Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (Electronic Circuits and Systems)
Masters of Electrical Engineering are capable of developing complex electronic (communications) systems for a broad field of applications efficiently and methodically, starting from the conception and analysis over the design, implementation, testing, and up to the management of such systems.
EUR-ACE® Master (EURopean ACcredited Engineering Master)
The EUR-ACE label was accredited to this programme by the Commission des titres d’ingénieur (CTI), under the auspices of the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE).
EUR-ACE® is a framework and accreditation system that provides a set of standards that identifies high-quality engineering degree programmes in Europe and abroad.
What
An electrical engineer is at the forefront of technological innovation in advanced electronic systems. They drive the evolution towards ‘smart’ environments consisting of interconnected devices, sensors and systems. Some pertinent applications include remote surgery, 6G communication, smart cities, smart grids, industry 4.0, robot swarms, satellite constellations, and autonomous vehicles. These all require specific electronic hardware, sensors, real-time signal processing, and fast communication, designed, built and managed by electrical engineers.
Electronics and digital applications are integrated in every aspect of our daily lives. The future of our society, industry, healthcare, and communication infrastructure depends on innovative solutions that enhance the functionality, efficiency, and connectivity of electronic systems, information processing, and networks. These advancements are crucial for addressing the challenges posed by the exponential growth of data, the rise of artificial intelligence, the need for high-quality and affordable healthcare, for competitive highly automated manufacturing industries, and for the pursuit of a sustainable and safe future. The Master of Science in Electrical Engineering offers in-depth training in the domains of electronic system engineering, treating both hardware and software aspects but with a clear focus on the underlying electronic components and advanced circuits, system architecture and signal processing. Students specialise either in Electronic Circuits and Systems (ECS) that form the hardware of smart devices and equipment or in Communication and Information Technologies (CIT) that create the connectivity and information processing for those devices to build much more powerful systems.
Students learn how electronic hardware works exactly and how to design such hardware, how communication and navigation systems function and how these need to be adapted to increasingly complex environments, how wearable sensors and remote sensing enable personal healthcare, how circuit design innovates with continuously advancing semiconductor technology, how the combination and co-design of electronics and photonics create new sensors and transceivers, how new devices target the exploitation of sub-terahertz and terahertz frequencies for new sensing and communication applications, how more advanced digital signal processing and algorithms are enhancing energy efficiency and system performance...
Specialising in Electronic Circuits and Systems (ECS) provides thorough insight into semiconductor technology, chip design, and the integration of chips in microsystems and transceivers. Students learn to develop complex electronic systems for various applications, from conception and analysis to design, implementation, and testing. The programme provides a strong theoretical and technological foundation, hands-on design experience with state-of-the-art tools and equipment. The acquired research competences prepare the students to drive creative and innovative (r)evolutions in industry and academia.
Moreover, this study programme provides a broad non-specialist knowledge in other engineering disciplines and in several economical, legal, deontological, ecological, and societal aspects. On top of a sound theoretical base, every year of the programme includes practical projects that gradually enhance your skills in effective teamwork and in acting as skilled team leaders in an industrial research environment.
Remarks
Masters of Electrical Engineering are capable of developing complex electronic (communications) systems for a broad field of applications efficiently and methodically, starting from the conception and analysis over the design, implementation, testing, and up to the management of such systems.
For whom
The admission requirements may vary. Depending on your prior education, you can either enrol directly or there are additional requirements.
Structure
The Electrical Engineering programme consists of two phases: a three-year Bachelor’s degree followed by a two-year Master’s degree. Throughout the Master’s programme, students can deepen or broaden their scope by choosing from a wide range of elective course units or by including a broadening minor into their curriculum.
Labour Market
The programme focuses specifically on research and development, as well as on creation and design in the field of electronics and ICT. Many companies seek electrical engineers for developing smart systems and are therefore constantly looking for highly trained graduates. The balanced mix of analogue and digital circuit and system design, signal processing and communication technology on a strong theoretical foundation enables graduates to play key roles in the development of such smart devices and systems and to provide solutions addressing societal challenges as well.
