Pre-University

About

The Pre-University Summer School (PreUniSS) is a unique opportunity to broaden the horizons of students between the ages of 16 and 18 who are already thinking about their university studies, while studying at a top university. UAM oversees the academic aspects of the program and grants the diplomas and official transcripts, and SpaCIE recruits the students and oversees the logistics of the program.

The PreUniSS consists of the following courses, each of two weeks’ duration (6 ECTS credits in total):

1. Skills course: Speaking and Writing Skills for Success at University (SWSSU)

2. Academic content course: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Climate Change (MACC)

The MACC is an exclusive 2-week study course that offers a high-quality multidisciplinary course, taught in English by top professors of many disciplines (Art, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Economics, Engineering, Geography, Humanities, Law, Marketing, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology) and by top practitioners from the business world.

The MACC course targets students keen to gain academic enrichment not only in their future discipline, but in many other fields through a multidisciplinary approach to Climate Change. Moreover, in case you have not decided yet what you are going to study at university, our course will greatly help you to decide what you want to study.

The SWSSU course is a two-week study program, taught in English, where students will focus on important skills that they need to master to be successful university students, such as effective listening and reading, delivering presentations, and writing papers. Furthermore, students will also work in small teams to deliver a presentation to the wider group.

You will take the PreUniSS not only with peers like you, but also with UAM and international university students. Additionally, the Program is complemented by social and cultural events, as well as academic field trips.

Course leader

Director: Prof. Dr. Miguel Buñuel

Target group

At the time of the start of the Pre-University Summer School, students applying for this program must have no more than 2 years of their preuniversity studies pending or may have completed their preuniversity studies. Therefore, the typical student applying for the program would be between the ages of 16 and 18, including 15-year-old students who turn 16 in the current year. There are no specific criteria in terms of subjects already studied in their preuniversity studies, but they must be a passionate and enthusiastic student.

Course aim

Objectives of the SWSSU:

Public speaking and presentation techniques are designed to prepare you to make unforgettable presentations. You will learn communication techniques and how to connect with the audience. In particular, the objectives are:

• Acquire knowledge and skills necessary to make attractive and successful presentations.

• Acquire knowledge and skills to achieve efficient, transparent, and fluent communication with your audience.

Reading efficiently and writing high-quality academic papers are skills you will work on in the course in order to be able to write excellent compositions for academic purposes. You will:

• Acquire knowledge and skills necessary to process written information efficiently being able to use different techniques depending on your goal.

• Acquire knowledge and skills to write texts conveying your message in a formal, coherent and interesting manner that will attract, entertain or convince your audience.

Objectives of the MACC:

A) Introduction

Climate change is the main global environmental problem and one of the main economic and social problems of Humanity. At least in the European Union, citizens' perception is also in line with scientific conclusions on the seriousness of the problem. According to the latest Eurobarometer survey published in 2019 by the European Commission, 93% of EU citizens believe that climate change is a serious problem and 79% that it is a very serious problem. Compared to the previous Eurobarometer, published in 2017, climate change has overtaken international terrorism as the second most serious problem facing mankind, after poverty, hunger and lack of drinking water.

On the other hand, climate change is a multidimensional problem, which must be studied from all disciplines of knowledge. However, our curricula do not usually provide a multi- or interdisciplinary understanding of the problem and, although the population perceives it as a very serious problem, there is a notable lack of knowledge about its nature, effects, possible scenarios, policies, and responses to the challenge it poses for Humanity.

B) Objectives

In view of the shortcomings of our curricula and the lack of knowledge of a large part of the population mentioned in the introduction, the main objective of this course is to provide a multidisciplinary and rigorous view of the problem of climate change. The aim is for students to have a complete university level vision, rigorously provided by experts in each subject, although adapted to the necessary introductory level given the heterogeneous profile that students will have, as it is generally the case throughout society.

In addition to the main objectives described in the previous paragraphs, the course has other secondary objectives:

• To provide a first exposure to introductory level university courses from multiple disciplines, which can help students in their decision making about their future university studies.

• For non-native English speakers, to reinforce students’ academic skills in English, contributing to their training to study university courses in English.

• For non-Spanish students, to provide an enriching “study abroad” experience, with all the benefits of academic, cultural, and personal enrichment that this type of experience provides.

Fee info