Measurement Science in ChemistryPromoting Europe-wide excellence and training

Introduction

Analytical measurements set the foundations for critical decisions in society. In Europe, measurements are involved in around 40% of the EU Directives and cost around €80 billion per year. Better healthcare, food safety and environmental protection are just some of the ways in

which accurate and reliable measurements enhance our quality of life.

Training and knowledge transfer are essential for a common and reliable European measurement system in support of EU policies. A high-quality, well-functioning measurement infrastructure in Europe depends not only on reference materials and measurements, but also on the availability of trained and competent

practitioners.

Euromaster degree

A consortium of nine universities located in seven different European countries (Estonia,

Poland, France, Portugal, Finland, Bulgaria and Slovenia) got together under the mentorship of the Joint Research Centre to offer the harmonised Master's degree "Measurement

Science in Chemistry".

The degree, "Measurement Science in Chemistry", was based on training initiatives

developed by the JRC's Institute for Reference

Materials and Measurements (IRMM).

The consortium received the "Euromaster"

quality award in 2008 and the first group of 32 students received their diploma at the JRC-IRMM in Geel, Belgium on 26 October 2010.

(Left): JRC-IRMM Director, Krzysztof Maruszewski, during the graduation ceremony at JRC-IRMM, 26 October 2010. He

read out a congratulatory message to the laureates from Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for

Research, Innovation and Science.

The Graduation CeremonyJoint Research Centre

Institute for Reference Materials26 October 2010

The graduates, their supervisors, the University Deans and other guests in the grounds of JRC-IRMM.

Below, from left to right:

Prof. Tadeusz Luty, Member of JRC Board of Governors, Member of the Board of the European Universities Association at the Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland, gave a presentation entitled "Changes in European higher education".

Prof. Reiner Salzer, University of Dresden, Germany, representing the European Chemistry Thematic Network Association, gave a

presentation on "Analytical chemistry in the European higher education area".

Prof. Philip Taylor, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Geel, Belgium, addressed the

participants on the subject of "Why Europe fosters education and training in measurement science in chemistry".

Prof. Ewa Bulska, Coordinator of the Measurement Science in Chemistry consortium, Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Warsaw, Poland, described the "Achievements of the Euromaster Measurement Science in Chemistry“.

The graduates celebrate in the traditional manner!

One of the graduates, Bárbara Anes, explained the impact of this degree on her life

In 2008 Bárbara (the second from the left in the first row) started her Master’s Thesis at Solvay Portugal. The topic was method validation for six quality parameters of their industrial waste water, so as to meet legal requirements. In 2009, she enrolled in the EuroMaster

MSC at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon under the supervision of Prof. Filomena

Camões

and Prof. Ricardo Bettencourt da

Silva. She

participated to the Intensive Summer School in Blagoevgrad

(Bulgaria) and she went on to explain…

"I met a lot of people and made friends during the international summer school. I met people of different languages with different ways of thinking and working. This amazing experience gave me a new insight into the tools of method validation and measurement uncertainty. We visited a laboratory that was preparing for

accreditation and I could use these new experiences and acquired skills in the preparation of my thesis at Solvay Portugal. Because of this, I managed to complete my Master’s degree swiftly and with an excellent mark. I built up a very good CV and after my Master’s Project Solvay Portugal asked me to stay for another year in order to develop and implement a quality system. I worked on the preparation of the Quality Manual for the implementation of ISO-17025. The external audit by the Portuguese Accreditation Institute was a success. I am

now moving to another job and had the possibility of even choosing from different job offers, which - at a time where unemployment is a problem - is something very exceptional. As a result of my CV,in which the

EuroMaster MSC is very important, I have now started a new job at the Portuguese Institute for Fisheries and

Marine Research, IPIMAR… I plan to continue and do a Doctoral degree at the University of Lisbon."

The First Graduates

Consortium members

1. University of Tartu (Estonia)2. University of Warsaw (Poland)3. Adam Mickiewicz university (Poland)4. Maria Curie-Sklodowska

University (Poland)5. Université

de Lyon (France)6. University of Lisbon (Portugal)7. University of Oulu (Finland)8. South-West University "Noefit-Rilski" (Bulgaria)9. University of Maribor (Slovenia) http://www.msc-euromaster.eu/

Contact

Philip TaylorEuropean Commission •

Joint Research CentreInstitute for Reference Materials and MeasurementsTel. +32 (0)14 571 605 • Fax +32 (0)14 571 863 E-mail: philip.taylor@ec.europa.eu

Measurement Science in ChemistryConsortium Members

The "Measurement Science in Chemistry" consortium was initiated by the JRC's Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM). The degree was developed from a training programme launched in 2001 by IRMM called TrainMiC®. This programme aims at the harmonised interpretation of the metrological requirements of ISO/IEC-17025 –

the main standard for chemical and bio-analytical measurements in different sectors such as environment, food or consumer protection.

http://www.trainmic.org