Programme profile.

The Joint Undergraduate Programme of Studies in Environmental Sciences and Engineering is a full-time, five-year programme consisting of ten semesters. It is delivered jointly by five Schools of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and leads to an Integrated Master's degree worth 300 ECTS credits.

The official language of the programme is English. All lectures, materials, examinations, and the Diploma Thesis are delivered in English.

The five years are composed of fifty courses and the Diploma Thesis. The compulsory courses build the scientific foundation, the electives let students specialise, and the thesis brings everything together into a single research project.

Each course is worth 6 ECTS credits, except for the Diploma Thesis, which is worth 30 ECTS — equivalent to five normal courses, and roughly one-tenth of the entire degree.

Compulsory courses

The 34 compulsory courses (204 ECTS) form the scientific spine of the programme. They cover the foundations every graduate must hold — physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, programming, earth sciences, environmental engineering, climate, energy, ecology, and policy — and are delivered across semesters one to eight. No optionality at this level: every student leaves with the same core background.

Elective courses

The 16 elective courses are offered in semesters seven, eight, and nine, and students choose 11 of them (66 ECTS). The electives let students develop a specialisation while staying within the programme's interdisciplinary frame. They cluster naturally into four thematic areas — atmosphere and climate, data and modelling, circular economy and industrial sustainability, and ecosystems and agriculture — although the formal regulations describe the sixteen as a flat list and any combination of eleven is permitted.

The Diploma Thesis is carried out across the whole of the tenth semester. It is the largest single piece of academic work in the programme — 30 ECTS, equivalent to five normal courses — and the point at which everything learned over the previous nine semesters comes together in a single research project.

Students choose a topic in consultation with a faculty supervisor from any of the five participating Schools, and the work may be experimental, computational, or field-based. Many students embed within an active research laboratory, contributing to ongoing work that can continue beyond graduation.

Each semester runs for thirteen weeks of teaching, followed by an examination period. Teaching is delivered in person, using the lecture halls, laboratories, and field facilities of the five participating Schools — Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mechanical Engineering, and Agriculture. Online teaching is used only in exceptional cases, in line with the regulations governing accredited Greek university programmes.