EBU Label – Bioeconomy qualification supplement

The EBU label is a common qualification supplement offered by the six EBU partner universities. By integrating the current curricula with the skills and competences that have been identified as crucial for bioeconomy curricula such as cross-sectoral mind-set and collaboration, inter- and trans-disciplinarity, critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving, sustainability transformation and transition knowledge, among others, the students will be encouraged to develop a T-shaped skills profile consisting of disciplinary expertise, relevant soft skills as well as sustainability competences.

The EBU label explicitly promotes the inter- and trans-disciplinarity of existing master curricula to equip the students with an understanding of bioeconomy-related disciplines and their scientific language, in addition to their disciplinary expertise.

By obtaining the EBU label, you will be recognized as a professional with the right knowledge and skills to shape the transformation towards a sustainable bioeconomy. You will be able to upgrade your disciplinary expertise by incorporating inter- and transdisciplinarity, cross-sectoral collaboration and sustainability competences.

The EBU qualification supplement will be granted to students who fulfil the following criteria:

Mandatory criteria:

• Enrollment in one of the agreed bioeconomy-relevant master program at one of the EBU partner institutions. Check the information sheet for these programs;
• Willingness for the acquisition of a T-shaped skills profile consisting of disciplinary expertise, hard and soft skills as well as sustainability competences;
• Master thesis with an explicit link to the bioeconomy through inclusion of a chapter describing the relevance of the thesis results to the bioeconomy; Ideally, the supervision and co-supervision by academics from two different EBU universities;
• Participation in the ‘EBU student journey’ or in two or three of the activities listed below:

Optional activities:

• Participation in one of the bioeconomy-related MOOCs;

The project ABBEE has developed 4 bioeconomy-related MOOCs:

The ABBEE (Accelerating the transition towards the Bio-Based Economy via Education) project aims to enhance the EU’s competitive position in the field of bio-based economy and prepare students for their future in a bio-based economy by improving education and facilitating innovation. ABBEE is an EU collaboration between Wageningen University and Research (the Netherlands), University of Hohenheim (Germany), University of Eastern Finland (Finland), Aarhus University (Denmark) and other key stakeholders in industry and research. The academic institutions created four blended and interconnected learning modules in their respective expertise, each addressing a vital part within the bio-based economy value chain.

We invite you to check the project website and the diverse topics offered by these 4 European universities.

• Participation in soft-skill training including digital skills and lifelong learning programs;
• Being proactive within the bioeconomy environment (entrepreneurship / activity in a bioeconomy student group / social media group);
• Active participation in bioeconomy events (congresses, conferences, competitions, workshops etc.);
• An exchange semester at one of the partner universities.

For more detailed information, download this document -> EBU Label Description

The application to the EBU label consists of two parts:

1. Pre-registration: By pre-registering you are expressing your interest to apply to the EBU label.  If you wish to do so, please go to our platform https://ebu-learn.boku.ac.at/ and register to the EBU label course”.
2. Application: When you complete all the criteria, you can apply to receive the qualification supplement by sending all the corresponding documents and forms. The information about the application will be sent in the reply of the pre-registration.

In the following video you can find the main information of the program:

If you have an additional question, do not hesitate to write us an e-mail.

The EBU student Journey consists of of a series of activities especially designed for the master students to become the professionals that are needed for the transformation towards a bioeconomy. This involves the acquisition of academic knowledge as well as soft-skills in an international context. The competences and skills that the students will develop through this journey are intended to be aligned with the labor market needs such as the identification of new opportunities, interdisciplinarity, systemic thinking, among others.

The journey will take place once per year. During the journey, 36 students (6 master students of each EBU partner) will take part of a digital and on-site journey.

During the on-site part of the journey, the students will meet within 5 days in one of the EBU partner’s location and work in interdisciplinary teams in different activities, among which a Bioeconomy challenge.

Do you want to know more about the first version of the Journey? Check this: Impressions from the 2022 EBU student journey

EBU Student Journey 2023

The second journey will take place from March – June 2023. This year’s on-site part of the Journey will take place from the 12th to the 16th of June 2023 at AgroParisTech in Reims, France.

The application period for the next journey is now open until the 15th of February 2023 at 23:59 CET. You can go to our platform to complete the application: https://ebu-learn.boku.ac.at/. Remember that you should pre-register to the label to be considered for the journey.

The students will be chosen according to the following criteria:

• Motivation and interest
• Non-compulsory activities
• Teamwork experience
• Projection in career

The final selection ensures diversity of disciplinary backgrounds across participants.

Here you have a video to guide you in the application process: