Applicants who already have a relevant master degree from the EEA in bio-engineering, agricultural, civil or environmental engineering can follow an individual one-year abridged programme (60 ECTS).
The first year curriculum is common for all participants of the two-year programme while the second year is composed of compulsory and elective courses. Lectures are complemented by practical sessions, exercises, workshops and excursions. Courses are taught on the campuses of KU Leuven and VUB and regular travel between Leuven and Brussels is required. Below, the location is indicated by L (Leuven) and B (Brussels).
Detailed course contents of the two-year programme can be consulted here.
First year courses (60 ECTS)
- Groundwater Hydrology (B)
- Surface Water Hydrology (B)
- Aquatic Ecology (L)
- Advanced Mathematics for Water Engineering (L)
- Water Resources Management I: Hydro-Social Systems (B)
- Environmental Programming (B)
- Agricultural Water Management (L)
- Stochastic Hydrology (L)
- Hydraulics (L)
- Waste Water Treatment and Resource Recovery (L)
- Water Quality Assessment (B)
- Measuring Techniques for Water Resources Engineering (B)
- GIS for Environmental Applications (B)
- Setting Up a Research Project (L)
Second year (60 ECTS)
Compulsory
- Earth Observation (B)
- Water Resources Management II: EU and International Framework (B)
- Research Methods for Data Collection and Processing (L)
- Thesis Research project Water Resources Engineering
Electives (four courses to be chosen)
- Urban Hydrology and Hydraulics (B)
- Surface Water Modelling (B)
- Groundwater Modelling (B)
- River Modelling (L)
- Soil Water Modelling (L)
- Freshwater and Marine Ecology (L)
- Land-Climate Dynamics (B)
- Water Productivity and Irrigation Design (L)
- Freshwater and Marine Ecology (L)
- Internship Water Resources Engineering (L)
Integrated Project
In the second year all students have to participate in an Integrated Project where they work in groups on a particular watershed and travel to the case study area. They define problems and tackle them from different angles using modelling as well as non-modelling tools. Results are integrated in a single group report. During the past years, integrated projects have for instance been carried out in the Rio Jubones watershed (Ecuador), the Makanya catchment (Tanzania), Nice (France) and Biebrza National Park (Poland). Each year, the students have the choice between two or more Integrated Projects in the Global South or in Europe. Some are fully funded, for others students need to cover some of the expenses themselves. Nationals from VLIR-UOS scholarship countries, even without a receiving the scholarship can be fully funded. At least one fully funded option for all students is offered each year.
Thesis project
Students complete a Master thesis which they defend in front of a jury. The thesis comprises of the courses Setting Up a Research Project (1st year), Research Methods for Data Collection and Processing (2nd year) and the actual thesis research project.
Guideline documents for the thesis manuscript are provided on the WRE community on Toledo.