The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) expands its course offerings for the 2024-2025 academic year with eight new master’s degrees, three of which as part of the European Union's Erasmus Mundus programme.

The courses are the following:

• The master’s degree in Real Estate Asset Development and Management will train professionals to act as agents of change in the real estate management sector. The programme provides comprehensive training in the economic, financial, technological and organisational mechanisms of the sector to have an impact on welfare, social inclusion and environmental protection. It aims to train experts in planning, developing and managing investments in innovative real estate assets and companies. The master’s degree focuses on emerging business models and public-private participation in solving social problems related to, for example, access to housing and rehabilitation.
  
  This one-year course consists of 60 ECTS credits and will be taught at the Barcelona School of Building Construction (EPSEB).
  
  
• The master's degree in Polymers and Bioplastics aims to offer specialised training in polymers and bioplastics, with emphasis on both industry and research-related aspects, providing students with the necessary tools to join research, technology and industrial centres focused on polymer material development. It features content on production, transformation and innovation in this knowledge area.
  
  This one-year course consists of 60 ECTS credits and will be taught in English at the Barcelona East School of Engineering (EEBE) on the UPC’s Diagonal-Besòs Campus.
  
  
• The master’s degree in Semiconductor Engineering and Microelectronic Design is envisaged to respond to the urgent need to train professionals in this field, following the recent chip crisis. Providing knowledge and skills in both semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronic design in a single master’s degree is one of the programme’s distinguishing features. Two specialisations will be offered: the specialisation in Semiconductor Engineering, which will provide training in the use of microelectronic chip technologies in several aspects, such as clean room manufacturing, encapsulation, characterisation and reliability analysis, as well as the physical understanding of phenomena occurring in current and emerging semiconductor devices; and the specialisation in Microelectronic Design, which aims to train in the design of integrated digital and analogue microelectronic circuits and systems in advanced technologies.
  
  This one-year course consists of 60 ECTS credits and will be taught in English. Coordinated by the UPC’s Barcelona School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSETB), it also involves the participation of the University of Barcelona (UB), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), in strategic collaboration with the Barcelona Institute of Microelectronics (IMB-CNM) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
  
  
• The master’s degree in Mechanical Technologies aims to provide the knowledge needed to study, analyse, size, design and manufacture mechanical systems by presenting advanced concepts and technologies within the field to broaden students’ skills and competencies. It also has a strong focus on professional training in accordance with the needs of the 21st-century industry.
  
  The programme will be taught by the EEBE on the Diagonal-Besòs Campus. This one-year course consists of 60 ECTS credits.
  
  
• The master’s degree in Machine Learning and Cybersecurity for Internet-Connected Systems (MERIT) will provide advanced scientific and technical training in three key areas of information and communication technologies (ICTs): the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity, which are crucial elements in the digitisation of SMEs. The aim is to address the current shortage of professionals with this training that is highly valued in industry and research.
  
  The programme is taught by the Manresa School of Engineering (EPSEM) and is developed within the MERIT project, an EU co-funded project under the Digital Europe programme. It is taught in collaboration with three other European universities —Vilnius Tech (Lithuania), Riga Technical University (Latvia) and Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia)— as well as companies and research and technology centres making up an international consortium. This one-and-a-half-year course consists of 90 ECTS credits and will be taught in English.
  
  
• The Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Communications, Engineering and Data Science (CoDaS) is the first programme promoted by the Unite! alliance, to which the UPC belongs. The programme includes knowledge areas covering electrical engineering, automation, programming, communications, data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, network security and the internet of things. The master’s degree will provide students with programming and goal-oriented problem-solving skills, a solid grounding in mathematics and planning and efficient project management abilities.
  
  Coordinated by Aalto University in Finland, the master’s degree involves the participation of the UPC’s Castelldefels School of Telecommunications and Aerospace Engineering (EETAC), the Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany), Grenoble INP Graduate Schools of Engineering and Management (France) and the Technical University of Lisbon (Portugal). Each university will offer a different specialisation: Communications, Data Science and Security (Grenoble); Communications and Data Science (Lisbon); Communications, Automation and Machine Learning (Aalto); Communications, Machine Learning, Medical Informatics and Biomedicine (Braunschweig); and Communications, 5G/6G, Internet of Things and Data Science (UPC). This two-year course consists of 120 ECTS credits and will be taught in English.
  
  
• The Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Risk Assessment and Management of Civil Infrastructures (NORISK) will provide advanced knowledge and skills in the assessment, management, reliability and risk analysis, monitoring, digitisation and intervention in civil infrastructures. Especially those that serve as a basis for human activities or that are considered critical, such as those related to energy, transportation, communications, water, healthcare, defence and national security, banking and finance.
  
  Coordinated by the University of Minho in Portugal, the master’s degree involves the participation of the UPC’s Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (ETSECCPB), the University of Padua (Italy) and La Rochelle Université (France). This one-year course consists of 60 ECTS credits and will be taught in English.
  
  
• The Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Sustainable Systems Engineering (EMSSE) will provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to create systems that are efficient, economically viable and environmentally friendly. It will prioritise the environmental, economic and social impacts of a system throughout its life cycle, from design and development to operation and maintenance.
  
  The programme offers three pathways: Systems Engineering at the University of Genoa, Italy; Methodology in Prediction and Optimisation Strategies for Systems Engineering at the University of Technology of Compiègne, France; and Manufacturing Systems at the EEBE. This two-year course consists of 120 ECTS credits and will be taught in English.