Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

From your smartphone to rail traffic, from streaming services to medical data analysis: behind all these applications are computer scientists who design and build smart solutions. As a computer scientist, you learn not only how computers work, but above all how to use them to help our society run better.

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Bachelor's Programme

3 year 180 credits

Faculty of Sciences

Dutch

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About the programme

Programme summary

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Postgraduate studies

What

Your main task as a computer scientist? To study, design and implement computer-based solutions to practical automation problems in our society. From your smartphone to rail traffic, from streaming services to medical data analysis: behind all these smart applications is the work of computer scientists. As a computer scientist, you learn not only how computers work, but above all how to use them to help our society run better. The Computer Science programme prepares you to become a professional computer scientist: an all-rounder who combines technical knowledge with an understanding of the client’s context. Each new project requires you to quickly familiarise yourself with a different field – from legal databases to biological analyses – and devise creative, efficient solutions.

Remarks

From 2027-2028 onwards admission into the programme is subject to taking a benchmark test - the test is in Dutch.

For whom

You do not have to be a computer enthusiast to start the Computer Science programme. However, we do expect you to have some basic programming knowledge. You know what a variable is, how an if statement works, how to use while and for loops, and how to define your own functions. More importantly, you have already written small programs using these elements. You also need a solid foundation in mathematics, which is assessed through the compulsory benchmark test. We assume that you took around six hours of mathematics per week in the final two years of secondary school. You can work systematically, have an aptitude for problem-solving and a strong interest in the software side of technology: how programs work, how algorithms make smart decisions, how data is analysed or protected, and how artificial intelligence is changing our world. You also have the emotional and communication skills needed to bring digital solutions to a broad audience.

Structure

Bachelor

The Bachelor’s programme in Computer Science offers courses across six domains. Mathematical & Logical Thinking provides the fundamental knowledge you need to analyse, describe and model information-processing systems. Within Programming & Software Development, you develop programming skills, learn to work with programming languages and become familiar with the techniques and conventions needed to develop and test large software projects. In Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, you discover what lies behind applications such as ChatGPT and self-driving cars. Courses within this domain also cover statistical methods for data analysis. Within Computer Systems & Networks, you explore the foundations of computer hardware, operating systems and computer networks. We have computer scientists to thank for the fact that computers can perform many tasks much faster than humans. Within Algorithms & Data Structures, you gain insight into the specialised techniques they have developed and refined over the years. Data must not only be stored efficiently in databases, but also protected against unauthorised use. Courses in Information Management teach you how. Finally, in your second and third years, you apply the knowledge and skills you have acquired to realistic practical projects with a team of fellow students in the software engineering labs.

Master

The Master’s programme in Computer Science emphasises the scientific and algorithmic aspects of the discipline. It focuses on software and its underlying principles – rather than hardware. You explore closely related fields such as computational biology, combinatorial computer science, artificial intelligence, soft computing and the foundations of programming languages. Elective courses and your Master’s dissertation give you the opportunity to specialise further. The programme also offers two broadening minors that prepare you for a career in research or business. A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science also gives you access to the Master’s programme in Computer Science Engineering, provided you complete a short preparatory programme. If you choose an appropriate elective in your third Bachelor’s year, this preparatory programme is effectively no longer required. The Computer Science Engineering programme trains engineers to design, build and manage information systems and technologies for a wide range of societal applications. Another option is the interfaculty Master of Science in Bioinformatics, with a main subject in Engineering. In this programme, you learn to develop software and algorithms for applications in bioinformatics and systems biology.

Labour Market

Europe is investing heavily in a competitive, dynamic knowledge economy. In such a society, access to knowledge is becoming as essential as food, housing or healthcare – a basic right for everyone. These ambitions cannot be realised without well-trained computer scientists who design, build and maintain the infrastructure underpinning our digital future. Computer scientists work in education, academic research, industry, business management and accounting, banking and insurance, transport companies, research and policy units, regional data-processing centres and other public services. Their responsibilities vary widely and evolve constantly. Continuing education and professional development are integral to the job.

Study programme quality

Quality Assurance

At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.

More information:

Ghent University's Education Objectives

Quality Assurance at Ghent University

Unique Selling Points

A computer scientist graduate masters the interplay between theoretical knowledge and practical skills from the eighteen different knowledge domains in computer science: algorithms and complexity, computer architecture and computer organization, computational sciences, discrete structures, computer graphics and data visualization, human-machine interaction, information security, information management, intelligent systems, networks and communications, operating systems, platform-specific software development, parallel and distributed computing, programming languages, fundamentals of software development, software engineering, computer systems, societal aspects and professionalism.
Our students are not afraid to look at systems from different programming languages, paradigms and technologies at multiple levels of detail and abstraction. They learn to seek software solutions for challenging and authentic problems. They have a holistic view of the structure of software systems and appreciate the processes involved in their construction and analysis.
By means of practical and varied projects, our students learn to make designs, and to assess and improve in terms of functionality, user-friendliness and performance.
Our students are willing to undertake lifelong learning in a rapidly evolving technical and scientific discipline. They are aware of the social, legal, ethical and cultural responsibilities inherent in computer sciences.
Our students must have the necessary theoretical insights, the ability to create abstractions, and the creativity to recognize the limits of computer science, in order to help design and develop the discipline for the future.

Strengths

A five-year focus on computer science: from the first year onwards, our curriculum focuses entirely on the software aspects of computer science. We have built our curriculum on a strong vision, and on the knowledge domains as identified in the text issued by the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers entitled Computer Science Curricula.
Motivated and multidisciplinary teaching team: our study programme boasts enthusiastic and committed lecturers from various research disciplines. As a multidisciplinary team we are able to offer a wide range of (elective) course units. Many of our lecturers are actively involved in education innovation.
Room for a project-based approach and practical experience:our students actively work together on larger projects on several course units. In the context of the mandatory company work placement, students are given the opportunity to gain practical experience in the (international) professional field. For the purpose of the Master’s dissertation, collaboration with companies is a possibility.
Feedback: our study programme strongly focuses on systems that enable automatic feedback, and on intense interim feedback for projects, Master’s dissertations and work placements. The low-threshold student-lecturer contact, and the various student surveys also ensure that difficulties are remedied quickly.
Communication and social skills: a computer scientist must be able to give presentations about technical and computational problems and solutions to a diverse target audience. They must be prepared to work together efficiently as a member of a project team and be able to manage their own performance and that of others within the team, including managing time, priorities and progress.

Challenges

Systematic communication to all stakeholders via an updated study programme website including, for example, promotion of computer science activities (programming and problem-solving) for primary and secondary school teachers and their pupils (such as CoderDojo, STEM activities, further training for teachers, Flemish Programming Competition, Bebras, etc.).
The growth of our student numbers is limited, as is the group diversity. This is at odds with the high demand for computer science graduates. We will examine whether this is also the case in the other Flemish Computer Science programme, and will consider how to reach prospective students better.
Despite our efforts, few students opt for an international experience. We examine how student mobility and international competencies can be strengthened, given the international importance of computer science.

Accreditation

This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. Programme quality was validated by a quality review, i.e. a screening of the Education Monitor by the Education Quality Board. The Quality Assurance Resolution (in Dutch) can be found here.

This information was last updated on 01/02/2023.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.