i-MESC Erasmus Mundus Joint Master

What i-MESC Erasmus Mundus Joint Master does

i-MESC (Interdisciplinarity in Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion) is a 2-year Erasmus Mundus Joint Master degree program that prepares graduate students for careers in electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Originally founded in 2004 as MESC and rebranded to i-MESC in 2023, the program is coordinated by Université Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens, France, with consortium partners at UPV/EHU (Spain), Université de Toulouse (France), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Warsaw University of Technology (Poland), Deakin University (Australia), and Drexel University (USA). The curriculum delivers 120 ECTS across four semesters — three semesters of coursework (30 ECTS each) covering materials synthesis, device manufacturing, advanced characterization, artificial intelligence, and digital twins, followed by a mandatory fourth semester of Master's thesis research in a partner laboratory. Students study in a minimum of two and up to four different countries over the two years.

The program targets graduate STEM students, with approximately 36 admitted per cohort from a global applicant pool. It also serves visiting scholars and industry partners through lectures, training schools, and research collaboration. Innovative pedagogical methods built on Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, and metaverse-based digital twins for battery manufacturing are deployed across the consortium. Notable technical components include access to laboratories and pilot lines at all consortium universities, integration of AI and digital twin coursework, and the first published application of metaverse technology for collaborative battery manufacturing education.

i-MESC is not a commercial entity and does not generate traditional revenue. It is co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme for the 2023-2029 period, which provides student scholarships and operational support. The go-to-market model is event-driven annual recruitment cycles: applications are opened globally, a centralized selection meeting is held at a rotating consortium university (most recently Bilbao in March 2026 for Class #22), followed by integration weeks, coursework, and graduation ceremonies. Distribution relies on the European Commission's Erasmus+ programme directory, the i-MESC website, LinkedIn, and the partner university networks across six countries. The small core team of six staff in Amiens (one coordinator, two administrative staff, one pedagogic engineer, plus two Dean's office contacts) supports the entire program.

Name

i-MESC Erasmus Mundus Joint Master

Legal name

i-MESC (Interdisciplinarity in Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion)

Website

https://mesc-plus.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

i-MESC is a 2-year Erasmus Mundus Joint Master MSc program in electrochemical energy storage and conversion, admitting approximately 36 students annually across a consortium of seven universities in France, Spain, Slovenia, Poland, the USA, and Australia, co-funded by the European Commission through 2029.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Graduate Engineering Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAIAAAE

Hybrid, Multi-Location & Multi-Country Study Abroad Programs

Education/International Education & Study Abroad/Study Abroad Program Providers (Multi-Country & Multi-Discipline)

Keywords

• Graduate engineering education
• Energy storage materials
• Electrochemistry master program
• International joint degree
• Battery technology education

Headquarters

HQ city

Amiens

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. European Commission Funding: Co-funded by the European Commission from 2023 to 2029 as an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master programme. Provides scholarships for selected students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

i-MESC delivers a 2-year Master of Science programme (120 ECTS) focused on electrochemical energy storage and conversion, covering batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells across materials synthesis, device manufacturing, advanced characterization, artificial intelligence, and digital twins. Students complete three semesters of interdisciplinary coursework at consortium universities in up to four different countries followed by a mandatory six-month Master's thesis in a research laboratory in Europe, the USA, or Australia. The programme uses innovative Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, and metaverse-based pedagogies and is co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus Mundus framework from 2023 to 2029.

Product overview

i-MESC is a single unified educational programme — an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master degree in Interdisciplinarity in Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion. The programme consists of 120 ECTS credits across four semesters: three semesters of interdisciplinary coursework (30 ECTS each) covering materials synthesis, device manufacturing, advanced characterization, artificial intelligence, and digital twins, followed by a mandatory fourth semester (30 ECTS) for a six-month Master's thesis in a research laboratory. The curriculum also includes soft skills training and innovative pedagogical methods using Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, and the metaverse.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• i-MESC Master Programme 2-year Master of Science programme worth 120 ECTS in Interdisciplinarity in Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion, covering batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells from materials synthesis through manufacturing, characterization, AI, and digital twins. Includes three coursework semesters across consortium universities in up to four countries followed by a mandatory six-month Master's thesis, with innovative VR/MR and metaverse-based pedagogy and Erasmus Mundus scholarship funding. Designed for graduate students in STEM disciplines preparing for careers in the energy storage sector.

