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Joint Professional Master’s Degree in Advanced Digital Technologies for Business

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Terms & Conditions

About the Digital4Business project

The DIGITAL4Business Joint Professional Master’s Programme aims to design and implement a highly innovative, effective, and sustainable Master’s Programme in Advanced Digital Technologies for Business. This contributes to the overall objectives of the DIGITAL Europe Programme by fast-tracking a high number of graduates through a dynamic pan-European stakeholder ecosystem. In the latter, HEIs, Research Centres, Employment Services, and Industry work together to design, promote, deliver and improve an innovative Master’s Programme. It will focus on the practical application of advanced digital technologies within European businesses, an entirely market-led academic programme driven and designed to meet the current and future (up)-skill needs of SMEs and companies.

The Master’s course(s) will focus on the practical application of advanced digital technologies and skills within business, including topics such as AI, cybersecurity, and the cloud. The latter skills are pivotal to European businesses’ ongoing competitiveness and growth. Courses will blend academic and industry content to ensure that graduates are equipped with theoretical and employment-ready digital skills that will undoubtedly ensure career success for the candidates. The programme is accredited by a European recognized accreditation agency, and it comprises of industry certification through the key IT leading sector partners. DIGITAL4Business fosters the industry-recognized certifications as a critical element of the learning pathway.

Online teaching and learning environments will be used, combining in-house tools of the participating universities and a new ‘Master’s as a Service’ central online platform to enhance learning opportunities for part time students and professionals already in employment. In addition, mentoring programmes with industry partners, hackathons, industry-focused project-based learning, and coaching on soft skills and job profiles will be offered during the programme.

The full Master’s programme will be provided in three different formats to appeal to different cohorts of students, (1) A part-time M.Sc. programme, (2) A part-time accelerated M.Sc. programme, (3) A full time M.Sc. programme. Moreover, the programme’s five mandatory modules – each with a scope of 10 ECTS – will be offered a) as individual micro-credentials and b) as a combination of three mandatory 10 ECTS modules to form a postgraduate certificate . We aim to launch multiple part-time and full-time cohorts within the 4-year project duration, with at least 1 part-time and 2 full-time cohorts completed within the 4-year duration of the project. The initial part-time and full-time cohorts will be deployed as pilots, with cyclical review and improvement after each year.

The Digital4Business Consortium

The DIGITAL4Business consortium is a partnership of 17 stakeholders led by National College of Ireland, bringing together key industry, technology, and education stakeholders in Europe. Its composition is presented in the following table.

Partners Acronym
NATIONAL COLLEGE OF IRELAND NCI
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITE DI BOLOGNA UNIBO
UNIVERSITY OF DIGITAL SCIENCE GGMBH UDS
AKKODIS ITALIA  Akkodis
ADECCO FORMAZIONE SRL ADECCO
LEE HECHT HARRISON DEUTSCHLAND GMBH LHH
SKILLNET IRELAND COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE Skillnet Irl
LINKOPINGS UNIVERSITETET LIU
TERAWE TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED Terawe
MATRIX INTERNET APPLICATIONS LIMITED Matrix
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SKILLS LIMITED DTSL
UNIVERSIDADE NOVA LISBOA UNL
SCHUMAN ASSOCIATES SCRL Schuman

 

Associated Partners Acronym
Certiport, A business of NCS Pearson Inc Certiport
DIGITALEUROPE AISBL* DIGITALEUROPE
UNIVERSITE PARIS 8 VINCENNES SAINT-DENIS UP8
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI BARI ALDO MORO UniBa

Fees and General Conditions

The tuition fee for EU, EEA, UKRAINE and UK students for the total course is: 

and covers the following items: 

Onsite events like weekend workshops and networking will be organised during the programme. The costs for travel to and from these extra-curricular activities, accommodation and related subsistence costs will be covered by the student and are not included in the tuition fee. Financial support is available under certain conditions, please refer to the Digital4Business website for further details.

Any expense outside of the items listed above are not covered by the tuition fee and will have to be covered by the student. However, no expense outside the tuition fee will be neither required nore necessary for the student to graduate.

Payment options

The following payment options are available:

In Full

One-time payment within 10 days of a letter of offer of a place being issued.

Instalment Plans

Micro-credentials and Postgraduate Certificates must be paid in full no later than 10 days after the letter of admission is issued.

