Admission requirements
This course is a specialisation module of the MSc Industrial Ecology (joint degree TU Delft and Leiden University).
MSc IE students should have attended and successfully completed the course Methods: Analysing Physical Processes (4413MAPPT).
Description
Material flow analysis (MFA) is one of the core methods in Industrial Ecology. In this course, we explore both the practical and theoretical aspects of MFA as a headlining tool for sustainability in the domains of resource and waste management, circular economy, decoupling, material efficiency, services provisioning, critical materials, and material stock accounting, among others. The course provides students with comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of the topic.
For students of the MSc Industrial Ecology that intend to do their Thesis Research Project on a topic which involves MFA or is closely related to MFA with a supervisor from CML, successful completion of this course is mandatory.
Course objectives
After completing the course, the student is able:
To demonstrate advanced knowledge of MFA terminology and concepts.
To design MFA research questions and apply MFA to answer these questions in case studies.
To comprehend the fundamental principles of different types of MFA (e.g. economy-wide, static, and dynamic)economy-wide, static, and dynamic)
To model stock-driven and flow-driven dynamic MFA models, hybrid models, and their applications in Python.
To interpret, describe, and communicate MFA results using indicators, visualizations, etc. to stakeholders and decision makers.
To assess, interpret, and critically evaluate contemporary research that uses MFA.
To understand links between material flows, material stocks, service provision and environmental impacts.
To become familiar with current developments, case studies, and frontiers of MFA modelling.
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudymap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
Weekly meetings involving lectures, roundtable discussions, in-class practice sessions, and workshops. Weekly self-study through individual and group assignments using real case studies and simulated scenarios. Students are expected to attend all lectures and tutoring sessions.
Assessment method
Assessment
The final grade is composed of (1) several overarching individual assignments on the topics of the course including an MFA research project, a critical reading of MFA research, etc., and (2) weekly mini-assignments and exercises which may sometimes be individual, in pairs or small groups, and whose grading consists of submitted fully/partially/not submitted.
Weighing
Final course grades are expressed by means of a figure between 1 and 10, rounded to the nearest half. The grade 5,5 cannot be granted. Grades between 5,01 and 5,49 are rounded to 5,0 and grades between 5,50 and 5,99 are rounded to 6,0. The rounding process is done, only at the end, for the final calculation. The partial grades (of individual and group assignments) will keep two digits after the decimal point. The minimum pass grade is 5.50 for the individual assignments.
Resit
A retake is possible for the individual assignments, but not for the weekly mini-assignments. The maximum grade to be obtained for retakes is 6.
Inspection and feedback
An inspection and feedback session is offered on the student’s request.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Dr. Peter Berrill, dr. Ingeborg Kluts and dr. Tomer Fishman.
Remarks
MSc Industrial Ecology students can register for the course and exam via MystudyMap Leiden. Other students need to contact the study advisors of the programme via studyadvisor-ie@cml.leidenuniv.nl to check for availability.
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.