MSc SENSE is the starting point for your career in engineering, designing or managing the smart grids and smart electrical networks of the future. As new technologies transform the energy infrastructure and enable greater use of renewables and more efficient energy consumption, the opportunities for innovative ideas, new businesses and creative engineers are growing.

This programme develops your skills in electrical power engineering, business skills, and innovation management. By connecting you to the leading players in Europe’s transition to smarter grids, MSc SENSE places you at the heart of the international power industry.

Throughout the programme you will have exceptional opportunities to engage directly with major commercial and research organisations that are actively involved in advancing technologies for smart grids and systems. ABB, Fortum and the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) are all involved in the programme, alongside smaller niche players and start-ups in the smart grid ecosystem.

MSc SENSE is the starting point for your career in engineering, designing or managing the smart grids and smart electrical networks of the future. As new technologies transform the energy infrastructure and enable greater use of renewables and more efficient energy consumption, the opportunities for innovative ideas, new businesses and creative engineers are growing.

This programme develops your skills in electrical power engineering, business skills, and innovation management. By connecting you to the leading players in Europe’s transition to smarter grids, MSc SENSE places you at the heart of the international power industry.

Throughout the programme you will have exceptional opportunities to engage directly with major commercial and research organisations that are actively involved in advancing technologies for smart grids and systems. ABB, Fortum and the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) are all involved in the programme, alongside smaller niche players and start-ups in the smart grid ecosystem.

The two-year MSc SENSE programme gives you an in-depth understanding of existing technologies and innovative solutions needed to stimulate the transition of existing power infrastructures into smart, stable and responsive electricity grids.

This is a focused and highly relevant programme that enables you to explore issues around capacity management, decarbonisation, efficiency, flexibility, reliability, and sustainability when developing the electrical power system of the future. Topics include the design, operation, control and monitoring of individual components as well as entire national power systems.

In addition to essential technical concepts, MSc SENSE also covers the innovation process itself, the role of new businesses in the field of electric power, and the fundamentals of business creation and building start-ups businesses. We have strong partnerships with internationally renowned companies, research institutes and dynamic start-ups who actively participate in the programme.

Our partners are involved in curriculum design, student selection, teaching and lecturing, hosting internships, supporting your Master’s thesis, and creating job opportunities for our graduates. Our close relationship with the business community means you can be sure that your studies are current, practical and relevant – and a solid foundation for your future career.

MSc SENSE is strongly shaped by project-based and challenge-driven learning methods that give you hands-on, real-world experience outside the lecture hall.

MSc SENSE is an international programme for an international industry. You will join students from all over the world for two years at two different universities and one of Europe’s leading business schools. After successfully completing the programme and your Master’s thesis, you will receive a Master’s degree from two of the following institutions:

• International Master of Science in Electrical Engineering for Smart Grids and Buildings, from Grenoble INP: Institute of Technology, France
  
  
• Master of Science, from KTH: Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
  
  
• Master of Engineering: Energy, from KU Leuven, Belgium
  
  
• Master of Electrical Engineering, from TU/e: Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands
  
  
• Master of Energy Engineering, from UPC: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech, Spain
  
  

During the first year at KTH: Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm, Sweden, you will focus on the fundamentals of electric energy systems, including: power system analysis, power electronics, electrical machines, and high-voltage engineering. KTH also offers a mandatory course in innovation and entrepreneurship in electric-power engineering.

You will also attend several one-week modules at a number of our partner universities. These modules are dedicated to different challenges related to smart grids to add depth to your knowledge and broaden your skill set.

Examples of modules include:

• The impact of ICT solutions on the smart grid, at Grenoble INP: Institute of Technology, France
• Power quality and energy efficiency, at AGH: University of Science and Technology, Poland
• Integration of renewable energy into the grid, at UPC: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech, Spain

In the summer between your first and second year, you will attend a four-week course on entrepreneurship at the ESADE Business School in Barcelona. During the four weeks you will attend highly interactive lectures each day, as well as working on an entrepreneurial project relating to innovation in smart grids. The goal of the project work is to create a start-up from ideation to first pitch to potential business angels. You will develop a customer-focused, market-oriented business and financial plan, and present to key partners and experts in the field.

