Programme structure
General information
Due to the international and interdisciplinary nature of BASUS, the study programme has a unique structure that allows students to learn about sustainability from multiple foci and to integrate various aspects of disciplinary knowledge into a truly cross-cutting perspective.
The programme is divided into three parts: Common Core, Track and Final Semester. All students take the same subjects during the first year of the programme (Common Core) and stay at the host university for the first two semesters – for the current edition of the programme, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie will serve as the host university. Then, for semesters three, four and five students disperse across six partner universities to follow one of the Tracks, each of which focuses on the perspective of a given discipline on sustainability studies. The Final Semester is designated for the writing and completion of a bachelor’s thesis, with optional student mobility to one of the eight universities associated with the programme also being available.
All BASUS students will be entitiled to all services and facilities customarily available on campus at the university of their stay. For more information and direct links, go to the Student Life section of FAQ.
Common core
Semester I
4 ECTS
Semester II
Tracks
At the end of the second semester of the programme, students designate their track preference. As each track can admit maximum 30 students, students are admitted on the basis of the grades they received from the respective Introduction to Track course. If a student does not qualify for their top choice track, they will be assigned to either their second or third track of choice.
Track: Environmental & Life Sciences
This track is coordinated by Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Semester III
5 ECTS
5 ECTS
Semester IV
5 ECTS
Semester V
5 ECTS
5 ECTS
5 ECTS
Track: Sustainable Chemistry & Physics
This track is coordinated by Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet.
Semester IV
5 ECTS
5 ECTS
5 ECTS
5 ECTS
Semester V
5 ECTS
Track: Economics, Management & Engineering
This track is coordinated by KU Leuven.
Semester III
3 ECTS
5 ECTS
3 ECTS
Semester IV
5 ECTS
5 ECTS
Semester V
4 ECTS
6 ECTS
3 ECTS
Track: Geography & Economics
This track is coordinated by Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Semester III
Semester IV
Semester V
Track: Social Sciences & Humanities
This track is coordinated by Universität Zürich.
Semester III
Disciplinary core: Introduction to Sustainability Ethics
3 ECTS
Disciplinary core: Sociology of Sustainability
3 ECTS
3 ECTS
Semester IV
Disciplinary core: Anthropological Perspectives on Sustainable Development
3 ECTS
Disciplinary core: Introduction to Sustainable Finance
3 ECTS
3 ECTS
* Students enrol in courses according to their own preference and subject to availability of places.
Track: Law & Politics of Sustainability
This track is coordinated by Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie.
Semester IV
5 ECTS
Final semester
The final semester is chiefly dedicated to the writing of the bachelor’s thesis.
The general rules for the writing and assessment of the thesis, such as writing in groups or final exam, are up to the individual regulation governing the university of the thesis supervisor, who should be a member of the teaching and research staff with adequate qualifications from one of the degree-awarding partners. If a project necessitates co-supervision, a co-supervisor can be appointed from any of the eight universities associated with the programme. To facilitate student mobility, the thesis supervision can be conducted either on-site or online.
With the thesis seminar being the only obligatory element of the programme during the final semester, the students can use this semester for additional mobility. The students can spend this semester at any of the eight universities associated with the programme and take elective courses from their offer. However, mobility is optional, and a student can stay at their track university instead.
Electives
During the second and third year of the programme in addition to the obligatory courses of a student’s track and the bachelor thesis seminar, students are also to take electives. Students choose electives from the general pool of courses made available by the university of the student’s stay, i.e. their track university and the university they choose to spend the final semester at.
During the second year (semester three and four) students are to earn at minimum 20 ECTS from electives; during the third year – at minimum 15 ECTS. Although BASUS is an English-language programme, the students can participate in electives taught in the national language(s) of their university, providing that they can prove their proficiency in said language(s). Other activities organised throughout the programme, e.g. summer schools, can count towards electives.
The list of available electives in each partner university that BASUS students would be eligible to apply for will be published before each semester.
Student Assessment & Examination
Although all partners adhere to the ECTS credit system, individual grading systems and standards vary from partner to partner. As such, students will be assessed and examined in accordance with the grading system in place at the university of their stay, i.e. the host university, the track university or the final semester mobility university.
The Academic Steering Committee of the programme, however, ensures the convertability of all grading systems and will be responsible for coordinating the continuous assessment of student progress throughout the programme.
