Imaging, light and the extended reality technology meet in the multidisciplinary Erasmus Mundus Japan programme.
The international Master’s programme IMLEX, Imaging and Light in Extended Reality, offers a unique and interdisciplinary educational opportunity for imaging and light as a whole applied to the extended reality technologies.
IMLEX is an Erasmus Mundus Japan programme, core partners of which are European and Japanese universities: University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT) in Japan, University Jean Monnet (UJM) in France and KU Leuven in Belgium. The consortium’s academic partners include Chiba University and Utsunomiya University in Japan. The programme also has several business partners globally. At the University of Eastern Finland, the School of Computing and the Department of Physics and Mathematics are involved in the programme.
“The IMLEX programme is one of the three Erasmus Mundus programme chosen by the European Union, which are about cooperation between the EU and Japan. It is therefore a very unique programme which is founded on the long-term cooperation of University of Eastern Finland and the Japanese partners. The Toyohashi University of Technology and the University of Eastern Finland also issue double degrees in the ICT field at the Master’s and PhD level,” says Professor Markku Hauta-Kasari from the School of Computing, who is the head of the IMLEX programme at the University of Eastern Finland.
The University of Eastern Finland offers students of the IMLEX programme basic studies in the field of ICT and photonics in the first autumn semester of their studies. In the spring semester of the first year, half of the students go to study lighting at the KU Leuven in Belgium and the other half goes to study imaging at the Jean Monnet University in St. Etienne, France. In the autumn of the second year of the studies, all students continue at the Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan. At the end of the programme, the students complete their theses at consortium universities or companies. First 15 students have just graduated from the programme.
“The IMLEX studies are planned between four universities in such a way that students’ mobility has a clear continuum from one place to another. The special expertise and strengths of each university have been taken into account in the programme. Students in the programme come from Japan, as well as from other parts of the world. Non-Japanese students also study Japanese for 1.5 years,” says Hauta-Kasari, describing the contents of the programme.
The programme is best suited for students interested in the technologies and possibilities of virtual reality, as well as for those looking for international experience.
“The IMLEX programme provides students with strong skills in ICT and photonics. It enables employment in various positions in the field of virtual reality in companies, as well as further studies in the field. Mobility also strengthens students’ independence and readiness for employment in different countries,” Hauta-Kasari concludes.
More information
Laura Hurmalainen, Coordinator, School of Computing, University of Eastern Finland, laura.hurmalainen@uef.fi
