Quality assurance

In spring 2022, the Master of Leading International Vaccinology Education went through a programme accreditation customised to own conduct by NVAO to extend the accreditation previously granted as an Erasmus Mundus programme.

Below are the most important conclusions from the programme accreditation customised to own conduct.

Conclusions of the panel

The panel unanimously reached a positive accreditation decision regarding the Master of Leading International Vaccinology Education (LIVE), an Erasmus+ Joint Master Degree Programme, leading to three national master’s degrees. The University of Antwerp jointly offers the programme with a consortium of four partner universities: two in France and two in Spain.

The panel noticed how passionate students, teaching staff and consortium leaders talk about the programme, and how ambitious they are.

The master offers a broad and multidisciplinary curriculum to cover the chain of vaccine from start to finish, an approach that is appreciated by students, alumni and the working field. The international and intercultural aspect of the programme is strong, with students from all continents studying and learning together in three countries.

The long-lasting involvement in the programme of the working field is a particular strength of the programme. It underpins the programme’s relevance, and is truly beneficial for students. The LIVE family network that students and alumni are part of is another asset of the programme. LIVE has a strong profile that is truly unique.

LIVE’s curriculum builds on existing master’s programmes of five international universities, which is challenging. The consortium is well aware of some of these challenges and the overarching quality assurance system is well-developed to cope with them.

The panel recommended to make competences more explicit in the curriculum, in particular with regard to soft skills. The programme can also look for more opportunities for staff development so that all teachers know in what way they contribute to the programme, and how their course contributes to the competences.

The website ‘opleiding in cijfers’ gives you more detailed information about all programmes in Flemish university colleges and universities.