Almost twenty years ago, four mining departments of different European universities decided to join forces in a joint program, bringing their students together for one year. During that year the students would visit each university for a couple of months, attending specific courses offered on those locations.

In 1996, the first edition of the European Mining Course was established and has been a annually phenomenon ever since. Two years later, it was followed by the European Mineral Engineering Course, and in 2003 by the European Geotechnical and Environmental Course.

The Federation of European Mineral Programs (FEMP) was established in 1999 as a legal entity of the international programs.

Now these  three  international programs form the basis of the M.Sc programs in mining engineering, minerals engineering and geotechnical engineering, accommodating a total of 60 students per year all together.