Programme description

Una Europa Joint Bachelor in Sustainability (BASUS) is an innovative interdisciplinary programme co-designed and co-taught by eight leading European universities, all members of the Una Europa alliance. The programme provides an extensive education on sustainability, its various complexities and the interdependence of divergent disciplines with the aim to equip its graduates with necessary tools to forge a better future and fill the growing niche on the market for professionals with a cross-cutting understanding of sustainable development.

All students of the programme will begin at the same starting university – Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie for the current edition of the programme – studying there during the entire first year of the programme. During these semesters, the students will take introductory courses, which will familiarise them with the core concepts and frameworks of sustainability, as well as transversal courses, which will equip them with core academic skills and competencies.

Then, starting with the second year, the students will follow one of the six three-semester-long specialisation tracks, each coordinated by one of the degree-awarding partners of the programme. The final (sixth) semester can be completed at any university. The tracks are:

• Sustainable Chemistry & Physics (coordinated by Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet)
• Economy & Geography (coordinated by Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
• Law & Politics of Sustainability (coordinated by Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie)
• Environmental & Life Sciences (coordinated by Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
• Economics, Management & Engineering (coordinated by KU Leuven)
• Social Sciences & Humanities (coordinated by the Universität Zürich)
• Environmental and Life Sciences (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

During the last semester of the programme, the students can engage in optional mobility and apply to study at one of the eight universities associated with the programme, which includes the six abovementioned degree-awarding partners and two mobility partners, the University of Edinburgh and Freie Universität Berlin. Being a joint programme means that the students will be formally enrolled at all of the degree-awarding partners and upon graduation, will be awarded a single, joint diploma.

👉  More information about the BASUS programme

About UNA Europa

Eleven leading European research universities have come together to create a unique alliance – Una Europa. Our universities have been educating Europe for over 1,000 years. Our combined student and staff community surpasses half a million people and our digital learners’ number is in the millions. Una Europa aims to draw on our collective strengths to create a truly European inter-university environment, a University of the Future.

On the basis of their mission and values, the Una Europa partners have selected five Focus Areas to launch their collaboration – European Studies, Sustainability, Cultural Heritage, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and One Health. Each of them fosters multi-disciplinarity and includes most of the studies offered at our universities. The Focus Areas act as initial thematic “glue” that ties our universities together in our mission to create a virtual campus. The alliance also facilitates space for collaboration in other disciplines.

👉  More information about Una Europa

Information regarding partner universities

The programme is co-created and co-led by eight leading European universities that are members of the Una Europa university alliance:

• Jagiellonian University in Kraków
• KU Leuven
• Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet
• Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
• Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• Universität Zürich
• University of Edinburgh
• Freie Universität Berlin

👉  Check detailed information about the partner universities

Rankings, distinctions, accreditations

• The Joint Bachelor in Sustainability (BASUS) programme has been accredited in accordance with the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes procedure by an international panel chaired by the Polish Accreditation Committee, which also issued the official accreditation documentation.
• Scientific category A in the discipline of Law awarded to the Jagiellonian University in Kraków by the decision of the Minister of Education and Science

Curriculum overview

The programme curriculum illustrates the programme’s structure as well as detailed information about the course curricula, including in which semester you will take a given course, whether it is mandatory or optional, what are a given course’s formal requirements, etc. Each course has a separate syllabus, and it delineates the contents of said course.

🔵  More information about the programme structure of BASUS

Student's life

University experience is more than just the education you receive – it is also the time when you develop your interests and passions and form important and enduring relationships with your peers. Many research societies and student organisations operate at the universities of the programme, both at a level of a given faculty and university-wide ones. Moreover, throughout the year there are many academic and non-academic initiatives in which students can get involved to enrich their experience and enliven their social calendars. These various clubs and activities allow students to gain knowledge and experience, develop their soft skills and private interests, collaborate with fellow students on exciting and innovative projects and initiatives, participate in research and team-building trips as well as academic events and conferences.

🔵  More information about extracurricular activities and events connected with the BASUS programme

Admission to studies

Admission for the programme is coordinated by the Jagiellonian University and is carried out electronically via the IRK system, where information on application procedure can be found. Admission to the programme is based on an online entrance exam – more detailed information about the exam, its scope and form can be found on the programme’s dedicated website.

Graduates

Throughout the programme, BASUS students will gain knowledge pertaining to various aspects of sustainability, from the physical basis of climate change, through sustainable development goals and circular economy, to its ethical paradigm, all of which are becoming increasingly pertinent across sectors. As the programme centres an interdisciplinary and cross-cutting approach, BASUS graduates will be uniquely predisposed to foster and facilitate dialogue between disciplinary specialists. Moreover, the programme’s supplementary emphasis on transversal skills, particularly language and communication skills, will ensure that the graduates have all the necessary competencies to find gainful employment both in the public and private sector, in positions such as Chief Sustainability Officer, Compliance Officer, Sustainability Consultant, Sustainability Communication Manager, and more. 

Further education possibilities

• Second-cycle programmes
• Post diploma programmes

Offer for schools

The following events are conducted in Polish – to find out about the offer for English-speaking audience, please get in touch with the organizer directly. Additionally, due to the current pandemic, some faculty and university events may be canceled or conducted in a form other than that described below.

We invite all schools to a series of meetings, "University Closer to you – trips to the Jagiellonian University." The purpose of the sessions as part of the tours is to familiarize students with our university's history through a broad educational offer (lectures, workshops, laboratory classes, etc.). The current program of the event is available on the organizer's website - Centre for Communications and Marketing.

The Jagiellonian Library allows you to visit the old and new parts of the building. The tour program includes presentations of information about the history of the Library and the building itself and a tour of the Warehouse Department. The offer of Collegium Maius consists of the "Traces of science" and "Traces of history and art" lessons as well as interactive online classes. We also invite you to familiarize yourself with the educational offer of: the Botanic Garden, the Nature Education Center, the Confucius Institute, and the Museum of the Department of Anatomy UJ CM.

Contact

The study programme is housed at Centre for Advanced Sustainability Studies, a unit of the Faculty of Law and Administration and the students, in the buildings of which the students will have the majority of their classes while in Kraków. For more information, please contact basus-info@uj.edu.pl.

Rynek Główny 34
31-010 Kraków, Poland

📞 +48 516 685 374
🌐  basus.info

Other programmes that may interest you

• Joint BA in European Studies (BAES) (Faculty of International and Political Studies) – programme in English
• Leader of International Cooperation for Green Transition (Faculty of International and Political Studies)
• Sustainable Chemistry (Faculty of Chemistry)