The project done by Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) Faculty of Agriculture Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition faculty members Prof. Dr. Rıdvan Kızılkaya, Prof. Dr. Coşkun Gülser and Prof. Dr. Orhan Dengiz, with the support of OMU International Relations Office officers Hiroko Kawamorita and Birol Kurt, was accepted by the European Union (EU) Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency – (EACEA) with a budget of 3 million 32 thousand euros.
The project titled “Erasmus Mundus Master in Soil Science (emiSS)” realized by Faculty of Agriculture academicians within the scope of the Erasmus+: Key Action 1- Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMD) 2019 call is also the EU project with the highest budget.
A Master's Programme on Soil Science will be carried out within the scope of the project which will be coordinated by OMU Faculty of Agriculture Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. Higher education institutions Southern Federal University (SfeDU) from Russia, University of Agriculture in Krakow (UAK) from Poland, Agricultural University Bulgaria (AU) and Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) are the partners of the project, and scientists from higher education institutions in Bosnia Herzegovina, Georgia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Serbia, Tunisia and Ukraine and Samsun Teknopark company Agrobigen R&D Co. Ltd. and Federation of Eurasian Soil Science Societies will participate in the project as associate partners.
The aim of the emiSS project is to meet the need for qualified and skillful soil scientists through the master's programme which brings together higher education institutions working on soil science (soil physics, chemistry and biology, hydrology, soil formation and classification, soil polution and etc.), soil management (soil erosion and protection, land use, planning and management, soil health and quality), soil fertility (plant nutrition, fertilizers and fertilization, soilless culture, composting and vermicompost), soil ecosystem (soil biodiversity, soil-plant-water relations, CBS, remote sensing and soil mapping) and etc., besides cultural exchange and improving foreign language competencies.
Despite there are other Erasmus Mundus Projects where Turkish universities take part and Turkey is a "partner country"; Turkey will take part in such a project as "coordinator country" for the first time thanks to OMU. OMU will strengthen international relations with this programme and increase the number of academician and postgraduate student mobilities.
OMU Rector Prof. Dr. Sait Bilgiç congratulated the faculty staff for this grand success and wished for the continution of their successes.