EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 41 linked to plant breeding, EPBC was a great opportunity to get to know each other’s programmes better, work on curriculum development, and engage in closer collaboration for their and their students’ benefit. In the end, EPBC set the framework in which emPLANT was developed and submitted for funding to the EACEA. Four out of five EPBC members continued their collaboration with the University of Helsinki (UH) to design emPLANT. ES: HOW LONG IS THE PROGRAM AND WHAT WILL STUDENTS AT EMPLANT BE LEARNING? SR: emPLANT is a 2-year Master programme and each student will study at two partner universities. Every student will there- fore graduate with two diplomas from the two universities where they studied. emPLANT has been labelled Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree by the EACEA and is therefore recognised as the European education programme of excellence in the field of plant breeding. During Year 1, the students will study either at UniLaSalle or at SLU and learn the basics of crop production, genetics and breeding. In addition, they will participate in the Joint Integration Week, learn about project management and prepare their case study (cf. http://www.epbc.eu/pilot-case/), as well as have joint classes on IPR and take part in a Summer Breeding Field Camp. In Year 2, the students will either study at UH, UPV or EgeU and during their third semester specialise in breeding of forest trees and field crops (UH), breeding of fruit (trees) and orna- mentals (UPV) or breeding of grapevine and vegetables (EgeU). Their specialisation will be accompanied by joint courses on big data in plant breeding and bioinformatics. In semester 4, the students will write their Master thesis in a research lab of their home university or a company. They can also use their fourth semester to go on a Master thesis mobility to one of the consortium’s partner universities to enrich their thesis. At the end of their studies, there will be a Final Conference organised to present the best Master theses and to bring together students and seed industry representatives as well as the incoming new batch of emPLANT students. ES: WHICH KIND OF JOBS WOULD GRADUATES OF EMPLANT BE PERFECTLY SUITED FOR? SR: emPLANT will train two major types of graduates: a more applied profile of a highly qualified breeding programme leader who is able to design and implement complex breeding pro- grammes from original demand to variety launching including seed production, marketing plan, and intellectual property man- agement. And a more research-oriented profile who will continue as a PhD student to investigate current challenges in the field of plant breeding. Both profiles will be very international since the students spend at least one year, but in most cases even two times one year, in a foreign country. During their stay they will learn the language of their host country and follow their classes in FIGURE 1: STUDY PROGRAM IN FOUR SEMESTERS AT EMPLANT