Difference between revisions of "Courses at UGent"

Revision as of 13:23, 1 August 2014

VTK Wiki

Check out the Engineering Fraternities (VTK) Wiki for information on the courses at UGent. A little bit of Dutch, or some luck with Google translate will provide you not just with information on many courses, but also scans of previous exams and questions that have been asked so that you have practice material.

1st Masters

Applied Electromagnetism
Atomic and Molecular Physics
Computational Solutions of Wave Problems
Continuum Mechanics
Cross Course Project
Plasma Physics
Nederlands
Belgian Culture
Nuclear Instrumentation

Electives

Plasma and Fusion Technology
Statistical Physics 2
Semiconductors
Photonics
Advanced Electromagnetism
Physical Chemistry

Course Layout

Courses are given one to two times a week with the possibility of an additional recitation from a PhD Student. Many courses have two professors who will handle different sections of the course, they may even request you come to different buildings during different sections of the course. With the exception of the language and culture course, each course lasts a full semester, For fall semester this means starting mid-September, ending before Christmas, and with examinations during the full month of January.

Courses are long, usually about 3 hours but sometimes even longer. There will almost always be a short 10 minute break half-way through the lecture. Bringing a snack is encouraged.

In general, courses will consist of a lecturer presenting slides from a slideshow. This means they will cover the material too quickly to be written down from scratch, and you should follow along with a printed set of slides. You will quickly learn which professors read from the slides and which professors do not, and you are allowed to skip the lectures in which you feel a professor is simply reading the slides.

Exams

Many students show up in suits to exams, while this is not necessary you should be prepared to present yourself professionally. Oral exams consist of a short period (30 minutes) of written preparation, often involving calculations or careful reading of course notes, followed by the actual Oral part of the exam. This can range from simply being a review of what you wrote down, to a barrage of new questions.

It is particularly important to note that the Belgian professors expect you to bring your course notes to the exam, and almost all of them will ask you to flip to certain topics contained within their slides during the oral exam and to essentially read the course notes aloud, explaining them as you go. To some extent you are being graded on how familiar you are with where the material is. A small set of colored sticky-note bookmarks and some practice finding topics within your own notes can significantly increase your grade.