First-Level Master in Fire Safety Engineering

The master offers specialist training in fire safety engineering, a field in which technical, regulatory and design skills must work together. The content includes fire science, human behaviour and evacuation, fire protection systems, fire protection analysis, legislation and regulations, and building design. Particular emphasis is placed on calculation and simulation methods, active and passive prevention systems and the link with sustainable building. The engineering approach to fire safety requires an understanding of how fire develops and spreads in buildings, how people react in an emergency and how protection systems, both active and passive, can be sized and integrated into the building design from the earliest stages.

Teaching is spread over one year for a total of 1,500 hours, in a weekend format so that it is compatible with a professional activity. The workload comprises 120 hours of classroom teaching, 280 hours of distance learning, 70 hours of guided in-person practical activity and 30 hours of practical activity devoted to an integrated project. In addition, there are 320 hours of group work and 680 hours of individual study. Lessons are delivered in English at the Bolzano campus, in an international setting. The alternation of theory, exercises and collaborative work makes it possible to immediately apply concepts to realistic cases, using the simulation and calculation tools typical of the profession. The weekend format, combined with a substantial share of distance learning, makes the programme accessible also to professionals who are already working, while the final integrated project allows students to bring together the different skills in a piece of work that simulates a real professional case.

The aim is to train fire safety engineering professionals with the possibility of self-employment, in freelance practice, as consultants and experts in fire protection. Career opportunities also include employment in companies in the construction and plant engineering sectors, and roles in public administration and research centres. The university reports that recognition of the master is under way for registration in the lists of fire prevention professionals of the Ministry of the Interior and for the award of professional training credits. The programme is therefore suited to engineers, architects and other technicians who want to specialise or update their skills in the design and verification of fire safety using a performance-based approach. It is a specialisation increasingly in demand in a context where building safety, fire prevention and the sustainability of construction are central issues for designers, companies and administrations.