State of the Art on Degree Study Programs in Agricultural/Biosystems Engineering in EU

Abstract

The process of international harmonisation of the degree study programs in Agricultural/Biosystems Engineering (ABE) was started by Prof. Giuseppe Pellizzi during CIGR 1989 Conference and was continued by Prof. Pierluigi Febo in EU, within EurAgEng SIG RD12 - Education and Communication, and also within CIGR WG1 - Agricultural Engineering University Curricula Harmonization. Then, four thematic networks were effective: 1) USAEE-TN (University Studies of Agricultural Engineering in Europe - A Thematic Network), comprising 31 HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) from 27 countries, from 2002 to 2006; 2) Consortium POMSEBES (Policy Oriented Measures in Support of the Evolving Biosystems Engineering Studies in USA - EU), comprising eight EU and four USA HEIs, from 2006 to 2008; 3) ERABEE-TN (Education and Research in Biosystems Engineering in Europe - A Thematic Network), comprising 35 HEIs from 27 countries, from 2007 to 2010; 4) Consortium TABE.NET (Trans-Atlantic Biosystems Engineering Curriculum and Mobility), comprising four EU and two USA HEIs, from 2009 to 2013. Some examples of significant changes relevant to ABE degree study programs occurred in EU after the end of ERABEE-TN project: they are the curricula established by the HEIs of seven countries. The aim of this work is to show the state of the art on ABE degree study programs in EU 20 years after the last overview, presented during AgEng2000 Conference (“The University Structure and Curricula on Agricultural Engineering - An Overview of 36 Countries”, Editors Pierluigi Febo and Da-Wen Sun). The Universities of some countries (e.g. Czech Republic, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway and Portugal) offer BSc. and MSc. curricula in ABE area, while the HEIs of other countries (e.g. Austria, Denmark, Finland and Italy) offer BSc. and MSc. curricula including subjects related to Agricultural Engineering and Applied Agricultural Engineering as at least 30% of the total ECTS study load.