International Master of Science in Advanced Design of Sustainable Ships and Offshore Structures

The demand for highly qualified engineers is higher than ever. This is even more true in the globalized maritime and offshore market which is at the dawn of massive challenges and, luckily, opportunities. The energy transition, not only for vessels but also to create offshore energy for land based locations, is but a single but important example.

The combined expertise of the seven core partners of the EMship programme, complemented with the strong background of the associated universities, comes together in this programme with global impact and state-of-the-art insights on the rapid technological evolution in the fields of naval architecture, maritime technology and offshore engineering.

Student will acquire the necessary analytical reasoning, scientific and technical skills and competences to help move the maritime world towards a greener transportation mode and towards a safer and sustainable maritime transportation/navigation. Graduates will be able to meet the growing demand from companies for engineers with up-to-date competences and societal challenges related to global warming: need for energy saving, renewable energy sources, more efficient and less polluting means of transport…

The two-year programme consists of four semesters of 30 ECTS each. The first year (2 semesters) is offered at Ghent University, Belgium, and in parallel at Universitatea “Dunărea de Jos” din Galați, Romania. In the second master’s year, students can choose from five universities, each with its specific nuance and expertise:

• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM, Spain): focus on Offshore Wind and Renewable Marine Energy
• University of Rostock (URO, Germany): focus on Shipbuilding, Ship Technology and Ocean Engineering
• Ecole Centrale de Nantes (ECN, France): focus on Ship Hydrodynamics
• University of Liège (ULiège, Belgium): focus on Offshore Structures and Digital Twin
• Instituo Superio Técnico (IST, Portugal): focus on Ship Logistics and Maritime Transport

This mobility structure allows students to gain from the strengths and expertise of the different universities.

EMShip week
Twice during their studies, the students join the EMSHIP week where they meet professors from all the EMSHIP partner universities, industrial partners, alumni and students of the previous/next cohort. This is an opportunity for technical visits (shipyards, manufacturers…), discussions with industrial partners about internships and, for newly graduated students, about job opportunities. 

This programmes prepares students for a leadership and entrepreneurship role in various naval, maritime and ocean engineering sectors. European and worldwide employers active in these sectors require top quality graduates as managers, planners, researchers, designers or advisors, who can make the difference in the design of sustainable ships and offshore structures. The labour market needs highly qualified engineers who have the ability to think through complex issues, who can analyse the structures through various modelling approaches, who are capable of managing projects and programmes, and have well developed leadership and personal skills.