UK MSci degree for Europe PhD position

Hello, I am a 4th year MSci student in a UK uni. I am currently looking for PhD opportunities, mainly in continental Europe, but I found that most European universities don't consider the MSci (integrated masters) degree as a "Master of Science", rather a "Master in Science". What this means is that I am 30 ECTS credits short for the universities to consider my degree as a BSc + MSc, which is what they require for a PhD. I have known this for a while, but I was repeatedly reassured by professors that they were considered the same and that I'd have no problem applying. However, now that I am in the process of looking for positions, this has posed a massive problem and I am afraid I will not be able to apply to any position in Europe at all. I have read in some forums that on a case to case basis there may be exceptions, but I haven't found mention of integrated masters in any way on any institution's page. Has anyone experienced something similar? Is there any solution? Are there any known expceptions? Thanks.

Reply 1

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Rekisde

It’s true an integrated masters is 4 years of 120 credits (or 60 ects) whereas a bachelors plus masters is 120 x 3 plus 180 for the masters.

this isn’t an issue ive ever heard of before, I would assume if you applied as a masters graduate they would accept you as a masters level candidate. Ive seen plenty of people with integrated degrees go onto PhDs so im surprised this issue has been raised.

I would go discuss this with someone in your university who has also worked in research at a European university. Perhaps you could consider a summer research internship to compensate?