Places: 10 state-funded places/ 10 tuition fee places
The Faculty of Animal Science and Biotechnologies within the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, an institution of higher education, an autonomous legal entity, with responsibilities in the field of Higher Education (missions: education, research and social engagement) proposes the foundation and implementation of a master’s degree program with teaching in English language, i.e. “Ethology and human-animal interaction” (EHAI), which is to be organized in the form of full-time education, starting with the academic year 2021-2022.
The EHAI master’s degree program provides training at level 7 of the EQF, according to the Bologna II cycle, for students who have graduated a bachelor’s cycle of various programs in the fields of animal sciences, such as biology, animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, but also a bachelor degree in related fields, such as ecology, environmental sciences, psychology, public health, law or human medicine, who wish to develop professional skills based on ethological methods of studying the interactions between humans, animals and the environment.
The mission of the master’s program “Ethology and Human-Animal Interaction”, which is currently the only one of this kind proposed in Romania, is to offer in an interactive, interdisciplinary and innovative manner, a solid and rich base of theoretical and procedural knowledge about what the professions of ethologist and animal behaviorists mean, according to current societal and global needs, but also from the perspective of the history and evolution of animal-human interactions in different contexts, by reference to the laws and procedures in force at national, European and global level.
Based on the subjects included in the curriculum of this master’s degree, graduates will be able to use inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary explanatory models (biology, psychology, comparative veterinary medicine, environmental justice, law, economics, evolutionary sciences, history, anthropology, etc.) to understand, evaluate, prevent and intervene in the event of conflict between humans and animals, in the direction of sustainability and environmental conservation, as well as to facilitate optimal human-animal coexistence.
The proposed master’s degree program is integrated in the activity of the Faculty of Animal Sciences at USAMV CV and benefits from the educational spaces of the faculty necessary for teaching and research activities, respectively lecture halls, laboratories for application and scientific research activities, seminar rooms. The spaces for teaching and applied activities in the laboratory, intended for the development of the proposed master’s degree program, are equipped with the necessary equipment for the educational process, fundamental and applied scientific research, as well as the necessary logistics for the learning, teaching and evaluation process.
The transfer of knowledge from scientific research to the practical approach to human-animal interactions, mediated by specialists with a strong track record of national and international publications, is another key element of the development and implementation of the EHAI master’s program. It is important to note that the EHAI program is based on an interdisciplinary team of specialists in the fields addressing human-animal interactions, such as animal sciences, behavioral genetics, veterinary medicine, human psychology and animal psychology (including animal-assisted activities and therapies). Also, the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca will provide a solid basis for teaching, research and practical application of knowledge in the EHAI master both through the existing infrastructure, but especially through the development of a Technology Transfer Center in the field of human-animal interaction and animal-assisted therapies.
Places: 10 state-funded places/ 10 tuition fee places
This master’s degree programme is designed primarily for Biotechnology graduates (Agricultural Biotechnology, Food Industry Biotechnology, Veterinary Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology, Industrial Biotechnology, or Pharmaceutical Biotechnology). However, any graduates passionate about life sciences, keen to broaden their understanding of Applied Biotechnologies, are welcome.
Curricula disciplines target multiomic applications in biotechnologies, such as: genomics, microbial biotechnologies, bioinformatics, biotechnology of fermentative products, biodynamics of natural pigments, metabolite isolation from natural matrices, biomaterials – practical applications, marker-assisted selection, embryo-associated biotechnologies, molecular techniques for food authentication and GMO detection, nutritional genomics etc.