UNIC Joint Master Programme RePIC: First Cohort Celebrates Graduation

Through RePIC, eight leading European universities are working together to develop innovative solutions for post-industrial cities. The first group of graduates has now been awarded the European Master of Science degree as part of the UNIC university alliance. This pioneering cohort, which began in 2023, consisted of twelve students from seven countries, each with diverse and interdisciplinary academic backgrounds.

They completed the demanding programme within the standard four-semester timeframe and earned the joint degree Master of Science (M.Sc.).

“I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to all graduates of the first RePIC cohort,” said Prof Dr Thomas Feldhoff, Programme Director and Head of the Department of Geography at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany). “Successfully completing an international Master’s programme — with multiple study locations—within four semesters is an impressive achievement. The breadth of topics, theoretical approaches and methodologies explored in their theses clearly demonstrates how RePIC contributes to understanding and shaping post-industrial transformation processes in all their complexity. I wish our alumni every success in the next stage of their careers.”

A Model for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Programmes

RePIC was developed in 2021 by eight partner universities of the UNIC alliance and has been coordinated by the Department of Geography at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) since its successful selection as an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s programme in 2023.

As a multidisciplinary, inter-university postgraduate programme, RePIC uses the ECTS credit system to ensure recognition of qualifications and actively integrates mobility periods for students across the partner universities:

• Ruhr- Universität Bochum (Germany)

• University College Cork (Ireland)

• Universidad de Deusto (Spain)

• Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (the Netherlands)

• Koç University (Turkey)

• Université de Liège (Belgium)

• University of Oulu (Finland)

• University of Zagreb (Croatia)

RePIC draws on the diverse strengths of the dynamic UNIC partnership and collaborates with stakeholders from politics, industry, and civil society. Students can study at several partner institutions and live in different European cities — providing a truly international and interdisciplinary learning environment.

An Innovative Training Ground for Urban Development

A core component of the RePIC Master’s programme is the UNIC CityLabs — physical and virtual spaces where students, citizens, academics and city stakeholders come together to identify and address challenges faced by post-industrial, superdiverse cities.

Already in their first semester, the students of the graduating class of 2025 explored topics such as urban analysis, digital design strategies, and sustainable urban development. In the second semester, they selected one of four specialisations:

• Urban Transformations and Resilience

• Inequality, Diversity, and Social Justice

• Urban Analysis: Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities

• Governance of Post-Industrial Cities

Maximilian Dahlems, a RePIC graduate from Germany, shares his experience:

“With RePIC, UNIC has created a European Master’s programme that focuses directly on European challenges and research priorities. It gave me the opportunity to learn how, for example, the city of Cork and its researchers approach urban issues. Of course, I could have applied for a programme in an international city like London, but that would have centred mainly on the UK. With RePIC, I had the unique chance to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world contexts in various European countries. That’s not something you find everywhere—and I don’t know of any other programme that offers this.”

Want to know more about our “Erasmus Mundus Joint Master – Redesigning the Post-Industrial City (MSc RePIC)“? Visit the RePIC website or get in touch via email repic@rub.de.