Discounts & Incentives

Early Bird

Group Discount

We only accept payments through bank transfer or credit card payment. The bank details will be provided with the letter of admission.  

Purchase orders will only be accepted from verified and credible companies. The institution reserves the right to reject any purchase order that does not meet its due diligence or procurement standards.

All payments of fees must be made in EUR. Additional fees will be charged for any payment made by credit card. Transaction rates will need to be covered additionally by the students or sponsoring authority. 

Failure to pay

Tuition fees must be paid in full (or produce satisfactory evidence that the tuition fees will be paid by a sponsoring authority in accordance with the payment plan), unless:

  1. D4B has agreed that you may pay by instalment under D4B’s instalment plan, in which case payment is due in accordance with the agreed instalment plan; or

If the payment of the tuition fees has not been received by D4B in accordance with the payment plan, your admission may be withdrawn automatically, and you won’t be able to enrol. If the next instalments of the tuition fees are not paid within 7 days of the payment deadline, then we may withdraw your participation to the programme. Such information about the withdrawal will be sent to you by email. 

You become responsible for paying your tuition fees if a sponsoring authority fails to do so having undertaken / committed to do so.

Cancellation by D4B

The courses may be cancelled in the following situations:

  1. There are not enough applicants enrolled in the programme, therefore it is not commercially viable for us to run the Master’s programme. The minimum number of applicants required for us to run a Master’s programme is currently 15.
  2. One or more delivering universities leave the Master’s programme; or
  3. Events beyond our control.

If any of these situations occur, you will be notified as soon as possible and the tuition fees paid will be reimbursed after deduction of the necessary administrative fees (for example bank payment fees etc.).

D4B will make all reasonable efforts to deliver programmes, courses, services and facilities in accordance with the descriptions published on D4B’s website and associated regulations, policies and procedures. However, on occasion it may be necessary to:

If we make any significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to bring these changes to the attention of affected students as soon as reasonably possible.

Where necessary, we reserve the right to:

We also reserve the right to make changes to how we provide and deliver University facilities and services.

In exceptional circumstances, we may need to discontinue, merge or combine courses or programmes.

There are a number of reasons why changes to programmes and/or university services and facilities may be necessary. These include:

Where the changes referred to in clauses above are not significant (for example, where they lead to changes to individual elements of a programme but do not lead to a substantive change in the overall content or method of delivery of an entire programme), D4B will communicate the changes on its website or through the digital platform.

If you would like to study a particular course (module) as part of your programme of study, you should consult with D4B in advance to confirm whether the course (module) will be available to you.

A micro-credential will be delivered as planned if there is a minimum of 15 registered students. If the minimum number is not reached it will be rescheduled, and options will be provided to already registered students at least 4 weeks before the scheduled start of the course. The student can opt to withdraw from the programme and any paid tuition fees will be reimbursed.

We will do our best to ensure that any changes to the timetable and term dates are kept to a minimum and remain consistent with the overall planned schedule.

Significant programme changes

If D4B:

  1. discontinues or does not provide your programme of study; or
  2. significantly changes the content of your programme, method of delivery or method of assessment of your programme such that the overall learning aims and outcomes of your programme are fundamentally different; or
  3. significantly changes the delivery university, and reasonably believes that any such change may adversely affect you, 

D4B will:

  1. notify you immediately; and
  2. Provide you with reasonable assistance to find a suitable replacement programme of study at D4B.
  3. if you do not wish to accept D4B’s offer of a replacement programme and instead wish to withdraw from your programme at D4B if you are a current student, D4B will refund the tuition fees paid.

Cancellation by the student

You have a legal right to withdraw from the programme at any time within 14 days from the date of the letter of acceptance (the cancellation period). Please contact D4B to change your acceptance within the cancellation period.

If you have made any payment prior to the date of cancellation, D4B will provide you with a full refund within 30 days of D4B receiving your notice of cancellation.

The refund will cover only the tuition fee, and no additional transaction cost.

Organization of studies, credit points, degree 

To participate in a course, the student must register for it. Without this registration, no ECTS credits can be acquired as proof of examination performance.

Technical requirements and support

D4B Digital Platform Disclaimer

While we aim to provide reliable and continuous access to the platform, occasional disruptions may occur due to maintenance or unforeseen technical issues. We will make reasonable efforts to notify users of planned outages and to restore service promptly in the event of unexpected downtime. We are not liable for any loss of data, academic impact, or other indirect damages resulting from service interruptions. We are also not responsible for failures caused by events beyond our control, such as natural disasters or internet outages.