For your second year, you choose an area in which to specialise at one of four universities. The options are:

• Energy Management in Buildings and Power Grids at Grenoble INP: Institute of Technology, France
• Power Distribution and Storage, at KU Leuven, Belgium
• Power Electronics as Enabling Technology for Renewable Integration, at UPC: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech, Spain
• Sustainable Electrical Energy Systems, at TU/e: Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands

You complete your second and final year with a Master’s thesis, which you undertake at one of our industrial or research partners. The thesis is worth 30 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System credits (ECTS) and corresponds to five months of full-time study. Your thesis should be relevant to the field of smart grids and be clearly orientated towards innovative solutions that are relevant to electric power.

The MSc SENSE programme prepares you for a global career in electrical power engineering, especially in the fast-growing field of smart grids. The programme is the perfect starting point for students who want to:

• Enhance the reliability of electric power delivery
• Minimise the cost of electric energy
• Encourage the use of new generating sources
• Increase the penetration of renewable energy sources in the energy mix

The programme’s emphasis on understanding, modelling and analysing the principles behind electric power generation, transmission, distribution and utilisation gives you comprehensive knowledge of the issues surrounding the transition to smart grids.

In addition, the business management and entrepreneurial aspects of the programme enable you to assess the potential and risk of new products, solutions or services from both a business and technical perspective, develop new ideas, and take them from technical concept to commercially viable product.

In the MSc SENSE programme you can start building your international network by working closely with fellow students from around the world. You study at two separate universities in two different countries, and the business-focused elements of the curriculum explore how to work in and manage multi-cultural teams.

In your first year you study at KTH: Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm, Sweden. In the second year, you choose to study at one of the following: Grenoble INP: Institute of Technology in France; KU Leuven in Belgium; UPC: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech in Spain; or TU/e: Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.

You also study at the ESADE Business School in Barcelona in the summer between your first and second year.

After successfully completing the MSc SENSE programme, you will receive a prestigious degree from each of your chosen universities, which form your double degree:

• Grenoble INP: International Master of Science in Electrical Engineering for Smart Grids and Buildings
• KTH: Master of Science
• KU Leuven: Master of Engineering: Energy
• TU/e: Master of Electrical Engineering
• UPC: Master of Energy Engineering

The EIT Label is a quality seal awarded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to a KIC educational programme that has been assessed positively by the EIT on the implementation of the EIT Quality Assurance and Learning Enhancement (EIT QALE) system and the application of specific quality criteria with focus on the EIT Overarching Learning Outcomes (EIT OLOs), robust entrepreneurship education, highly integrated, innovative ‘learning-by-doing’ curricula, international mobility and outreach. For more information please check here.

Innovation industrial projects give you the opportunity to work on real-world challenges set by our industry partners. You work in close collaboration with industry players on developing innovative solutions to some of the problems they face. You work in a team with fellow students, and will undertake at least part of your project on site at the business partner that initially set the challenge.

Recent examples of Innovation Industrial Projects include:

Innovation industrial projects give you the opportunity to work on real-world challenges set by our industry partners. You work in close collaboration with industry players on developing innovative solutions to some of the problems they face. You work in a team with fellow students, and will undertake at least part of your project on site at the business partner that initially set the challenge.

Recent examples of Innovation Industrial Projects include:

The E16 project is the first test site for electrified roads in Sweden. It consists of a 2km test road, where heavy electric trucks are powered by pantographs connected to overhead wires. The project tests and analyses all kinds of scenarios and situations related to electrified roads, so that operators of transport and electricity services can better understand the potential of such roads in Sweden and beyond.

Students taking part in this project worked on:

• Estimating the frequency of the vehicles on the road in different time and weather conditions
• Assessing the comparative advantages of using overhead lines or ground conductors to supply power to the roads
• Optimising the design of local sub-stations to support connections between electrified roads and the electric grid.
• Identifying possible difficulties around power quality and security and proposing solutions and regulations

Finding ways to extend the electrified road concept in various geographical conditions

The SENSE Master’s programme gives you plenty of chances to meet and engage with our industry partners, business experts, fellow students, recent graduates and thriving start-ups throughout your two years of study.

Innovation projects give you the opportunity to work on real-world challenges set by our industry partners. The projects give you an opportunity to work in close collaboration with industry players, and to develop innovative solutions to some of the problems they face. More information on innovation industrial projects can be found here.

An annual event focusing on smart-grid innovation, the MEET event is an opportunity for all students on the MSc SENSE programme to come together at KTH: Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden to share their experiences and insights. In addition, Year 1 students present the results of their innovation industrial projects, while Year 2 students present the preliminary results of their thesis either as a seminar session or joint poster session.

You are encouraged to undertake your thesis at one of the programme’s industry partners. The thesis work gives you privileged access to the most prestigious industries whose experts act as the mentors of your work.

ABB, IREC, Fortum