The Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry long wanted to reorganize their master program, says Study Program Manager Peter Janssens. Three years ago, the department started making new plans, and these turned out to be mostly compatible with the Graduate School set-up. Last September, the department has started with the new curriculum.

Graduate students of Chemical Engineering can opt between two tracks in their first year: Chemical and Process Technology and Molecular Systems and Materials Chemistry. Each track consists of four mandatory core courses that make up for 20 credits – considerably fewer than before. Additionally, students can choose from 18 chemistry courses, the so-called semi-electives (20 credits total), and 15 credits worth of free electives.

Janssens says it wasn’t easy to determine the core courses. “We’ve involved all professors, and it gave rise to quite some discussions. We’ve been forced to choose.” The Study program Manager continues to explain it was a challenge to reorganize certain courses to be worth 5 credits.

Janssen admits other departments not having finished reorganizing can be complicated, but it’s not a big deal. “Other departments still have three-credit courses, making it harder to choose en elective at another department. It requires better counting skills.”

The department will also put more emphasis on the need for gaining experience abroad. According to Janssens, the internship in the second year offers ‘great perspective’. Preparations for the second master year were less extensive, as it consist of an internship and writing a thesis.

Although a lot of time and effort has been put in to get the program running, Janssens believes the implementation of the Bachelor College involved a lot more work than the Graduate School will. “Now it’s a matter of keeping steady.”

The other departments are expected to finalize their plans for the implementation of the Graduate School by December 1 2014. Starting the 2014/2015 academic year, all departments will be using their new course designs.