EGM 30 download.pdf - European Federation of Geologists

students are now undergoing this training.Figure 2 presents the Bologna implementationstatus in the 27 countries of this study,indicating the year for first graduates fromBologna in the different countries.The implementation of the Bolognaagreement in tertiary education is nowbeing achieved. At national level this hasresulted in the consolidation of the numberof Higher Education Institutes (HEI) and inthe number of courses taught. The amountof change to the existing education frameworkhas varied from minimal in countriessuch as the UK, to very substantial in countriessuch as Germany and Italy.Euro-AgesEducation in GeologyThe structure of educationThe implementation of the Bologna agreementhas resulted in most countries nowoffering three cycles of tertiary education:Figure 1. Participating countriesin mapping European GeologicalQualification (in green)Figure 2. (Left) First graduatesfrom the Bologna implementation- The first cycle B.Sc. is generally now ofthree years duration, although in somecountries longer courses still operate- The length of second cycle M.Sc. coursesis mostly two years, but remains at oneyear in some countries- There is also then the third cycle Ph.D.,which is also generally of three yearsduration, but this is not covered furtherin this report.Figure 3. Duration of first and second cycle coursesThe duration of these courses is shown bycountry in Figure 3 and by percentages inFigures 4 and 5.The responses show that, in 80% of thecountries involved in this study, the firstcycle in Geology is 3 years. The exceptionsare Hungary with 3.5 years, Greece,Lithuania and Spain with 4 years and Estoniawith 4.5 years. Russia still has a 5year first cycle but has not implementedBologna.For the second cycle, Mastersdegrees are mostly of two years duration.The exceptions are the UK with 1year and Estonia with 1.5 years.The total years of study for first andsecond cycles can vary from 4 years inthe UK to 6 years in countries such asEstonia, Greece, Lithuania or Spain.The content of courses is moreaccurately and transparently measuredby the credit scheme(European Credit TransferSystem, ECTS). It isgenerally accepted thata year of study equatesto 60 ECTS credits andthus to graduate at B.Sc.level, the student needsto have collected 180ECTS credits, with theexception of Ireland(210) and Spain (240).The number of ECTScredits required for theaward of an M.Sc. variesfrom 120 to 180.The requirement for award of a degreeis shown by country in Figure 6.It also notable that there is not universalagreement on the number of hours ofwork that make up a single credit: in 86%of countries this figure is 30 hours, but inthe remaining 14% the requirement is 25hours (Fig. 7).Universities offering geological programmesThe number of education institutions hasEuropean Geologist 3015