Master of Nuclear Engineering (Leuven et al)

Nuclear technology plays a crucial role in a wide variety of contexts and sectors in Belgium, including power production, waste management, nuclear fuel production, etc. The Belgian Nuclear Higher Education Network (BNEN) combines the expertise in nuclear education and research of six major Belgian universities (KU Leuven, UGent, VUB, UCL, ULG and ULB) with the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN.

What is the Advanced Master of Nuclear Engineering all about?

Nuclear technology plays a crucial role in a wide variety of contexts and sectors in Belgium, including:

• power production
• nuclear fuel production
• radioelement production
• engineering
• accelerator design and fabrication
• waste management
• safety management
• nuclear medicine
• research

The Belgium Nuclear Higher Education Network (BNEN) combines the expertise in nuclear education and research of six major Belgian universities (KU Leuven, UGent, VUB, UCL, ULG and ULB) with the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre.

The Advanced Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering programme is an internationally oriented, interuniversity programme organised by BNEN in close collaboration with nuclear research centres and industry. The aim of the BNEN programme is to provide students with all the skills and scientific and technical background necessary to carry out duties at a high level of responsibility in order to ensure the safe and economical operation of nuclear power plants, the regulation and control of nuclear installations or to design new nuclear systems.

structure 

The current programme can be divided into three core blocks:

• Introductory courses allowing refreshing or first contact with the basic notions of nuclear physics, materials sciences and the principles of energy conversion through use of nuclear phenomena, supplemented by a core block of nuclear engineering.
• A block of elective courses that allow students to deepen certain topics of their choice.
• A Master’s thesis.

Thanks to the collaboration with SCK*CEN makes the actual use of facilities can be included in the curriculum, supporting the development of skills and competences in a research environment. All subjects are taught by academics appointed by the partner universities, whereas the exercises and laboratory sessions are supervised by the experts of SCK*CEN. The Master’s thesis offers an opportunity for internship in industry or in a research laboratory.

All teaching activities take place on the premises of SCK*CEN. Courses are organised in English and in a modular way; teaching in blocks of one to three weeks for each module allows optimal time management for students and lecturers, facilitates registration for individual modules, and allows easy exchange with international students.

One particular aspect of the BNEN degree is that it automatically leads to the recognition as Class I Expert by the Federal Agency of Nuclear Control. In order to receive this accreditation the programme must at least offer 24 credits in Nuclear Safety and 12 credits in Radioprotection.

strengths

A major strength of the BNEN programme, as to its sustainability, is that it allows providing high quality academic education by experts from (or appointed by) the main Belgian universities at low individual cost and thus very efficiently harmonised/rationalised. In addition, the participation of the nuclear research centre SCK*CEN in the consortium provides superb realistic experimental facilities in a difficult (radioactive) environment.

A further fundamental strength of the programme can be found in the fact that a well-balanced curriculum is offered where the contents and format have been discussed at length with representatives of the major nuclear companies that are the graduates’ first potential employers. There is a nearly complete overlap between objectives and realised competences in courses, electives, exercises and Master’s thesis. This can be ascribed to the following contributing factors:

• There is a good balance between theory and practical skills. This is implemented through an appropriate diversity of didactic formats, including exercises and/or labs for nearly all courses.
• There is appropriate care for multidisciplinary scientific competences and for transferable skills through the importance given to the Master’s thesis.
• The education in programmes is backed by world-class research at the universities, the research center and the involvement of teachers working in international research institutes.
• The involvement of several professors who have their principal employment in nuclear companies.
• Both the professors and the young researchers are very active in the major international research programmes and associations related to applications of nuclear phenomena.

KU Leuven Online Open Day

We are organising an online open day on Wednesday 1 December 2021 to inform students about our English-language programmes. Discover Europe’s most innovative university and learn more about our international programmes, admissions, housing and much more. For more information, google “KU Leuven Online Open Day”.