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Course name: Nature Conservation Engineering Master Program
Degree: Master in Nature Conservation Engineering
Education goals: The program objective is to train nature conservation engineers with ability to plan, organize and manage the general and special tasks of nature conservation on international level. They vindicate the nature conservation principles and regulations efficiently with application of acquired theoret-ical knowledge. Graduates may continue their studies in the doctoral program.
Length of the study programme: 4 semesters
Total credit: 120
Admission criteria: Requirement of admission to the Nature Conservation Engineering MSc program is that the applicant has 84 credits from his/her BSc degree from the following disciplines:
- natural science: at least 15 credits;
- economic and human knowledge: at least 10 credits;
- engineering and informatics: at least 5 credits.
The student can also be enrolled if the student has at least 60 credits from the above-mentioned disciplines, but the missing credits must be obtained later based on the recent Education and Ex-amination Rules and Regulations of the University.
Language requirements: English B2-level certificate.
Credit System
Majors in the Hungarian Education System have generally been instituted and ruled by the Act of Parliament under the Higher Education Act. The higher education system meets the qualifications of the Bologna Process, which defines the qualifications in terms of learning outcomes: state-ments of what students know and can do on completing their degrees. In describing the cycles, the framework uses the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).
ECTS was developed as an instrument for improving academic recognition throughout European Universities by means of effective and general mechanisms. ECTS serves as a model of academic recognition, as it provides greater transparency of study programs and student achievement. ECTS in no way regulates the content, structure and/or equivalence of study programs.
Regarding each major the Higher Education Act prescribes which professional fields define a certain training program. This contains the proportion of the subject groups: nature conservation, low, administration and leadership, research planning, project and competition management and communication and pedagogy.
Professional fields, which define the Environmental Engineering MSc training program
| Nature conservation | 40-70 credits |
| Law | 5-15 credits |
| Administration and leadership | 5-15 credits |
| Research planning, project and competition management | 5-10 credits |
| Communication and pedagogy | 5-10 credits |
| Thesis | 25 credits |
| Professional practice | 5 credits |
| Total: | 120 credits |
During the program, students have to complete a total amount of 120 credit points. This adds up to approximately 30 credits per semester. The curriculum contains the list of subjects (with credit points) and the recommended order of completing subjects.
Curriculum of the Nature Conservation Engineering MSc program
| Course | Eval- ua- tion† |
Credit points |
Instuction hours/week |
||
| name | type* | lecture | practice | ||
| First semester | |||||
| International Nature Protection Law | A | E | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Ecological Water Management | A | E | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Biological Invasion | A | E | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Protection of Animal Heritage | A | E | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Protection of the Botanical Heritage | A | E | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Eligible courses (see below) | B | MTG | 5 | ||
| C | MTG | 2 | |||
| Second semester | |||||
| Biodiversity Monitoring | A | E | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Close-to-nature Forestry | A | E | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Global Environmental Systems | A | E | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Environmental Protection Knowledge | A | E | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Protected Natural Areas in the World | A | E | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Nature Conservation Competitions and Projects | A | E | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Eligible courses (see below) | B | MTG | 3 | ||
| B | MTG | 2 | |||
| C | MTG | 2 | |||
| Third semester | |||||
| Flora, Fauna and Habitat Mapping | A | E | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Wildlife Trade | A | E | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Nature Conservation Management | A | E | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Nature Conservation Planning and Evaluation | A | E | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Ecological Genetics | A | E | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Close-to-nature Agriculture | A | E | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Thesis 1 | B | S | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| Fourth semester | |||||
| International Nature Conservation | A | E | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Nature Protection Policy | A | E | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Nature Conservation Studies | A | E | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Thesis 2 | B | S | 15 | 0 | 2 |
| Professional Practice (40 hrs/semester) | K | S | 120 | ||
| Elective courses | |||||
| Biological and Ecological Conservation | B | MTG | 2 | 2 | 0 |
|
Protection of Cultural Heritage |
B | MTG | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Environmental Information Systems | B | MTG | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Active Protection of Plant and Animal Species | B | MTG | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Environmental Pedagogy | B | MTG | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Remote Sensing | B | MTG | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Landscape Management and Protection | B | MTG | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Protection of Geological Heritage | B | MTG | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Agroforestry for Natural Resource Conservation | C | MTG | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Nature Conservation and the Energy Transition | C | MTG | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Soil Protection and Conservation | C | MTG | 2 | 1 | 1 |
*Course type: A = compulsory, B = elective in engineering fild, C = elective, K = criteria (no credit)
†Evaluation: E = exam, MTG = mid-term grade, S = signature
Academic calendar
eneral structure of the semester
| Registration | 1st week |
| Study period | 2nd — 15th week |
| Exam period | 6 weeks |
| Usually, study period is scheduled for the 1st week of September in the fall semester and for the 1st week of February in the spring semester. | |
Grading system
| Grade | Definition | |
| 5 | Excellent, Very good | Outstanding with minor errors |
| 4 | Good | Generally sound work with a number of notable errors |
| 3 | Satisfactory, Acceptable | Fair but with significant shortcomings |
| 2 | Pass | Performance meets the minimum criteria |
| 1 | Fail |
Further work is required |