Late Submission of Coursework

Late submission of assignments is only accepted under special circumstances, e.g. illness. The student must inform the lecturer before the deadline of the assignment and should present medical proof on request to the Programme Coordinators team. If not, the lecturer can decide to sanction the student in terms of grading or refuse to accept late work. Assignments submitted late are typically graded as a failure.

Digital Transformation Project / Practicum

The Digital Transformation Project / Practicum module stands as a capstone module for the programme. This culminating project or practicum is designed so that students integrate and apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the programme. This capstone module is designed to demonstrate students’ comprehensive understanding and competence in digital transformation within a practical, real-world context.

Avoiding Problems with Plagiarism, Poor Scholarship, Collaboration/Collusion, Outsourcing Assessments, knowingly aiding and abetting Academic Misconduct

Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when someone uses another person’s work, whether text, graphics, tables, photographs, videos, music, or computer code, without proper acknowledgment. This includes failing to use quotation marks for direct quotes, not citing sources for paraphrased work, and not referencing any borrowed material. Additionally, submitting the same work for multiple assignments is also considered plagiarism, which is a serious violation. To avoid plagiarism, it’s crucial to properly cite and reference all sources

Collaboration/Collusion

Where two or more students work together, without the prior authorisation of the course lecturer or supervisor, to produce the same piece of work, and then attempt to present this work as entirely their own work, is also a disciplinary offence.  

Poor Scholarship

Poor scholarship may consist of poor referencing, but where there is clearly no intention to deceive. This may be penalised in the mark you receive. Poor scholarship may also consist of very close paraphrasing of published work, or the over-use of long quotations (such that your own contribution is unclear) and will also receive a low mark.  

Cheating in assessments or examinations  

Using, having, sharing, or relying on any unauthorised materials or help during any assessment or academic activity is considered a violation and may lead to disciplinary action

Outsourcing assessment  

Having others complete assessments for oneself whether personally or via any free or commercial service is a disciplinary offence.  

Knowingly aiding and abetting academic misconduct  

Cases in which students knowingly permit others to copy all or part of their work shall also be subject to the procedures outlined here and considered an offence.

Plagiarism of software code  

This policy relates to plagiarism of programming assignments that take place as continuous assessments in modules. All continuous assessments and projects are part of the examination process and any attempt to plagiarise is a major offence, punishable accordingly.  

Plagiarism includes the following:  

This policy advocates the use of software reuse under strict guidelines namely:  

It is at the lecturer’s discretion to determine whether a student has breached the above conditions and committed plagiarism. 

Disciplinary Committee

Students found guilty of these offences will be penalised and may be reported to the Master’s Board of Directors. The Master’s Board of Directors may subsequently convene a Disciplinary Committee. Disciplinary measures include written warnings, suspension from the programme, or expulsion and exclusion of the student from the programme.

Learning Development and Disability Support Service  

The Learning Development and Disability Support Service aims to empower all students to become active and confident students. This is accomplished through initial contact with students during the orientation process and the regular provision of effective academic skills throughout the programme’s semesters.  

To enhance this direct interaction, the service actively promotes the use of learning technologies and accommodates diverse learning preferences, creating an innovative and inclusive environment for all students. The aim of the Disability Support Service is to facilitate students in reaching their full potential by providing appropriate and specific support which meets individual needs. The programme is committed to provide equal access to education and equal opportunities for students with disabilities. 

General Students Support Service

Assistive Technology Support Service  

The aim of the Assistive Technology (AT) Support Service is to dismantle the barriers to education for students with disabilities by harnessing the potential of technology. The AT Service promotes independent learning by providing technology and tailored training to meet the needs of individual students.  

Library Service

Library services are a key learning resource for students. Library services provide access to a wide range of scholarly publications. Much information (useful and otherwise) is now available on the web, and you will need to be familiar how to use it effectively and correctly. Library services for the programme provide an extensive source of on-line resources, all of which are of the quality that students need for successful study. The library catalogue may be accessed online and is searchable in a number of ways: author, title, author and title (the most useful for a specific reference), keywords (very good for a search). Copies of principal books and articles specified in the reading list are available through the programme‘s library services and each module’s description documents.

