Researchers in the Nordic countries have a vibrant partnership across all the countries. There are also plenty of opportunities to study at both undergraduate and master's level in the other Nordic countries.

However, a partnership that combines the best educational courses from several universities, and also points towards a stronger research recruitment, is not an everyday occurrence.

That is, nevertheless, just what the Nordic Master Programs do.

Many applications

The project to create Nordic elite educations was launched by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2007.

Since then over 60 projects have applied to take part in the programme and there are currently ten Nordic Masters running.

A Master Program pulls together institutions of higher education from a minimum of three countries and each 'consortium' receives DKK 1 million towards the development of an educational course offered as a total package from all the participating universities.

Specialisation and co-operation

The Faculty of Theology in Århus, Denmark is co-organiser of the programme ‘Religious Roots of Europe’ which will study how Islam, Christianity and Judaism have influenced European history.

The Nordic Region has a strong tradition for historical-based studies of religion and six universities from four countries are participating: the universities of Århus, Copenhagen, Bergen, Oslo, Lund and Helsinki.

Jakob Engberg, Associate Professor at Aarhus University, feels this collaboration has opened new doors and strengthened existing networks.

"This is a logical way of working together. We already have a strong research network, so it was natural to expand this in the educational field too. Together we can muster specialised knowledge, which the individual institutions simply don't have the teaching staff to offer", says Jakob Engberg.

Lisa Munk from the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen agrees with this description. She is taking part in the Nordic Master Program in Plant Pathology along with partners from four other Nordic countries.

"We have a long-standing co-operation for PhD teaching and it was therefore natural for to extend this to Masters level. Together, the courses give the students optimal possibilities to put together an interesting and relevant degree", she says.

Jakob Engberg adds:

"The programme is also an investment in the future. We are strengthening the recruitment area for PhD studies in our subject, which is a relatively narrow field of study.

Promotes mobility

Engberg also thinks that the Masters programme opens new avenues for students.

"By taking part in our Nordic Master Program the students will find it easier to switch to other places of study. They will feel at home in a number of leading Nordic universities and develop a large network, not just in the Nordic Region, but also in a number of other countries which send students to the programme".

This experience is not very different from other exchange programmes, but a characteristic of the Nordic Master Program is that the students themselves are to a large extent responsible for the ongoing partnership across the borders and institutions.

"It is incredibly rewarding to work with fellow students in several countries. It really gives us a strength in relation to cross-cultural teamwork, as one student puts it".

E-learning and independence

There are three formats for the study of “Religious Roots of Europe”: two seminars of between four and twelve days per semester, when all the students are together; tutorials where the students at the individual universities get together locally; and, finally, there is e-learning and online communication.

Not least the latter has been a positive experience, says Jacob Engberg. The great emphasis on the written word as a substitute for classroom teaching has greatly improved the students' level.

"I sometimes miss classroom teaching, but, in actual fact, I think that this format gives us more responsibility for our own learning, in addition to strengthening our written skills", says one of the students.

"Since so much takes place online we become very good at expressing ourselves precisely. And, at the same time, we become much more independent students when we are in Denmark and the teacher is in Helsinki".

Lisa Munk agrees that this is a great strength.

"One element that we consider to be extremely important is that students writing a thesis have a supervisor from the other universities in addition to their own supervisor", she says.

Not all rosy

Nevertheless, the work of building a Nordic Master's is not without its problems.

Partly, there is a difference in funding models in the different countries, and, partly, it may be difficult to get accreditation in place, at any rate in Denmark. In the other Nordic countries the development of new educational courses is given credit by the individual universities to a much higher degree.

"We have solved the challenge of the different funding models by simply having a minimal transfer of funds between the countries," says Jakob Engberg.

This also creates challenges to co-ordinate the process between the countries.

"The universities have different year structures and this can make it difficult for the students to move from one university to another during the course of the year," explains Lisa Munk.

"But we cannot complain about the co-operation," she adds.

Additional resources

The co-operation has triggered new opportunities to receive funding.

"We have got a grant through from NordForsk for network co-operation and PhD seminars. And Nordplus has financed a lot of travel expenses for the students," says Jakob Engberg.

For the institution in Helsinki the Nordic Master Program has also meant more money from the university, and in Denmark part of the process has been given the status of an elite module which has released almost double the subsidy of a standard module.

Religious clashes

The very topic of religion is by definition cross-border. At the same time it also builds many barriers between people.

“Religious Roots of Europe” has in fact attracted participants from five continents, both believers and non-believers, Christians and Muslims.

This gives a cultural dynamic which adds strength to the course, according to several of the students.

One participant from Ghana has been surprised about how unimportant religion is in Nordic society, and not least that lovers can live together without being married.

One of the female students has had a heated discussion on this particular subject with one of the participants from Pakistan.

But even when feelings run high the situation is usually sorted out with the desire to explore common ground.

"Many of the participants find it a challenge to read religious writings critically as historical source material. But that is precisely what we can do here in the Nordic countries; we can work across cultures and countries even if we do not agree with everything. This is an extra strength with this education," concludes Jakob Engberg.

Read more about the Nordic Master Programmes