering the tuition fee + 1000€ monthly allowance + up to 7000€ contribution to be used for travel and installation costs. Application for the scholarship is included in the online application.

Contact & Info

Questions on the application procedure: applications.itc@ugent.be
Questions on the programme content: aquah@ugent.be
Campus Coupure, Blok F
Coupure Links, 653 - 9000 Ghent, Belgium