Data protection

Digital4Business, process and use of personal data (namely name, date of birth, contact details, account numbers, course references, examination results, payment transactions, duration of studies) of students for the purpose of study administration as well as for the implementation and organization of the studies and the Micro Degree programmes based on the existing legal regulations. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b) and Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. 

All the information related to Data Protection can be found here.

Student Complaints Procedures  

Making a Complaint  

The following process is designed to resolve concerns as speedily and effectively as possible. Most concerns can be addressed successfully through informal means (before writing a formal complaint); however, if informal resolution is unsuccessful, a formal process is available. 

If a student has a concern, it is expected that the student will express it and not do so via a third party. If the student names another person in expressing a concern, that other person has a right to know what is said about them as soon as possible, and who has raised the concern.  Any fear of retaliation as a result of raising a concern will not be tolerated. Confidentiality will be maintained when appropriate. However, confidentiality may not be maintained in circumstances where there is a legal obligation to disclose information, where the concern involves serious misconduct or a threat to the safety and wellbeing of any individual, or where an investigation requires the disclosure of specific information to ensure fairness and due process. In such cases, only those who need to be informed will be given access to the relevant information.

 All concerns are taken seriously. It is assumed they are legitimate. If an expressed concern is found to be malicious the Master’s Board of Directors may have to consider initiating disciplinary proceedings.  

We will respectfully deal with each concern and deal with it in the context of the D4B policies and resources.  

There are five steps in expressing a concern:  

The student should first address concerns directly to the person responsible and attempt to resolve the matter informally.

If the student feels uncomfortable doing so due to potential or perceived repercussions, or if the identity of the responsible person is unknown, the student may instead raise the concern with a programme coordinator, tutor, or trusted student representative. 

This may be the Master’s Board of Directors or the Programme Coordinators. Many concerns can be dealt with informally by explanation and discussion. If the student needs help in expressing their concern or is reluctant to approach the person(s) responsible, the student can seek advice from the Programme Coordinators.  

If it is not possible to resolve the student’s concern informally by discussion and explanation the student can lodge a formal complaint with the Master’s Board of Directors. A formal complaint must be made in writing. 

Please supply the following details in an email:  

Please send the written formal complaint to the Programme Coordinators marking the complaint for the attention of the Master’s Board of Directors.

The student can expect to receive a written acknowledgement of the student’s complaint within 20 (twenty) working days of its receipt. The student can expect to be kept informed if there is undue delay in coming to a conclusion on the student’s complaint. If the person dealing with the student’s complaint thinks it would be better dealt with by someone else, or that it should be dealt with under some other procedure, the student will be informed. 

In cases where the complaint involves allegations of physical or mental harm, or malicious practices, the matter will be treated as urgent. The student can expect an initial response as soon as possible, and no later than five (5) working days from receipt of the complaint.

The student’s complaint will be investigated as quickly as possible and the student will receive a written response upon completion of the investigation detailing what action, if any, is to be taken.

Complaint Appeals to the Project Coordinator

 If the student is still unsatisfied after the initial investigation, they can request that the Project Coordinator, or another appropriate person or group who has not previously handled the student’s complaint, conduct a further investigation. This process can be started by contacting [email protected]

Social Media Guidelines

Students who have a social media presence which refers to Digital4Business, or from which the Digital4Business can be identified, should ensure it is clear they are speaking in a personal capacity. Students should not declare, imply or indicate that their content or views are representative of those of the University.    

The presence of a disclaimer will not necessarily mean that disciplinary action cannot be taken.  The University may request the removal of content if it is deemed to pose a risk to the reputation of the University or to that of one of its staff/students. 

Individuals are personally responsible for their communications through social media. Remember that what you publish may be readily available to the public (including the University, prospective future employers, the media and social acquaintances) for a long time. Keep this in mind when posting content. Inappropriate posting of content can damage your career potential, since potential (and current) employers often screen social media sites when considering applications.

Social media should not be used to verbally abuse or intimidate staff, students or members of the public. Respect should be shown at all times for other people’s privacy and feelings. Care should be taken to avoid language which may be deemed as offensive to others. For example, you should not: 

Before posting pictures, videos or details of another person you should obtain their consent. Students should not post communications which might be misconstrued in a way that could damage the University’s goodwill and academic reputation, even indirectly.

Social media should never be used in a way that violates any other University policies or obligations relating to students. If your post would violate any of the University’s policies in another forum, it will also violate them in an online forum.