University Consortium
The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Public Health in Disasters (EMJM PHID) is a joint university educational programme organized by the Department of Medicine of Universidad de Oviedo (Spain), Global Disaster Medicine – Health Needs and response at the Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and the Department of Primary Care and Population Health of the University of Nicosia (Cyprus). It is designed to deliver high quality education and training in the field of Public Health in disaster situations. The Programme is sponsored by the European Union and it also involves associated universities and institutions around the world.
Karolinska Institutet (KI)
As a university, KI is Sweden’s single largest centre of medical academic research and offers the country’s widest range of medical courses and programmes. Since 1901 the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has selected the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine. KI was founded by King Karl XIII in 1810 as an “academy for the training of skilled army surgeons”. Today, KI is a modern medical university and one of the foremost in the world.
For 2023, Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, also referred to as the Shanghai ranking) ranks KI at number 37 in the world and number 8 in Europe. In the fields Nursing and Public Health KI is among the top eight the world. In the field of Biological Sciences, KI ranks number 16 in the world and 4th in Europe. Within the field Clinical Medicine, KI is ranked 31 in the world and 10 in Europe and in the field Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 14 in the world and 7 in Europe.
KI offers a wide range of programmes and courses in medicine and healthcare to meet society’s need for skills in the field. The university conducts research and education on two campuses (Solna and Flemingsberg) and at a number of the county’s hospitals. In 2022 there were 6,456 full-time students at KI, along with 2,163 doctoral students, of which 62% were women. The teachers often conduct research alongside their educational duties, giving their students access to the latest knowledge in the entire field of medicine. Students, teachers, and researchers together constitute an interesting and stimulating academic environment.
Research at KI spans the entire medical field, from basic experimental research to patient-oriented and nursing research. Research at KI is conducted in 22 departments, most of which are situated or adjacent to Stockholm’s teaching hospitals. This creates ample opportunities for translational research in which new experimental results are rapidly implemented for patient benefit, and where clinical observations provide a basis for new research ideas.
The EMJM PHID will be taught at the Department of Global Public Health (GPH). GPH is a multidisciplinary department with the aim to advance knowledge about challenges and opportunities for public health in a local, national, and global setting. This includes studying how societal phenomena affect health in a globalized world and translating research evidence into public health action. GPH conducts undergraduate and doctoral education in public health science, global health, and public health epidemiology.
The research group Global Disaster Medicine – Health Needs and Response is one of 13 groups that make up the Department of Global Public Health. It is the group that runs the EMJM PHID.
Global Disaster Medicine – Health Needs and Response was established more than twenty years ago. Their focus is on health care in disasters, with the aim to contribute to improved and targeted humanitarian assistance, by developing evidence-based methods for how to best perform needs assessments and how to optimally design and provide health assistance following disasters in different contexts. Their research focuses on a wide range of topics, including: improved needs assessments in the early phase of sudden onset disasters, defining the burden of disease in different time periods after sudden onset disasters, best practices for health care response to sudden onset disasters and moral stress for health care workers in disasters. The researchers frequently draw on their experience of field work in disaster-stricken areas in their academic work. In addition to their research and teaching, they also conduct analysis, compile reports and evaluations on needs assessments in disasters, improved disaster preparedness, evaluations of international humanitarian health relief and national disaster response, and much more.
University of Nicosia (UNIC)
University of Nicosia is the largest private university in Cyprus. It is an independent, co-educational, equal opportunity institution of higher education, which offers a wide range of programmes to students from around the world. The University offers more than 100 conventional face-to-face (on campus) and distance learning online programmes at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degree level, hosting more than 12,500 students from over 100 countries. UNIC conducts extensive high quality basic, applied, and interdisciplinary research that benefits society on a national and global scale. The University’s academic standing and global outlook have been reflected in outstanding results in international rankings. Indicatively, UNIC has been recognised by Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings (WUR) 2023 as being among the top 2% of universities in the world. One of the core areas in which the University demonstrably continues to excel in the THE WUR is International Outlook, where UNIC ranked 47th globally.
In 2011, the University of Nicosia established the first Medical School in Cyprus. More than 1100 students from 97 countries around the world are enrolled in the UNIC Medical School, coming from as far away as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The School has state-of-the-art facilities and learning resources, including venues for small and large group teaching and learning, laboratories, an anatomy and histology resource centre, a clinical skills facility, a health library, and information technology facilities.
The EMPHID will be taught at the Medical School under the Department of Primary Care and Population Health (PCPH). The PCPH department focuses its activities across the three academic pillars, namely education, research and community outreach. The educational activities include the delivery of postgraduate programmes in the areas of Primary Care and Public Health. Research activities are diverse, focused on the One Health concept, and include participation in local, European and international cutting edge projects through collaborations with partners in Cyprus, Europe, the USA and Israel. The Medical School also runs a Mobile clinic that serves communities in remote villages, refugee camps and schools and aims to promote health through educational activities and opportunistic screening programmes.
Universidad de Oviedo (UNIOVI)
The Universidad de Oviedo founded in 1604 is one of the oldest academic institutions in Spain having recently celebrated its 400th anniversary. Today, the Universidad de Oviedo hosts more than 28,000 students and enjoys great prestige due to its teaching and research activities in the fields of humanities, law, social sciences, experimental sciences, health sciences, engineering and technical education. The Universidad de Oviedo will be in charge of the coordination of the EMPHID.
In 2009 The Universidad de Oviedo was labelled as Campus of International Excellence by the Government of Spain. The CEI recognition was based on the “Ad Futurum” initiative, which objectives are fostering excellence in research, development and innovation, with special focus on Biomedicine & Health, and in which some of the teachers and researchers of the Department of Medicine are actively involved. In 2012 the University of Oviedo has been included by the University of Cambridge in the list of world excellence universities (The Guide to Excellence 2012 Edition. Global Education & Opportunities).
As a member of the European University INGENIUM, the University of Oviedo offers you the opportunity to study, research, and work within a network of ten prestigious universities across Europe. Since 2023, joining the University of Oviedo also means becoming part of this global community of learning and innovation that aims to tackle the challenges of the 21st century. INGENIUM is a strategic alliance of ten European universities, led by the University of Oviedo, that aims to provide excellent, international, inclusive, and socially responsible education. Our goal is to educate professionals and citizens who can contribute to the well-being of society. As a student, researcher, or staff member of the University of Oviedo, you will join the INGENIUM family. This will open up a wide range of programs, projects, and exchanges to boost your abilities and broaden your horizons.
The EMPHID will be taught at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the EMPHID leading University department will be the Department of Medicine, where different areas and researchers have been jointly working in the last 25 years in the different components of disasters (Public health, medical response, environmental approach, climate change, etc), and lead different research projects linked to the Health Research Institute of Asturias (ISPA), being leaders in Spain in this field of knowledge.
Coordinators
Rafael Castro – Universidad de Oviedo
Johan von Schreeb | Anneli Eriksson – Karolinska Institutet
Edna Yamasaki | Christiana Demetriou – University of Nicosia
The partner university in charge of the EMJM PHID general coordination is the Universidad de Oviedo.