• Sustainability, a Circular Economy, Digitalization. Your studies focus on polymer technologies ranging from materials and process technology, digitalization, recycling technologies & material cycles, and life cycle assessment to social contexts and new scientific topics, such as polymers used in medicine, nutrition, water, energy, and the climate.
• Contact to Business & Industry. Hands-on labs help make industrial processes more tangible to you. You will find that industry-related research projects will be a part of your term papers, and company contact to help write your undergraduate thesis or become a student employee will give your studies a real-world edge.
• A Pilot Factory as a Lecture Hall. At the JKU, you have access to a wide range of equipment and software to characterize, process, and design plastic products as well as to recycle plastics. The LIT Factory also features industrial-scale machines.

• Creative Freedom. In addition to a broad undergraduate educational program, you can also customize the curriculum to match your own interests. You can specialize in materials development and characterization, product design, processing and digital transformation, or recycling and upcycling.

The Bachelor's degree program in Sustainable Polymer Engineering & Circular Economy consists of the following areas:

Electives I

• Sustainable technologies and polymer engineering
• Digital transformation and plastics
• Plastics processing machinery and plant engineering
• Process and component simulation for digital twins 
   

Electives II

• Law and economics
• Basic skills in digital transformation
• Circular economy and energy transition
• Medical technology and life science
• Mathematics and data science specialization

The Curriculum and Course Catalog

The curriculum and the course catalog contain detailed information about the program content

Studies Introduction & Orientation Phase (StEOP)

New students will be required to complete the StEOP requirements at the beginning of the Bachelor's degree program. The StEOP requirements consist of certain courses that are outlined in the curriculum. Before completing the StEOP courses, you can only get limited academic credit when you take additional courses.

Let Andreas tell you about what studying polymer engineering at the JKU is like.

The Bachelor's degree program in Sustainable Polymer Engineering & Circular Economy focuses on the entire value chain of plastics ranging from their foundations in science, chemical synthesis, design, and processing to recycling and a circular economy. The program also focuses on new scientific approaches (such as polymers to support medicine, nutrition, water, energy, and the climate.) as well as a life-cycle impact and digitalization. Topics include:

• Materials and Process Technology: Hands-on lab tasks focusing on injection molding and extrusion
• Design: Design and simulate plastic components
• Testing Materials: Learn how to characterize materials in terms of mechanical, thermal and optical features
• Recycling Technologies and Material Cycles: Sustainably recycle plastic waste
• Natural Sciences: Advanced mathematics and programming as well as a focus on the chemical-molecular structure of plastics and synthesis
• Mechanical Engineering & Mechatronics: Fundamentals in lightweight construction, electrical engineering, and mechanics
• Life-cycle impact analyses, social relations
• Bachelor's Thesis: Specialize in an area you are most interested in

Your education meets the requirements and job profiles for future professional fields in the VUCA world (volatility-uncertainty-complexity-ambiguity). Depending on your selected specialization, you will be educated as a technical and scientific problem-solver in industry and science, or as a problem solver focusing on social challenges using (polymer) engineering approaches.

Graduates of the Bachelor's degree program in polymer engineering can work in the following industrial areas:

• Develop new plastic compounds, multi-functional polymer composites, and hybrid polymer materials
• Material-specific plastic processing, including advanced development and optimization for process technologies
• Design and create plastic products, including specification, qualification, quality assurance, and certification
• Recycling and as part of the circular economy

Your skills in polymer engineering skills are in high demand, particularly in the following areas of industry:

Sports and Recreation: Polymers are multifunctional and play a key role in the production of countless high-performance products in a wide range of sports categories! This includes equipment for skiing and snowboarding, sports balls, lightweight bicycles, sailboats, sportswear, and much more.

Medicine: Multifunctional plastics can be used to create orthoses, prostheses and implants. Plastics are also used to make blood bags, tubes, syringes, etc., more hygienic. Packaging made out of plastic keeps sutures, bandages, hearing aids, contact lenses, condoms, pregnancy tests, coronavirus tests - and much more! - sterile.

Electrics and Electronics: You are only able read this text because your screen contains a considerable amount of plastics. Cable coverings and casing ensure your device is powered safely.

Energy: When it comes to photovoltaic systems, plastics are responsible for the long-term durability of silicon cells. Large wind turbines found in wind farms can only be constructed using lightweight plastics. In the area of housing construction, insulation panels and window frames are just a few examples of ways to guarantee energy savings and safety.

Mobility: Resource-efficient mobility requires lightweight plastic and composite solutions. Railroads, buses, airplanes, and automobiles are becoming lighter and more comfortable, thanks to plastics.

Packaging: This is where you help educate the public about a responsible approach to plastic packaging. In regard to plastic packaging, you also create solutions to support a true circular economy.

... their career in the plastics technology industry, the job, and the responsibilities in the field of sustainable plastics technology and circular economy.

• Study for a Day: Spend a day at the JKU! You can accompany a student to class and ask questions about the program and student life. 
• Preparation Courses, opens in new window: These courses for newly-enrolled students have been designed to review material taught at higher-level schools in a more condensed format and prepare for university lectures. Attendance is optional.
• The JKU Young Polymer Scientists Program, opens in new window: Upper Austria's largest program for gifted students. During the school year, students at upper level AHS and BHS schools have a unique opportunity to attend various workshops organized by the departments of Chemistry and Polymer Engineering.

Contact Program Management:

Polymer Engineering
JKU Science Park 2
T +43 732 2468 6610
kt(at)jku.at, opens in new window
jku.at/kt, opens an external URL in a new window

After completing your undergraduate degree, you can continue your education by pursuing an advanced degree:

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