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| INTRODUCTION
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SEEDS first originated in 2005 from the
collaboration of
three European universities, namely an Italian (Politecnico di Torino),
a
French one (Supaero Toulouse, now ISAE) and a German one (Bremen
Universität),
all located in towns whose common feature is that of hosting industries
and
research centres linked to one another by a long-standing tradition of
co-operation in space. In a recent time this structure has been
simplified and
now SEEDS is run in Torino and Toulouse.
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| WHY THIS
MASTER? |
SEEDS is an
International Post Graduate Master Course in Space Exploration and
Development
Systems (Italian: "Master Universitario di II
livello"), at
its 6th edition, established by the First School
of Engineering of
Politecnico di Torino (Italy), ISAE
(Formation Supaero) Toulouse (France) and managed by COREP.
Thanks
to its innovative programme, SEEDS aims to meet the request emerging
from the
European Space Industry of a new generation of high level specialists,
whose
main characteristics are to be educated in an international environment
and to
have gathered an experience in working on advanced projects in some of
the most
renowned Space Centres, Agencies and Companies of the European Union.
To
fulfil these objectives, SEEDS originated in 2005 from the
collaboration of
three European universities, namely an Italian (Politecnico di Torino),
a
French one (Supaero Toulouse, now ISAE) and a German one (Bremen
Universität),
all located in towns whose common feature is that of hosting industries
and
research centres linked to one another by a long-standing tradition of
co-operation in space. In a recent time this structure has been
simplified and
now SEEDS is run in Torino and Toulouse.
The
main object of SEEDS is the exploration of the space and the
development of the
related systems. It deliberately differs from the utilization of the
space,
which forms the object of other existing master courses (most of them
on
national bases). Selecting the space
exploration as
its principal theme, SEEDS aims to harness the most recent development
lines
emerging in the space strategies of both the European Union and the USA
and,
according to these strategies, to prepare the specialists who will be
required
in this challenging domain.
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| JOB
OPPORTUNITIES |
SEEDS looks at
the major
European Space Agencies and Companies involved in Exploration projects,
such as
the European Space Agency (ESA), the Italian (ASI), the French (CNES)
and the
other national Agencies, the main European companies active in the
space sector
(like Thales
Alenia Space which supports SEEDS) and
other establishments. These organizations are strongly interested to
the Master
initiative since its main focus lies on the training of engineering
resources
oriented to the specific Exploration system products, prepared to work
in an
international context and trained on the job by using modern and
company
oriented engineering methodologies.
It
is expected that the students successfully completing the SEEDS courses
and
associated Project Works will be employed by the partner organizations
at the
proper level in their Engineering Teams working on the Space
Exploration
projects. The employment rates of the graduates from the five SEEDS
editions
confirm these expectations: 50
out of 54
graduates from the 2005/06 edition to the 2009/2010 are presently
working on
space activities in Europe.
Impressions from the first three classes of
SEEDS
graduates are available HERE.
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ADMISSION
REQUIREMENTS
AND
SELECTION OF
APPLICANTS |
A
Bac+5 level degree (e.g. French
Diplôme d’Ingénieur, Italian Laurea Magistrale or former 5-year Laurea,
German
Diplom or equivalent degree at MSc level) in Industrial Engineering
(Aerospace,
Mechanical, Thermal, Nuclear, Electronics …), in Information and
Communications
Technologies or in Physical Sciences is required. BSc or MEng degrees
at a
minimum level of Bac+4 may also be considered for admission.
A
good knowledge of English is required to the participant.
A
maximum number of 15
participants
is
foreseen in Torino.
N.
5 places will be reserved to applicable
candidates
who are citizens of the following countries: Austria,
Belgium,
Czech
Republic,
Denmark,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Ireland,
Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Kingdom,
Hungary,
Romania,
Poland
and Canada.
If not used, these places
can be attributed to candidates from other countries.
Applications
in Torino must be submitted through the website www.formazione.corep.it/seeds
by filling the on-line form.
A
Selection Board, made up of the Director, the COREP Organizational
Coordinator
and a few representatives of the Academia or the Space Industry, will
examine
all submitted application forms and curricula and reject those not
complying to
the general requests to be enrolled in the SEEDS Master Course. The
selection
is based on the curricula of the applicants and oral interviews in
English.
