AMD Department at ECMI Education Committee Meeting
Applied Mathematics Department (NTUU “KPI”) at the ECMI Educational Committee Meeting
February 6–7, 2015, Milano, Italy
The European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry (ECMI) is a consortium of academic institutions and industrial companies that coordinates common efforts of its members to promote and support the use of mathematical models in industry, social and economic fields, and to educate industrial (applied) mathematicians in order to meet the growing demand for such experts in Europe. The main activities of the consortium include organization of scientific conferences, seminars, modelling weeks, and student exchange programs.
Students who studied according to a harmonized curriculum, participated in modelling weeks, spent at least one semester of the Master studies abroad at one of the other ECMI universities, and defended a Master thesis written in English on an industrial subject, are eligible for the ECMI Certificate.
ECMI consists of 96 academic, 4 industrial, 29 individual, and 12 honorary members from 32 countries. ECMI is run by a Council made up of representatives of 18 European countries, including Ukraine. The Council elects a Board that acts on a daily basis. Details about the organization of ECMI and its statutes can be found here:
http://www.ecmi-indmath.org/?page_id=26
Faculty of Applied Mathematics of the NTUU “KPI” is a member of the consortium since 2010.
ECMI prepared and initiated a two year postgraduate program, whose main aim is applying mathematics to solving industrial problems.
The main instrument in obtaining the goals of the consortium is collaboration on the development and harmonization of course curricula in mathematical disciplines. The coordination is conducted by the Educational Committee, subordinate to the ECMI Council, which consists of representatives from each participating university.
Seventeen ECMI members have the status of Teaching Centres, i.e. universities whose educational programs conform to the real life applications of mathematical methods to solving industrial problems, and which fulfilled certain criteria.
Pursuing integration into the European education area, Applied Mathematics Department of the NTUU “KPI” sets a goal to obtain the ECMI Teaching Centre accreditation.
The latest ECMI Educational Committee meeting was held on February 6–7, 2015, in Milano. Twenty-three participants from 20 universities participated in this meeting. Faculty of Applied Mathematics of the NTUU “KPI” was represented by the AMD Associate Professor Dr. Sergiy Syrota. The meeting agenda included, aside from technical stuff, information from the Teaching Centres about main activities, educational initiatives, and partnership projects.
The agenda also included a discussion of the changes in the Ukrainian law about higher education. Dr. Syrota informed the committee that the newly approved law “On Higher Education” enables integration of the Ukrainian universities into European educational system. Universities obtained the right to teach courses in English, which eliminates formal issues regarding student exchange. In addition, he announced the intentions of the Applied Mathematics Department of the NTUU “KPI” to apply in the future for the Teaching Centre accreditation. Many Ukrainian students would like to study in EU, but not many EU students are willing to study in Ukraine due to the forced upon war in the East. However, hoping for the settling of the situation, Applied Mathematics Department will gradually move toward meeting the conditions of preparing and adapting its educational programs according to the ECMI requirements.
New bachelor and master programs in technomathematics were presented. One of them is prepared by a current Teaching Centre. It is the new master in Mathematics at the Science Faculty of the Lund University (Sweden). Another program is the master program “Mathematical Modeling of Complex Systems,” developed by the University of Koblenz-Landau (Germany), which currently applies for the ECMI accreditation as a Teaching Centre.
Issues concerning Modelling Week 2015 organization were also touched upon. The week will be held in Lisbon on July 19–26, 2015. The committee approved a registration fee of 250 EUR, which covers hotel accommodation and final dinner. The members exchanged their thoughts on possible ways of financing Modelling Weeks by industrial companies and international educational programs. The next Modelling Week 2016 was proposed to be held in Sofia.
The next meeting of the ECMI Educational Meeting will take place in Lisbon on July 24–26, 2015, during the Modelling Week.