Electrical engineers design and develop advanced chips, information processing systems (for e.g. speech, sensor data, video), wearables, measurement and sensor technology (for e.g. healthcare, vehicles, robots), and future ICT infrastructure, including wired, wireless, satellite and vehicular communication systems. Our graduates thrive in large multinational electronics, ICT, telecommunication, space and research oriented companies, as well as in a wide range of small and medium-sized enterprises active at the forefront of technology or consultancy. Their expertise in electronics hardware, signal processing and system design, is highly valued for its broad scope and strong connection to state-of-the-art research and technology.
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:
Unique Selling Points
- Research-oriented: the Electrical Engineering programme is based on recent, state-of-the-art research results by our own professorial staff and researchers. Our students are trained to becoming engineers with the ability to apply existing knowledge and to create new high technology.
- Project Learning Pathway: each year’s curriculum contains at least one project course unit, in which our students learn to tackle multidisciplinary assignments in a targeted manner. Working together in teams, the students step by step acquire a set of soft skills such as planning, convincing, presenting efficiently, giving feedback and reporting.
- Efficient Systems: our graduates are able to design and realize complex systems containing hardware and software components. In so doing, they have learnt to be mindful of an efficient use of means, time and energy.
- Our students gain an understanding of the different steps in the development chain of electronic devices such as smartphones. We start with the characteristics of the raw materials, over the design and testing, right up until the finished product.
- Broad curriculum: our curriculum covers a broad technological basis, making our graduates into much sought-after employees in many sectors. Later in the curriculum, this solid basis allows for more freedom of choice and gives students the opportunity to tailor the curriculum according to their own interests.
- In recent years the importance of the Electrical Engineering degree has received more attention: nothing in a modern society can work without electronics and the green an sustainable evolution is impossible without it. This is acknowledged in the European Chip act which explains the urgent need of more Electrical Engineers.
Strengths
- State of the Art: our alumni have no trouble finding suitable, high-level jobs and point out high national and international esteem for our programme. To live up to this reputation, the Programme Committee continuously monitors the programme’s quality, relevance and topicality. We have been updating the Master’s curriculum in this way ever since 2017-2018.
- Our programme is embedded in a strong research environment: research activity in our discipline is high, and we have close ties with imec. These two factors combined, means that we can avail ourselves of a large pool of committed researchers. It is our explicit choice to include these researchers in our education. Students receive targeted coaching and supervision in their exercises, practicals, projects and their Master’s dissertation. We have also invested heavily in infrastructure (equipment, lab space), the most obvious testimony of which being the new IGent Tower.
- Our programme boasts a highly committed team of lecturers. They combine their passion for teaching with a ceaseless commitment towards creating high-quality education. All of our lecturers are highly approachable and ready to answer students’ questions.
- Our curriculum leaves ample room for practical experience, e.g. by means of projects, (international) work placements, and the Master’s dissertation. The Master’s dissertation and project course units are well-organized: our students traditionally produce high-quality work.
- Our graduates are in high demand on the job market and have good career perspectives. They usually receive multiple job offers, or start their own company. Our programme also instils in our students an attitude of lifelong learning and a desire to be abreast with the newest developments.
Challenges
- Our programme’s profile is insufficiently known among prospective students. Although young people nowadays use highly complex electronic devices (smartphone, satnav, tablet…) on a daily basis, they have no clue of how these devices actually work. As a consequence, they often do not realize that our programme is all about the underlying electronics, signal processing and communication of precisely these devices. The importance of electronics is a message that needs further active spreading, something to which we contribute wholeheartedly (e.g. Science Day, the robotics competition, among other things).
- Society would benefit from more diversity among the electrical engineers. For that purpose, we stimulate children and youngsters to recognize the importance of technology (STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Among our international research staff, we have excellent role models for appealing to prospective students with a migration background. In addition, we want to participate in our faculty’s efforts of introducing technology into schools and making it more attractive to girls.
- Internationalization: Our programme is taught in English, which allows international students to enter the degree. But the programme should attract more international top students.
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 14/02/2023.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.