Developing advanced master’s education based on Smart Grid technology Erasmus Project

Project Title

Developing advanced master’s education based on Smart Grid technology

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Energy and resources; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The project “MOST” (Master educatiOn Smart Technology) focuses on developing advanced master’s education based on Smart Grid technology using innovative digital methods and best practices to facilitate the emergence of a highly specialised and flexible skilled workforce. The MOST project changed the didactical offer in Cyprus, Greece, and Italy. Indeed, three partner institutions (UNICA, UOWM, and UCY) validated MOST master’s program following the national laws and legislations and approved to start the master’s course from the academic year 2022/23 as a joint master’s degree recognised by the three countries. Thus, the main project objective at the time of application has been fully accomplished. Furthermore, it was worth mentioning that UCY, UNICA, and UOWM, with WIP, MINES, and DELOITTE as associated partners, applied to the Erasmus Mundus EMJM call 2022 to guarantee long term sustainability to the master and allow students to benefit from international mobility.
The new master’s degree MOST has been completely developed. The master (90 ECTS) has three semesters and three curricula for different specialisations. Semester 1 at the University of Western Macedonia (UOWM) gives a common cultural foreground to students who will be selected intentionally with diverse backgrounds to exalt Smart Grid multidisciplinarity. Semester 2 offers three different specialisations that students can choose from:
– Smart grid Development at the University of Cagliari (UNICA).
– Operation and control of Smart Grids and local energy networks at UOWM.
– Customer’s Market Opportunities, at the University of Cyprus (UCY).
Finally, Semester 3 is for the stage in a company (mandatory, 300 hours minimum) and the Thesis preparation and dissertation. Semester 3 is crucial to maintaining a strong relationship with industries and increasing job opportunities.
The lectures are compulsory or elective. Elective modules weigh 10 ECTS on 60 ECTS of didactic activities to not jeopardise the logic behind each curriculum. The didactic material has been prepared by an international team of experienced instructors with a solid academic and research background enriched by experience in Smart Grid projects in partnership with industrial partners. All material is on the Moodle e-learning platform developed by the lead partner UNICA. Three pilot courses were followed by UNICA, UCY and UOWM students that obtained the relevant ECTS fully recognised by the academic institutions.
The Living Labs are an essential part of the MOST’s didactical offer to increase the students’ hands-on experience. MOST prepared the environment where students’ hands-on experience can be achieved in the Campus Living Labs of partner institutions. A complete list of activities that students can perform has been prepared and published in the relevant deliverable. Two new Living Labs were built in UNICA and the University of Ulm during the pandemic crisis and the project.
The Virtual Smart Grid Labs, the virtualisation of tests and experiments based on field data, are a MOST distinctive feature. The VGSLabs developed by all partners use digital twins of existing infrastructures or specific digital models to increase the virtual experience on Smart Grid and allow students to familiarise themselves with typical problems related to techno-economic analysis, distribution planning and system design. UCY coordinated the activities and edited a booklet of VSGLabs that is one of MOST deliverables together with the VSGLabs. Students can use VSGLabs with the UCY dedicated server.
MOST main results are:
I) complete a master’s degree on Smart Grid ready to be offered;
II) plan the use of Living Labs for increasing the students’ hands-on experience with a list of experiments;
III) offer VSGLabs to study the Smart Grid more innovatively.
The internal quality process assures the production of high-quality material and can continuously check the validity of contents concerning the state-of-the-art.
The Pandemic heavily affected the dissemination activity, and the work plan was adapted accordingly. Since 2020 virtual events have substituted physical events and meetings. A video telling MOST in a simplified manner but attractive has been realised by a professional team coordinated by WIP. The video, a new output of the master, is now on social media and uploaded in the Erasmus+ Project Results platform. Furthermore, the project website and the Moodle platform have been enriched with new material and one animation. All partners faced the criticalities caused by the pandemic crisis by allocating more human resources to IOs. UNICA approved the budget reallocation allowed by the amendment to the contract. In charge of the new social media activities and video productions, WIP used a significant part of budget reallocation to cover the related costs.

Project Website

http://smartgridsmaster.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 435006 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI CAGLIARI & Country: IT

Project Partners

• WIRTSCHAFT UND INFRASTRUKTUR GMBH & CO PLANUNGS KG
• PANEPISTIMIO DYTIKIS MAKEDONIAS
• TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ULM
• UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS
• ECOLE NATIONALE SUPERIEURE DES MINES DE PARIS
• DELOITTE LIMITED