For applicants
from outside
Italy
a videoconference or webcam interview mode can also be applied.
At
the end of the selection process a ranking list of the successful
applicants
will be produced. These will be enrolled in the SEEDS Master Course
according
to the position in the list and to the number of available
places.
Applications
in Toulouse may be submitted through the website of the
Mastère Specialisé Techniques Aéronautiques et Spatiales – Astronautics
(“TAS-Astro”) programme http://www.isae.fr/modules/resources/download/default/Formations/masters/ms/TAS-astro.pdf
by selecting the option SEEDS in the on-line
application form. This
programme provides all main SEEDS contents also imparted in
SEEDS-Torino: students enrolled in Tolouse can therefore attend there
the SEEDS teaching phase before joining the Project Work activity.
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DIRECTION
AND
ORGANIZATION |
Prof.
Ernesto Vallerani, former President of Alenia Space and former
Vice Chairman of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) has
been appointed as Educational Project Manager, with the charge to
harmonize the educational programmes, to propose the common framework
for the Projects Works, to establish and maintain contacts with the
European Institutions and ESA and to represent SEEDS.
Besides
the General Coordinator each of the partner Universities has appointed
a local programme director and local responsible persons for the
organisation. The local programme directors are:
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Prof. Gianfranco Chiocchia at Politecnico di Torino, E-mail: gianfranco.chiocchia@polito.it
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Prof. Bénédicte Escudier at Supaero Toulouse, E-mail: benedicte.escudier@isae.fr
Prof.
Chiocchia is also Director of the general
SEEDS structure. An experienced senior engineer (Mr. Enrico Beruto,
former System Engineering Manager at Thales Alenia Space) has been
charged with the general co-ordination of the Project Work activities,
which he follows during their whole development in the three associated
towns. The Torino site is managed by COREP (Consortium for Research and
Continuing Educational at Politecnico di Torino) where it provides also
a permanent SEEDS Secretary through Ms. Elena Roggieri, E-mail eroggieri@corep.it.
She may be contacted for information. More details on the local
organisational structures can be found in the local SEEDS websites
given above.
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COURSE
PROGRAMME |
The
course working language will be English.
The
2011/2012 training programme will have an overall duration of 12 months for a total amount of 1684 hours
and 67 credits.
The
course attendance is mandatory and implies full time engagement from Monday to Friday
(9.00-13.00;14.00-18.00).
The
first 4 months
(about 634
hours) will be mainly spent
at Politecnico di Torino with the last two weeks at ISAE-Supaero. These
will
mainly consist of class lectures and
exercises providing
the general foundations of the various disciplines related to Space
Exploration. A parallel French class is organized at ISAE Supaero
through the
local TAS-Astro programme (see the SEEDS European website for details).
Visits
to National or European facilities as well as conferences and lectures
of
distinguished personalities are foreseen throughout this phase. The
planned average
class attendance is almost 36 hours/week.
The main
taught subjects may
be divided in two categories:
-
Understanding
Space:
Introduction to Space Basic Concepts
Space
and planetary environment; Orbits and astrodynamics; Mission analysis;
Space
human engineering - Crew safety; Space utilization; Space System
engineering I;
Space programme management; RAMS; Planetary aerothermodynamics.
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Learning
about Space
Systems: Fundamentals of Space Engineering
Space
System engineering II; Space robotics; Space propulsion; Attitude
determination, guidance and control; Environmental control - Life
support;
Thermal control; Space telecommunication; Power generation; Space
materials and
structures; Space avionics; Space Programme Management - Costs
estimation.
Learning
assessments on all subjects are foreseen at the end of every lecture
phase,
possibly grouped to homogeneous clusters to be evaluated as a whole.
In
the following 8 months
(about 1050 hours) the students
approach the future Project Work
Activities. Then they
extensively develop the SEEDS
Project Work
under the guide of experienced senior tutors. Thanks to its extension
this
Project Work is one of the main characteristic features of SEEDS. It is
divided
into two phases, each one dedicated to a special aspect of the space
exploration. A specific theme is identified every year (past topics
have been,
e.g., the preliminary design of a lunar outpost or a mission to an
asteroid). Each
Project Work phase is dedicated to a specific aspect of the selected
theme,
taking also into account the locally available competences. The two
phases are
hosted in a temporal sequence by universities, industries and centres
of the
associated European towns. During the whole Project Work students from
Torino
and Toulouse
(TAS-Astro)
are grouped together and work in cross-national teams. The Project Work
itself
is an advanced and ambitious activity, intended to lead to scientific
reports
to be diffused worldwide in the space community. On more than one
occasion
partial results have been presented by the students to international
conferences. The activities performed during the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
and
2009 Project Works are described in the SEEDS PW Executive
Summaries: Executive Summary
2005, Executive Summary 2006,
Executive Summary 2007, Executive Summary 2008
and Executive
Summary 2009
respectively.
