Students

The welcome and information days in Rome play an important role to initiate the integration of the students. They are designed to give more academic information about the MASS Partners, mobility schemes, registration procedures, course contents and language course. These initial welcome weeks allow students to acquire an awareness of the European heritage and culture.
During the welcome and information days, important issues regarding the students’ working environment are discussed:
The MASS programme and the mobility issues, such as the reason for these 4 universities for mobility scheme, the transfer between the 4 universities, the role of the Summer and Winter schools and the Associated Partners.

• The list of the courses offered by the 4 Partner universities;
• The students’ rights and duties (including presentation and signature of the Student Agreement);
• The current perspective and the correlation between the field of studies and its related jobs in this area.
  The participation of Third Parties / Associated Partners is considered as an adequate complement to the course content and activities. The Third Parties / Associated Partners and also external stakeholders, such as representatives of embassies, alumni association or industrial actors from European and non-European countries, have the opportunity to participate on this special occasion to develop collaborative links with the MASS programme (e.g.: internship offers).
  At the end of the welcome and information days, MASS students are expected to communicate their intentions about the study plan and mobility scheme for the second semester. In any case, students shall submit their proposed plans by November 15^th. The Teaching Committee will formally approve these plans, or suggest alternatives, at the latest by December 15^th.

The Summer and Winter schools are an important part of the master programme to enhance an effective integration with a professional environment. The schools are organized by the Coordinator with an organizing committee composed of colleagues from the Full Partners.
Each School has a Scientific Chairperson proposed by the coordinator and accepted by the Consortium. The Summer School lasts for 1-2 weeks and takes place in June-July in holiday houses. The Winter School lasts for 3-5 days and takes place in January- February in holiday houses. They are financed with the “participation costs” from the EU budget and with money and in-kind contributions provided by the Partners. These periods allow the students to be in close contact with invited scholars, guest lecturers and researchers from industrial labs. This is a good opportunity for them to get in touch with experts from the field of Astrophysics and Space Science and Engineering (guests from the companies among the Third Parties are invited to talk about the future plans concerning internship and employment). All Third Parties / Associated Partners are invited to provide speakers for Summer and Winter schools.

Networking is a current reality. An “Alumni” account and social network (e.g. Facebook) pages and groups are created to set up an educational network between MASS programme students and graduates. This initiative considerably facilitates interconnections between the students (strengthening of social networks). They would be able to share their views related to the programme and to future professional opportunities. All associated partners are able to take part, in particular industrial partners which can identify a representative who will be actively present in the network. The networking can be exceptionally used for study purposes (if justified, especially for long distance communication).

A student on-line handbook is promoted together with an alumni association that will provide information/services to the incoming students.
Before the arrival of students to Europe, the Administrative officer of Rome “Tor Vergata” University sends them via e-mails a detailed guide containing all useful practical information, a “from airport to classroom” itinerary including a map of the campus and its neighborhoods, the names and contact details of the teachers responsible for the courses, the location and the programme of the welcome meeting.

Each Partner provides students with the complete schedule of courses and exams at the very beginning of the term. A special cultural programme is offered to students in each country.
The arrival of students is scheduled at least one week before the courses start to allow them to participate in the welcome integration week in Rome. After the registration in Rome, all documents are forwarded to the three partner universities for registration in their own institution.
All partners provide service and information to the students:
1. In Rome: International Students Office;
2. In Belgrade: Study in Belgrade;
3. In Bremen: The Student Office;
4. In Nice: The Student House.

The university libraries are free of charge in the 4 Partner Universities, including data banks and internet resources, such as Web of Science, Scopus etc.
1. In Rome, the Science and Engineering Libraries are both available.
2. In Belgrade, the University Library “Svetozar Marković”
3. In Bremen, the Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Bremen
4. In Nice, the library of OCA (Astrophysics) is also available at this alternative site.

Rooms dedicated for student studies are available throughout the Partner Universities.

Language courses are offered to the enrolled students.

1. In Rome, classes in Advanced English and in Italian are given by the CLA (Centro Linguistico di Ateneo),  and CLICI (Italian Culture and Language Center).

2. In Belgrade, those courses are provided by the Center for Serbian.

3. In Bremen, the language courses are provided by the Fremdsprachenzentrum.

4. In Nice, the language courses are organized by CNRS for PhD students, but an agreement has been found for MASS students visiting UCA.

Students with special needs will receive specific assistance for lecture notes and for exam organization (longer time given to them, depending on their disabilities). Each Full Partner has a dedicated office for students with special needs. These offices coordinate, monitor and support all activities aimed at facilitating the integration into the University life:
1. in Rome: http://caris.uniroma2.it/ ;
2. in Belgrade, the University Centre for Students with Disabilities
(http://bg.ac.rs/en/members/centers/students-with-disabilities.php);
3. in Bremen (https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/office-for-students-with-disabilities-or-chronic-diseases-kis);
4. in Nice, the “Service Relations Internationales de UCA” (contact: Anaelle.LEQUEUE@univ-cotedazur.fr).

The medical and accident insurance is included in the participation costs.
The insurance provides protection for:
1. risks such as illness, accident, death, permanent disability, third-party liability;
2. worldwide travel required for the participation in the EMJM program;
3. mobility periods in both programme and partner countries.
All of these elements are covered through a global insurance contract with an insurance company. The payment is ensured globally for the whole class for a two-year period coverage. The bank transfer is made from the Coordinating Institution to the Insurance Company.

In Rome, the students may choose to be lodged in the university residence Campus X, https://www.cx-place.com/it/cx-rome.html.

In Nice, several student residences, rent rooms and service for help exist,
e.g.: https://trouverunlogement.lescrous.fr/.

In Belgrade, students can apply for accommodation in student residencies, all information can be found at http://bg.ac.rs/en/students/appartments-dormitories.php.

In Bremen, the students can be accommodated in so called students houses:
https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/university/campus/housing/

In order to file a formal complaint or appeal, fill in and hand-sign the following complaint form and send a scan-copy of it to project-office (at) master-mass.eu . Only signed forms are considered valid.

MASS complaint form (Word document)

MASS complaint form (pdf document)

Formal complaints and appeals will be received by the MASS Project Office and transmitted for assessment to the competent authority within the MASS Consortium (see Governing Bodies).

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