Programme structure & Minors

In your first year with YUFE, you’ll begin your bachelor’s studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (or another chosen university) to build a common foundation in urban sustainability through a mix of on-site and online courses.

As you continue your studies, you have the freedom to personalise your curriculum by choosing from 20 different minors – sets of courses exploring different aspects of the sustainability. With this flexibility, you can select 3 minors, 2 of them to be taken at other partner universities. This allows you to travel and study at 3 universities, creating a unique and diverse learning experience. The travel is made possible with Erasmus Funding, which provides financial support to help cover the costs of studying abroad, ensuring accessibility to this international academic opportunity.

You’ll round off your academic profile with a bachelor’s thesis at your starting university.

The YUFE university partners apply the ‘European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System’ (ECTS) in their degree programmes. A full-time one-year study programme is equivalent to 60 ECTS credits (about 30 ECTS credits per semester). One ECTS credit equates to 25 to 30 hours of work including contact hours, preparatory work, study and assessment.

How does that work in practice?

A model path for a student starting at NCU:

1^st and 2^nd semester courses at NCU:

• Computer-assisted qualitative and quantitative data analysis
• Basics of urban economics and management
• Complex systems theory
• Contemporary Urban Developments (a joint course coordinated by NCU and the University of Antwerp)
• Cities & citizens in European History (a joint course coordinated by NCU and the University of Antwerp)
• Research and academic development skills
• Occupational Safety, Health and Ergonomics
• Urban geography and sociology
• Introduction to urban sustainability
• English in the city
• Science in response to anthropopressure-induced change
• Cycling in modern urban mobility

3^rd, 4^th and 5^th semester:

During the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th semesters you choose 3 minors, 1 at starting university and 2 abroad. Academic advisor will help you compose the best programme based on your preferences.

What Minors can you choose in the fall semesters?

• Minor Urban Health & Wellbeing (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland)
• Minor Urban Ecology in Europe: Public Policies, Cultural Narratives (Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris, France)
• Minor Design and Perspectives on Heritage (University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium)
• Minor Natural Sciences for Sustainability (University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany)
• Minor Economic Development (University Carlos III of Madrid, Madrid, Spain)
• Minor Urban Environmental and Sustainability Education (University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus)
• Minor Borders, Europe & Russia (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland)
• Minor Urban Sustainable Development (Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands)
• Minor Urban Inequality (University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia)
• Minor Driving Change: Activism, Engagement and Communities (University of Essex, Essex, United Kingdom)
• Minor Smart Cities for Sustainable Culture (University Carlos III of Madrid, Madrid, Spain)
• Minor Societal Issues in a Contemporary World (University of Essex, Essex, United Kingdom)
• Minor Sustainable Business (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland)
• Minor Smart Cities for Sustainable Culture (University Carlos III of Madrid, Madrid, Spain)

What Minors can you choose in the spring semesters?

• Minor Cities of Dreams and Nightmares (University of Essex, Essex, United Kingdom)
• Minor Sustainable Tourism (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland)
• Minor Heritage and Perspectives on Design (University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium)
• Minor Cities & Urbanisation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium)
• Minor Urban Ecology (University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia)
• Minor Urban Sustainable Development (Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands)

6^th semester at NCU:

You return to NCU to write your Bachelor thesis and participate in thesis-related courses:

• Bachelor Seminar
• Bachelor thesis: design of social-economic research
• Social-economic analysis
• Urban practical projects