This is the webpage of the Honours Programme (HP) of the Computer Science department (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence) Faculty of Science.
Why?
If you are a talented and motivated student, the VU Honours Programme offers you the opportunity to invest more in your own area of study and to broaden your horizon. So enroll in the Honours Programme (HP), choose your tracks and topics of deep study, fulfill their requirements, and you will gain knowledge and experience that can change your life.
What?
The Information Sciences department has a unique offer: each student can mix and match courses, effectively creating individual tracks of excellence. There are two main types of courses:
1. Focused on a high quality, scientific research project that is unique for each student.
2. Focused on learning in the structure of a traditional course.
Please check the Canvas community Honours Programme CS/AI for more details, templates, and community access.
How many courses should you take?
The general structure of the HP at the VU offers the prestigious HP annotation to their BSc degree, upon completing at least 30 ECs over the regular programme of 180 ECs (extra credits). This means you can tailor your own track to include 30 ECs or more extra credits; if you include more than 30 ECs, you invest in an even deeper study in your HP.
Which courses can you take?
Consult the extensive section ‘How to complete the Information Sciences HP?’
Who can apply, how, and when?
Are you highly motivated, have good grades (above 7.5 grade point average in the first year), and have passed all your first year courses? Then you can apply for the Honours Programme!
The application procedure is the same across the entire VU HP, so check the detailed requirements, the application form, and the next application deadline here:
How to complete the Information Sciences HP?
Are there any general restrictions about the courses you can take? The general structure of the HP at the VU requires that the 30 ECs must include at least 12 ECs and at most 18 ECs obtained from departmental, and at least 12 ECs and at most 18 ECs obtained from interdepartmental courses.
Are there any specific restrictions for the courses I can take?
1. Clarification: any student can obtain more than the 30 ECs necessary to get the Honours Programme annotation. In the following text in this webpage, when we refer to limits we mean the necessary part (lower boundary) and not to the maximal number of credits. For example, a student may want to compose their necessary 30 ECs out of the mandatory course “HP Research Community and Practice” and two research projects as departmental courses (all together 18 ECs in total) and two inter-departmental courses (12 ECs in total). However, the student can also _further_ pursue one more research project and get more credits for them. Here, the student could, next to the mandatory course do 3 research projects. Then, the student would accumulate 24 ECs as departmental credits, and thus meet and also exceed the 18 planned departmental ECs. The student would still need to meet the limit of 12 inter-departmental ECs.
2. HP students must take the departmental course HP Research Community and Practice (6EC), which focuses on research methods and practice in computer science and artificial intelligence. The Honours Coordinator will automatically register Honours students for this course. The course is mandatory and must be completed during the first year of participation in the Honours Programme. Second year HP students must take the departmental course HP Research Community and Practice (6EC), which focuses on research methods and practice in computer science and artificial intelligence.
The HP Research Community and Practice course focuses on the research process in the fields of computer science and artificial intelligence---the philosophy, theories, methods, and body of knowledge associated with the scientific method of our field. This course is mandatory. For details about the content of X_HP010, contact the course coordinator, Sara Lusini <s.lusini@vu.nl>.
3. Other departmental courses that Honours students can take, will be listed on the CS Department Honours Canvas page.
What is in the research-oriented track?
By the end of these modules, you (the student) will learn the skills and knowledge corresponding to the level of a starting, independent researcher with high potential for further development. It is possible that the successful project will end with a high quality publication in a prestigious scientific venue -- this mostly depends on you!
Within the research track, you will have the choice of pursuing a scientific research project, on one of the possible three variants, of at least 6 / 12 / 18 ECs respectively. This track is not available across faculties.
Steps for doing a research project:
1. Find a topic or supervisor first. If in doubt, please contact us. We can provide you with a list of supervisors or you can approach someone who you would like to work with and ask them if they are willing to supervise you.
2. Both topic supervisor who agrees with an explicit topic
3. Develop the problem statement in collaboration with the supervisor and determine the size in EC’s. The scope of the project can be adjusted at a later stage.
4. Register a short form of the problem statement and EC’s with the HP coordinators.
5. Develop research in collaboration with the supervisor.
Can I continue a research project beyond the 18 ECs?
You can. The HP does not limit the maximum number of ECs, it just specifies the mandatory minimum. For example, some of the successful students in the research-oriented track could choose to earn additional credits training for and then attending various conferences and seminars, where they can present their work to the national and international community.
Will the successful completion of the Honours Programme show on my transcript?
A student who has met the requirements of the regular Bachelor's programme within the nominal duration of study, who has achieved an average weighted mark of at least 7.5 for all components of the Bachelor's programme (excluded the honours components) and who has also met the requirements of the honours programme will receive a Bachelor diploma with a transcript indicating that he or she has successfully completed the honours programme.
Contact
For all emails about the Honours Programme, make sure you include the string “[vu] [hp]” in the subject of your email.
For more information about procedures and administration, contact Selma Zaghow at s.m.a.zaghow@vu.nl.
For more information about content, contact Prof.dr.ir. Alexandru Iosup <a.iosup@vu.nl>. He may delegate your questions related to the AI tracks to dr. Anil Yaman <a.yaman@vu.nl>.
Community
The HP has a community on Canvas, to which we invite all students who have been accepted for the programme.