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| SEEDS
LOCATIONS
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The
first months of lectures and exercises in Torino
will be held at COREP, C.so Trento 13.
The
SEEDS Project Work activity will then start with an Introduction
lasting two
weeks, to be partly spent either at the Space Centre ALTEC or in the
Thales
Alenia Space premises. Then two weeks of additional lectures and
exercised will
follow in Toulouse, just before the start of the first Project Work
phase which
will finish at the end of July. Back to Torino
the students will perform the second project Work phase which will end
in
December.
It
is expected that – as in the first five editions – the final Project
Work
discussion will be held at the ESA ESTEC Space Centre in Noordwijk (The
Netherlands) or in another European space establishment.
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ATTENDANCE,
EVALUATION
AND
DEGREE AWARDING |
A
final report ("Executive Summary") followed by a discussion in front
of international experts on the Project Work concludes the course and
finally
leads to the award of the SEEDS
"Master Universitario di
II livello" degree released by Politecnico di Torino.
Additionally,
a SEEDS Certificate/label jointly released by Politecnico di Torino and
ISAE
Supaero will be attached to the National Degree.
In
order to be admitted to the Project Work activities students must
attend at
least 2/3 of the lecture hours (certificated by signature),and to pass
all
related examinations. Students satisfying this requirement get the
SEEDS Master
Degree and Certificate after conclusion of the Project Work activities,
full
completion of the Executive Summary and successful final discussion.
To
be entitled to obtain the University Master Degree, the Italian
students must
comply to the Italian requirements stated by the law on education T.U.
of 1933
art. 142 (simultaneous enrolment in other universities courses,
doctorates,
etc…is not admitted).
Participation admitted
as "uditore"
(audience) does not allow acquisition of CFU (ECTS). At the
end of the Course, participants who were admitted only for frequency
will obtain a certificate of attendance.
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|
TUITION FEES
AND
CONDITIONS FOR SEEDS TO
BE ACTIVATED
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In
no case the tuition
fee for
the 6th SEEDS
edition will exceed 5000,00 Euro. This rate is intended for the
whole
SEEDS course and includes also the university fees. If the financial
support
received during the last editions (sponsorships, subsidies, EU Social
Fund …)
will be confirmed also for 2011/12 the quoted amount will be reduced
(in the
first 5 edition the fee ranged from 3000
to 4500 Euro,
depending on the obtained financial support).
It is
emphasized that no
fellowships are available since, according to its policy, SEEDS
utilizes any
additional financial income to realize a generalized fee reduction as
high as
possible, rather than to support individual students. As a consequence,
separate fellowships have to be found by the students themselves. For
instance,
some Italian Regions support their citizens’ attendance of post-degree
courses
(information can be obtained from the regional offices).
Accommodation
and travel
costs during the all teaching and Project Work phases are to be
sustained by
the students.
A maximum number of 15
participants is foreseen
in Torino.
The
Master Course will be activated on condition that there are at least
10
students and foreseen sponsorships have been confirmed.
The Scientific
Committee
may decide to activate the Post Graduate Master Course with a reduced
partecipant’s number.
Furthermore
all Italian students enrolled in Post-graduated Master Courses managed
by COREP
can get an "ad honorem loan" for an
amount of 5.000
Euro per year given by UniCredit Bank. To get
the loan it
is sufficient
to present an Enrolment Certification to the Master, without other
requirements.
Click here to download information on the
“AD HONOREM LOAN”.
For further information to apply for the Loan, please contact
the COREP Secretary’s Office.
All detailed information related to the
local SEEDS organisation, procedures and conditions for application,
tuition fees, deadlines for application, help for accommodation,
location of the teaching activities and so on can be found in the
Italian and French SEEDS websites. Back to Index
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Index
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