Educational quality of the programme
At VUB the quality of the education takes centre stage. This isn't something we say lightly: we scrutinise our programmes regularly to align them with changing student needs in a rapidly changing society. Additionally, the engineering programmes in Flanders are audited by an external commission: Commission des Titres d’Ingénieur (CTI, France).
This public information is part of VUB’s quality assurance system and was ratified by the Academic Council on 19/06/2023.
Strenghts of the programme
- Broad and multidisciplinary: the programme offers a broad scientific basis in building material technology, modelling, design and construction of loadbearing structures, geotechnics and project construction management. Thanks to this broad base graduates can easily adapt and reorient during their professional career.
- Cutting-edge research based education: most courses are taught by lecturers active in high-level research in the corresponding field, facilitating the adaptation of course content to the latest scientific developments. The research domains include among others: innovative lightweight structures, non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring, environmental geomechanics, multi-scale computational mechanics and sustainable water management.
- Solid relation with industry: several lecturers are active in the industry which assures that students are exposed to a work field perspective and are connected to industry early on in their educational programme.
- Abundant project-based learning : throughout the programme students work on many projects. The most significant being the Design Project in Civil Engineering, integrating all the aspects of construction projects (design, construction) as well as management skills (presenting, planning, communicating and taking up different roles in a team). Every project activates the creativity of the students, and their problem-solving and self-critical attitude.
- International student population: The internationally-oriented programme attracts a diverse and multicultural student population, which allows the students to engage in discussions from diverse perspectives in a dynamic environment.
Opportunities
- The recently renewed programme communicates more clearly the broadness of the programme and can therefore attract a larger student population.
- It is worth exploring the collaboration opportunities within the Eutopia network, as one of its connected learning communities deals with additive manufacturing in the construction industry.
Current developments
- By organising a work field inquiry on a regular basis, the programme wishes to consolidate and further formalise the existing relationship with the work field.
- To enhance the experience of studying in an interuniversity programme, the programme gives special attention to collaboration and communication between the universities and toward the students.
- Monitoring the impact of the enhanced admission procedure for international students, by adding a personal interview, has revealed a relatively small number of candidate-students actually enrol in the programme. The programme and the faculty are investigating the cause and possible solutions for this situation.
Where do we get this information from?
As institution we routinely ask our students to give their honest opinion about the study programme during their academic career. We also consult our professors and assistants and gauge the expectations in the future field of work. We receive structured feedback from our former students and compare our programmes with others at home and abroad. Through a Peer Review every six years an expert panel endorses the programme’s assets and can recommend some actions. Lastly, the Education Quality Council takes a formal decision about the quality and functioning of a programme.
Quality Cycle
Each programme follows a six-year quality cycle. The timeline below shows the schedule for this particular programme.
