Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree
Water and Coastal Management
WACOMA
In March 2019 CIMA - Centro de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental at Universidade do Algarve UAlg hosted Wacoma students coming from the five continents in order to offer them internships/research topics to early career researchers doing a 12-month project as part of an MSc in Water and Coastal Management.
Two were the main objectives: to be able to carry out research, within or across projects and to be able to carry out research on ‘real’ topics in international projects.
Video testimony from students hosted at CIMA, cohort 2018-2020.
LUIS GERMANO BIOLCHI from Brazil
JÚLIA TERRA MIRANDA MACHADO from Brazil
HELOISA LABELLA FONSECA from Brazil
MASUMA CHOWDHURY from Bangladesh
SAKINAT AHMAD from Nigeria
"I am Rasha Hassan, a civil engineer with a MSc in Environmental Systems Engineering from Syria. My words can't express my outstanding experience in WaCoMa for many reasons. First, WaCoMa is my opportunity to have a better future and build a successful career in this domain. Second, the professors in Ravenna Campus are very professional, helpful and understanding for our different backgrounds. Moreover, WaCoMa gave me a solid base and new ideas in coastal and water management to begin from. I can also say that WaCoMa add many good connections to my professional network. I also got new friends from Italy and 16 countries, whom I will always consider as family."
"At a face value of being an International student, imagine a thrilling experience. Having a dream of obtaining an international qualification in particular with the well-respected institution all over the world, the University of Bologna, one need not look far than Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Water and Coastal Management (WACOMA) Scholarship. The process of selecting applications for WACOMA Scholarship was transparent and given feedback by the Selection Team every time and given an outline of the next stage of selection till the last stage of selection where I became one of the 23 South African student candidate selected all over the world."
Last update: 29 Jan 2020
I am Rasha Hassan, a civil engineer with a MSc in Environmental Systems Engineering from Syria. My words can't express my outstanding experience in WaCoMa for many reasons. First, WaCoMa is my opportunity to have a better future and build a successful career in this domain. Second, the professors in Ravenna Campus are very professional, helpful and understanding for our different backgrounds. Moreover, WaCoMa gave me a solid base and new ideas in coastal and water management to begin from. I can also say that WaCoMa add many good connections to my professional network. I also got new friends from Italy and 16 countries, whom I will always consider as family. As for Ravenna, where I have just completed the first semester, it is a very nice and peaceful city. Maybe it is small but it is a wonderful beginning for non-European people. Thanks to WaCoMa because it gave me the opportunity to see the magnificent Italy. I can't wait to see the other countries of the mobility program and some places in Europe. To conclude, WaCoMa is a life-changing opportunity to build your future, gain knowledge, add more skills in every aspect of life, meet great people, see the amazing Europe and get to know the amazing WaCoMa family in Italy (Prof. Elena Fabbri, Daniela Farinelli and the angle Filomena Volpe).
At a face value of being an International student, imagine a thrilling experience. Having a dream of obtaining an international qualification in particular with the well-respected institution all over the world, the University of Bologna, one need not look far than Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Water and Coastal Management (WACOMA) Scholarship. The process of selecting applications for WACOMA Scholarship was transparent and given feedback by the Selection Team every time and given an outline of the next stage of selection till the last stage of selection where I became one of the 23 South African student candidate selected all over the world.
Its worth to pause with this, the European Embassy in South Africa did a warm send off to me and fellow students selected to study in Europe covering all the expenses and a lot of valuable information was shared even by the former European Scholarship beneficiaries. The excitement was overwhelmed when the Erasmus Mundus Co-ordinators understood the student's different circumstances and undertook to arrange accommodation for us without any upfront deposit or rent required until the Scholarship stipend was paid. Also, imagine having a dedicated Tutor informing you everything you need to know and upon your arrival in the hosting country, my Tutor eagerly waited for us to proceed with us to our accommodation.
There is a long story to narrate but in short, my Tutor and my Co-ordinators walked me all the way to familiarise myself about my new environment. The feeling of being taught by experience professors whom some come abroad, going for site visits, learning new things such as hydro-complexity, new technologies for coastal management has been an impeccable journey and experience. Studying with different students, learning from them as well has been wonderful. The thrilling journey still continues as I will be studying in Portugal and Spain as well. The WACOMA scholarship might change your life, yes you, therefore, lodge your application. Have a joy of viewing my experiences in pictures below highlighting classroom activities, to field visits operating advanced technologies, mingling with other international and local students.
Thank you for reading,
