The University of Jyväskylä’s new international master’s degree programme educates chemistry experts for significant changes in society

The new international master’s degree programme of the University of Jyväskylä, Chemistry and Analytics for Circular Economy (CACE), educates future experts who can significantly contribute to the solving of societal problems, such as how to move towards a waste-free future by means of intelligent design, decreased consumption, reuse, recovery of valuable materials, and upcycling. The programme’s syllabus is unique in Finland and also globally. 

Experts to solve societal problems 

The programme received its first students at the end of August. The programme has been planned in cooperation between the Departments of Chemistry, Biological and Environmental Science, Mathematics and Statistics, and the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics. The students major in chemistry, but the development of the circular economy calls for multidisciplinary expertise, which the students can gain through educational collaboration across faculty borders. 

“We are proud of the new degree programme because it provides students with important skills that help to solve problems that threaten society and the environment,” says Assistant Professor Kaisa Helttunen from the Department of Chemistry, who is in charge of the master’s degree programme at the University of Jyväskylä. 

Multidisciplinary curriculum 

The composition of studies in the programme is internationally unique. The programme combines the basics of the circular economy, including the recovery of raw materials and upcycling both for metals and bio-based materials. In chemistry studies, the focus is on organic and inorganic analysis and related instrumental techniques, making extensive use of the department’s high-quality equipment and expertise.  

“The programme gives students a chance to combine different disciplines,” says Helttunen. “They can choose courses in business and economics, environmental management, statistics and data analysis based on their own interests. From the available courses, the students select a study module of either business and economics or statistics for their studies.”  

Circular economy raises interest 

Although the programme has been active for just a few weeks now, the basics of circular economy have generated broad interest among students. For example, the maximum of 30 students registered for the course Introduction to Circular Economy very quickly. Some of the students are attending the course remotely. 

“The course started in August, and it has attracted students with highly varied backgrounds and they are majoring either in chemistry, environmental science, statistics, or economics,” says Senior Lecturer Siiri Perämäki from the University of Jyväskylä. “The course has many exchange students as well as postgraduate students, for example, through JYU’s partner the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology.”  

Interested? Apply for the programme! 

The next application round for the master’s degree programme is in January 2025 (8–22 January 2025) in conjunction with the first joint application round for higher education institutions in spring. In addition, students of Finnish HEIs can apply for the international master’s degree programme either in the first joint application round in the spring or through the transfer application procedure for HEIs. The application instructions are available at Studyinfo.fi.