Quantifiable outcome

• 120 ECTS European degree awarded upon completion
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Sichuan UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Chinese university hosting Dr. Zifeng LIN who conducted scholar visit to Toulouse Université (March-April 2026) for Class #21 students.
• Université Picardie Jules VernecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Main coordinating institution (U-Picardie) hosting i-MESC coordinator Alejandro A. Franco. Home to Christian Masquelier (Professor) and location of LRCS Laboratory where graduation ceremonies and student visits occur.
• Deakin UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Australian partner hosting Professor Maria Forsyth. Students can conduct Master thesis (semester 4) at Deakin. Provides Marta Titow (Dean's office Manager) and Jamie Banks (Assistant Director, Drexel Nanomaterials Institute).
• Drexel UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023US partner hosting Professor Yury Gogotsi and Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. Students can conduct Master thesis at Drexel in Philadelphia, USA.
• UPV/EHU (University of the Basque Country)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Spanish partner hosting Professor Iñaki Gandarias Goikoetxea. Bilbao campus hosts selection meetings for new cohorts.
• University of LjubljanacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Slovenian partner hosting Professor Boštjan Genorio. Collaborates on research and student exchanges within the programme.
• Warsaw University of TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Polish partner hosting Professor Wladyslaw Wieczorek. Hosted first i-MESC Training School in Warka, Poland (November 2025).
• Université de ToulousecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023French partner hosting Professor Patrick Rozier. Location for student visits and research activities at Toulouse Université.
• CIC EnergiGUNEminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Spanish research center (CIC ENERGIGUNE) associated with the consortium, hosting researcher Montse Casas-Cabanas. Contributes to research collaboration.
• National Institute of Chemistry (NIC) SloveniaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Slovenian research institute associated with the consortium, hosting researcher Robert Dominko. Supports research activities.
• Chalmers University - Alistore NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023International partner from Sweden, represented by Patrik Johansson, associated through the Alistore European research network.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Politecnico di Torino (Energy Engineering): Politecnico di Torino offers master's programs in energy engineering and electrochemical systems, with strong industrial ties in Italy's battery and automotive sectors. It is a regional peer: a southern-European technical university competing for overlapping STEM applicants and industry partnerships.
• Chalmers University of Technology: Chalmers hosts one of Europe's strongest battery research groups and is connected to i-MESC via the Alistore network (Patrik Johansson). It is a regional peer: a Nordic institution with comparable faculty depth in electrochemistry that competes for similar students and industry collaborations in the European battery ecosystem.
• Aalto University (School of Chemical Engineering): Aalto University in Finland offers master's programs with strong battery and materials chemistry tracks, partnered with European battery industry. It is a regional peer that competes for international STEM applicants in the Nordic-Baltic corridor and offers comparable access to pilot-line research.
• Grenoble INP - Phelma / Master in Materials Science: Grenoble INP hosts materials science and electrochemistry programs anchored by major French research labs in the Grenoble battery ecosystem. It is a regional peer in France, attracting similar international applicants and competing for industry placements in the French battery value chain.

Broad incumbents

• Imperial College London (Department of Materials): Imperial College London offers a leading master's program in materials science and engineering with significant battery and energy materials content. It is a broad incumbent peer: a top-ranked global brand that competes for the highest-quality international STEM applicants and industry-sponsored research in the same electrochemical energy storage domain.
• KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Energy Storage MSc): KTH offers master's-level courses and tracks in energy storage and battery technology. It is a broad incumbent peer: a top-ranked European engineering school with deeper brand recognition and larger cohorts, competing for the same international STEM applicants and industry-sponsored research.
• Aalborg University (Department of Energy Technology): Aalborg University is a recognized European leader in energy research with master's programs in energy engineering and power electronics. It is a broad incumbent peer that competes for similar international STEM applicants and industry-sponsored research in batteries and energy storage.
• TU Delft (Master of Science in Electrical Engineering / Energy Storage): TU Delft offers master's tracks covering batteries and energy storage within its electrical and chemical engineering programs. It is a broad incumbent peer: a high-prestige European technical university competing for the same international student pool, with comparable industrial laboratory and pilot-line access.

Direct peers

• EIT InnoEnergy Master's School: EIT InnoEnergy runs pan-European master's programs in sustainable energy and energy storage, including an MSc in Energy Storage. It is a direct peer: a multi-university, multi-country master's program targeting the same STEM talent pool entering the European battery and clean-tech workforce, and competing for overlapping applicant segments and industry partnerships.

Emerging players

• Alistore-ERI (European Research Institute): Alistore-ERI is a French-led European research network on electrochemical energy storage, associated with i-MESC through Chalmers. It is a peer in the same scientific community, with comparable faculty (e.g., Patrik Johansson) and overlapping training/networking events, and represents an alternative channel through which battery PhD talent is developed.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/i-mesc-erasmus-mundus-joint-master

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about i-MESC Erasmus Mundus Joint Master