Interdisciplinary methods
The master’s programme in Applied Mathematics for Civil Engineering is inherently interdisciplinary, offering a broad range of options, some of which are rooted in other research areas (such as cryptography and information security, biomedical engeering) or even other faculties (such as Financial Mathematics), thereby naturally enhancing this interdisciplinary.
The programme aims to provide students with training in mathematical modelling, applicable across all disciplines of engineering sciences, as well as in other societal fields such as economics, environmental sciences, and life sciences.
The final thesis, particularly when conducted outside the Departement of Mathematical Engineering (which is often the case), represents an additional source of interdisciplinarity. It constitutes half of the workload for the first annual block, offering an opportunity to delve deeply into a given topic and serving as a genuine introduction to the professional life of an engineer or researcher due to its scope and context.
This work can be carried out :
- on a topic related to one or more of the fundamental disciplines of applied mathematics and its applications, within the research cluster (potentially in collaboration with an external industrial partner),
- on applications of mathematics in other research clusters at the Louvain School of Engineering as well as in the Faculty of Science, Economics, Management, or Actuarial Sciences.
Diverse learning situations
The pedagogy used in the master’s programme in Civil Engineering is consistent with that of the bachelor’s degree programme in engineering. Students are exposed to a variety of teaching approaches suited to different disciplines, including lectures, individual and small group projects, exercise sessions, problem-based learning sessions, case studies, directed readings, experimental laboratories, computer simulations, use of educational software, industrial or research internships, individual and group work, and seminars featuring presentations by external scientists.
The diversity of teaching methods aligns with the objective of developing both disciplinary and transversal, non-technical skills, helping students build their knowledge iteratively and progressively, while fostering their autonomy, organisational skills, time management, and communication abilities in various modes. The most modern computing resources (hardware, software, networks) are provided to students for their work.
The entrepreneurship option, for example, follows an interactive approach and is oriented towards problem-based learning. Throughout the programme, students are required to undertake group projects with multidisciplinary teams. The thesis is designed to be interdisciplinary, allowing groups of three students, ideally from different faculties, to work on a business creation project.