Programme structure & Minors

In your first year with YUFE, you’ll begin your bachelor’s studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (or another chosen university) to build a common foundation in urban sustainability through a mix of on-site and online courses.

As you continue your studies, you have the freedom to personalise your curriculum by choosing from 20 different minors – sets of courses exploring different aspects of the sustainability. With this flexibility, you can select 3 minors, 2 of them to be taken at other partner universities. This allows you to travel and study at 3 universities, creating a unique and diverse learning experience. The travel is made possible with Erasmus Funding, which provides financial support to help cover the costs of studying abroad, ensuring accessibility to this international academic opportunity.

You’ll round off your academic profile with a bachelor’s thesis at your starting university.

The YUFE university partners apply the ‘European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System’ (ECTS) in their degree programmes. A full-time one-year study programme is equivalent to 60 ECTS credits (about 30 ECTS credits per semester). One ECTS credit equates to 25 to 30 hours of work including contact hours, preparatory work, study and assessment.

How does that work in practice?

A model path for a student starting at NCU:

1^st and 2^nd semester courses at NCU:

• Computer-assisted qualitative and quantitative data analysis
• Basics of urban economics and management
• Complex systems theory
• Contemporary Urban Developments (a joint course coordinated by NCU and the University of Antwerp)
• Cities & citizens in European History (a joint course coordinated by NCU and the University of Antwerp)
• Research and academic development skills
• Occupational Safety, Health and Ergonomics
• Urban geography and sociology
• Introduction to urban sustainability
• English in the city
• Science in response to anthropopressure-induced change
• Cycling in modern urban mobility

3^rd, 4^th and 5^th semester:

During the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th semesters you choose 3 minors, 1 at starting university and 2 abroad. Academic advisor will help you compose the best programme based on your preferences.

What Minors can you choose in the fall semesters?

(Minor offer for the academic year 2026/2027, subject to change in the future years)

• Postgrowth Cities: from theory to practice (Maastricht University, the Netherlands)
• Urban Policy and Governance (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland)
• Urban ecology in Europe: public policies, cultural narratives (Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris, France)
• Design and perspectives on heritage (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
• Society, Power & Development (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
• Natural Sciences for Sustainability (University of Bremen, Germany)
• Smart Cities for Sustainable Culture (University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)
• Economic Development (University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)
• Energy Sustainability in the Cities (University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)
• Urban Environmental and Sustainability Education (University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus)
• Borders, Europe & Russia (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland)
• Sustainable Business (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland)
• Driving Change: Activism, Engagement and Communities (University of Essex, United Kingdom)
• Societal Issues in a Contemporary World (University of Essex, United Kingdom)
• Minor Urban Inequality (University of Rijeka, Croatia)

What Minors can you choose in the spring semesters?

• Urban Mining (Maastrich University, the Netherlands)
• Sustainable Tourism (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland)
• Cities and Urbanisation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
• Heritage and perspectives on Design (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
• Sustainable Forestry (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland)
• Cities of Dreams and Nightmares (University of Essex, United Kingdom)
• Urban Ecology (University of Rijeka, Croatia)

6^th semester at NCU:

You return to NCU to write your Bachelor thesis and participate in thesis-related courses:

• Bachelor Seminar
• Bachelor thesis: design of social-economic research
• Social-economic analysis
• Urban practical projects

Documents:

• Education and Examination Regulations effective since 2025/2026 (pdf, 1461KB)
• Study programme for students starting at NCU effective since 2025/2026 (pdf, 75KB)
• Study plan for students starting at NCU effective since 2025/2026 (248 KB)