Programme content
THE DESIGNER PAR EXCELLENCE
The university-trained computer scientist is first and foremost a designer. Their training enables them to find the optimal solution to IT problems encountered across many different domains.
Often, the result of their mental efforts will be the deployment of complex equipment which combines information processing hardware and programmes. The system designed will thus provide a group of users with the means to optimally accomplish their professional activities in a variety of economic sectors including finance, e-commerce, medicine, transport, telecommunications and bioinformatics.
To contribute to design activities in such varied fields, university-trained computer scientists must have acquired rigorous reasoning abilities (in order to design these complex systems accurately), the capacity to understand the problems associated with a specific activity and the ability to explain the proposed solutions clearly and unambiguously.
The Master's in Computer Sciences were designed to allow you to acquire this training.
A TRAINING IN ENGLISH
All Master's classes are taught in English, given the importance of English in the IT domain. This immersion provides students with an opportunity for intensive practice and consequently gives them optimal preparation for these international careers.
The Master's thesis must be written in English. However, students are free to communicate in French during classes and major tests and exams.
120 CREDITS
The Master's in Computer Science is structured around:
- a common core (data structures and algorithms, programming languages, theoretical concepts of computer science, software development, IT systems and networks),
- an integrated project to be completed as part of a team,
- classes specific to the option chosen,
- elective classes or an internship,
- a Master's thesis.
The Master's degree in Computer Science ( 120 credits) offers the possibility to specialize via 3 professional focuses :
- professional focus in Computer systems security,
- professional focus in Intelligent systems,
- professional focus in Management (this professional focus gives access to the double Master's degree in Digital Business organized in partnership with HEC Liege)
Digital Business (organized in partnership with HEC Liege)
Graduated in computer science or in computer science engineering and management engineering in 3 years of master's degree after the bachelor's degree : an ULiege exclusivity !
The School of Engineering and HEC Liege offer a training in "Digital Business" allowing to obtain the two diplomas in computer science or in computer science engineering and management engineering in 3 years of master's degree after the bachelor's degree.
This is a unique possibility in Belgium !
The programme, which is perfectly symmetrical, offers two means of entry. Either a student first enrols in Computer Sciences (focusing in management) with the School of Engineering and then completes their studies in the HEC Liège's Management Engineering programme. Or they first enrol in Management Engineering (Digital Business) at HEC Liège and then complete their studies within the School of Engineering with either the Computer Sciences programme or the Computer Science Engineering programme.
Far more than the simple juxtaposition of skills, the concept of the interdisciplinary master's degree is to promote new profiles embracing a dual culture right from the first part of the master's degree. You will be trained in specialised and interdisciplinary subjects that will enable you to apprehend problems from an innovative angle. You will learn to master both fields simultaneously to understand all the challenges and opportunities.
This program meets the expectation of the labor market in which graduates in Computer Sciences and Management Sciences and Management Engineers are highly sought after, these being two of Belgium's top 5 most promising courses. By combining the two, you will be ready to face all the challenges of IT (1), management (2), but you will also be best equipped to face the new challenges of Digital Business (3). Three skill sets in two degrees! A clear advantage for the future!
COMBINING THEORY AND PRACTICE
Through the demanding practical projects that most of the classes entail, The university-trained computer scientists strengthen their knowledge, use their expertise, solve numerous problems, work autonomously and apply their skills in written and oral communication, especially in English. They have the chance to identify the needs and constraints of the industrial world whether while working on their Master's thesis, during their internships or through the classes which enable them to make connections between the concepts taught and their industrial application. They are thus trained to adapt to various languages, methods and tools, that already exist or have yet to be developed!
Finally, it should be noted that the Master's degree in Computer Science is organized within the School of Engineering, which allows students to get acquainted with the more technical aspects of computer science, such as robotics, networks, image processing, microelectronics...
Learning outcomes
Profile
At the end of their Master's programme, computer scientists from ULiège will be able to leverage their sense of abstraction, their thorough reasoning abilities and their IT skills to design, develop and evaluate complex information systems.
They will be able to implement complex products or services which combine information processing hardware and programmes. The system designed will thus provide a group of users with the means to optimally accomplish their professional activities in a variety of sectors including finance, e-commerce, medicine, transport, energy, networks and telecommunications and bioinformatics.
Learning outcomes
An individual holding a Master's in Computer Science (120 credits) will have acquired specialised and integrated knowledge and extensive skills in the diverse disciplines of the computer science, which follow on from those associated with the bachelor's degree in computer science, such as algorithmics, programming and IT systems (operating systems, data bases and networks).
They will have consolidated their knowledge of information networks and security and on the various foundations of the information sciences (state machines, automatons, grammars, theory regarding the limits of information systems, the theoretical and practical foundations of logic and formal reasoning and the general principles of compilation).
They will have acquired a strong specialism in information networks and systems (information security, networks and multimedia, network security and management, network measures and monitoring, embedded systems, programming on mobile platforms etc.) or in intelligent systems (machine learning, computer vision, robotics, knowledge representation, constraint programming etc.). Depending on their choice of electives, they will have also acquired various other skills in fields such as bioinformatics, intensive scientific computing, infographics...
They will be able to apply, mobilise, articulate and develop this knowledge and these skills in order to contribute to the completion of an IT development or innovation project while managing its complexity and taking account of the inherent objectives and constraints.
They will have acquired the highest level of technical qualification enabling them to organise and guide a research, development or innovation project to completion in order to assess a novel issue relevant to their discipline. They will be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to join a research and development unit or pursue doctoral studies.
They will have developed their awareness of the realities, requirements and constraints of the industrial world, possibly through a Master's thesis, an internship or through classes establishing links between the concepts studied and their industrial applications.
They will be able to communicate their conclusions and novel proposals as well as the knowledge and principles underpinning them, in a clear, structured and reasoned manner, both orally and in writing, to technical and non-technical audiences, in English in particular.
They will have developed and adopted a high degree of autonomy enabling them to acquire new knowledge, continue their training and develop new skills so that they can evolve in new contexts. They will be well placed to later adapt to processes, techniques, languages and tools etc., that did not exist at the time of their training.
They will be able to reflect critically on the impact computer science in general, and the projects they are contributing to in particular, have on society.
They will demonstrate rigour, autonomy, creativity and a sense of ethics.