UAB students can obtain a double degree by studying part of their degree in Canada
01/02/2017
The UAB has reached an agreement with Thompson Rivers University (TRU),Canada, which makes it possible for UAB undergraduate students to follow their studies in Canada and vice versa. The agreement benefits students enrolled in the degrees in Biology and Microbiology, offered at the Faculty of Biosciences, and the degree in Chemistry, offered at the Faculty of Sciences. Students will receive their bachelor's degree from both the UAB and TRU. Moreover, another agreement was signed allowing students from the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing to apply for work placements in Canadian hospitals.
Students enrolled in Biology, Microbiology and Chemistry will be able to sign up for these double degrees. A maximum of two places will be reserved for each academic year and each university (e.i., every year two UAB students from each of the aforementioned degrees will be able to study at TRU and vice versa). This year, one UAB student enrolled in the bachelor's degree in Chemistry is currently studying at TRU. Students from the degrees of Biology and Microbiology will be able to sign up for the double degree starting in the 2017/18 academic year.
In the case of Chemistry, students will be able to enrol in their third and fourth year fully at TRU. Once they complete the degree, they will obtain their degree from the UAB and a Bachelor of Science, Major in Chemistry (equivalent to the UAB degree) from TRU.
Biology and Microbiology students will be able to enrol in their second semester of their third year and the first semester of their fourth year. Moreover, during the summer between the third and fourth year, students will be able to do a work placement in Canada. Canadian students coming to the UAB will do exactly the same (second semester of their third year, summer work placement, first semester of their fourth year). In both cases, students will earn a bachelor's degree in Microbiology or Biology from the UAB and a Bachelor in Sciences, with a Major in Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology, from the TRU.
The selection of students eligible for participating in this initiative will be based on two parameters: academic transcript and level of English (Level C1 or B2 of the European Framework of Reference for Languages, equivalent to the Certificate in Advanced English).
Enrolling at the UAB
Regardless of where they study, UAB students will enrol each year at the UAB and pay regular tuition fees applied to universities in Catalonia (Canadian tuition fees are quite higher). Faculty members in each of the universities will also tutor students enrolled in this double degree modality.
The creation of these double degrees is possible thanks to the similarity in the structure and contents of the syllabi of both universities. In addition, TRU's academic programme includes many optional units, making adaptability easier for UAB students.
The agreements signed between the two institutions also include the possibility for students of the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing, offered at the UAB Faculty of Medicine, apply for a work placement at TRU-affiliated hospitals and that TRU students be able to do work placements at UAB-affiliated hospitals. This initiative will begin next spring. This is the first work placement agreement between the UAB and a non-European university which includes the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing.
TRU is a state-run university with more than 24,000 students enrolled. It is located in Kamloops, British Columbia (some 300 kilometres away from Vancouver). Since the 2007/08 academic year, the UAB has had exchange agreements with TRU, a very popular request among students of the UAB. Delegates of the TRU have also travelled several times to the UAB on institutional visits in these past few years.