Courses and Exams at EPL

Courses available to incoming exchange students

Rules for course selection

Incoming exchange students registered at Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain have access to all courses organized by EPL in the 2nd cycle (Master programmes) or courses in the 7 specialisation tracks of the Bachelor programmes (corresponding to the 2nd Semester of 2nd year and the full 3rd year of our Bachelor programme in Engineering), unless restrictions are mentioned in the agreement with your university.
Please check the restrictions mentioned in the agreement with your university first.
The majority of the courses you choose must be part of the bachelor's or master's programme for which you have been nominated.
The standard total workload for an EPL student is 30 ECTS per semester. However, as an exchange student, you must take a minimum workload of 20 ECTS per semester (including EPL courses and eventually some non-EPL courses).
The courses organised by EPL begin with LGCIV, LELEC, LINFO, LDATA, LINMA, LMAPR, LMECA, LGBIO, LFSA or LEPL.
The amount of non-EPL courses is strictly limited to a maximum of 2 courses per academic semester, whether they are organised by the ILV (language courses) or by other faculties.
The total number of ECTS of EPL courses must be equal or higher than the total number of ECTS of non-EPL courses.
You must choose at least 10 ECTS (per semester) of technical courses related to engineering or IT in the EPL Master's programme for which you have been nominated.
Some restrictions may apply for a few 'project type' courses for logistics reasons (e.g. LEPL15xx, LGCIV2011, LELME2003, LELME2240 are not open to exchange students) or for some special courses. The final decision then rests with each Head of Programme Commission.
As an absolute rule however, the LCPME courses, LLSMS2066, LLSMS2109, LLSMS2111, LLSMS2112, LLSMS2116, LCEMS2108, LCEMS2114, LBRAL2102 and LFSA2351 courses cannot be included in an exchange programme.
In addition, some faculties set specific restrictions. For example, the Louvain School of Management (LSM) does not allow to mix courses from 2 different majors.
Unfortunately, we do not have a list of all courses that are not allowed for exchange students in other faculties. Just before your arrival, please check with the teacher of the non-EPL course you wish to take whether you are allowed to take that course.
Please note that if you do not have the prerequisites for the courses you choose, you will not be allowed to take them.
There is no problem with including bachelor courses in a master programme. However, if you are still a bachelor (so if you have not yet completed 3 full years of bachelor's or undergraduate studies and reached 180 ECTS), you are not allowed to take master's courses (as you will not have the prerequisites). Beware, don't forget that the bachelor courses are mainly taught in French.

How to find a programme or a course?

If you are searching for a specific course or the content of a specific course, you can use key words and search through the main UCLouvain Study Programmes search engine (selecting English as the language of instruction will show you the list of available courses taught in English). The easiest way to do this is to click on the "Search for a course unit" tab.
As a general rule, courses with a number starting with 1xxx are Bachelor courses and courses with a number starting with 2xxx are Master courses.

You can access the full list of EPL Master programmes. In each Master programme, you can navigate through the different courses of this programme, and by choosing a specific course (e.g. LINGI2261) you will see specifications of the course, including the teaching language.

By choosing a programme, you will be able to navigate through the different courses of this programme (by clicking on “Programme” and then on “Detailed programme by subject”).
Meaning of abbreviations: eg. LELEC = L stands for Louvain, ELEC stands for electrical engineering
Note that q1 = Fall Semester courses, q2 = Spring Semester courses, q1+q2 = full year courses, q1 or q2 = courses available in the Autumn and Spring semesters.

Course codes are classified by study fields as shown below:

LGCIV: Civil engineering, environment, geotechnics, hydraulics
LELEC: Electrical Engineering, cryptography, information security, electronics & control, telecommunications, information & signal processing, microwaves, electronic circuits & systems, MEMS & NEMS, nanotechnologies
LINFO: Computer Engineering, communication network, artificial intelligence, software engineering & programming systems, networking & security
LDATA: Data Science Engineering
LINMA: Mathematical Engineering, optimization & operations research, systems & controls, discrete mathematics & computer science, bioengineering
LMAPR: Physical, Chemical, Materials Engineering, nanotechnologies, inorganic materials & processes, polymers & nanomolecules, biomaterials & bioprocesses
LMECA: Mechanical Engineering, aeronautics, mechanical manifacturing & production, energy, polymer & metal forming, numerical modelling in mechanical engineering, biomechanics
LGBIO: Biomedical engineering
LFSA: General undergraduate courses

Please note that, in general, the course timetables for the following academic year are available in mid-May of the previous academic year. However, you can use the current course timetables as a basis for creating your Learning Agreement. Timetable changes are usually minor from one academic year to the next.

Meaning of the course codes (see example below):

LEPL1109-Q1 = theory course (Cours Magistral - CM)
LEPL1109_Q1 = practical course (Travaux Pratiques - TP)
LEPL1109_Q1.x = practical course with a group number (which means that you can choose the group that suits you best according to your other course schedules)

Once you have chosen your courses, I strongly advise you to check whether you have any schedule conflicts via the ‘My Schedule’ application.

When you arrive at EPL, during the first week of classes, you will have the opportunity to try out the courses and make changes to your Learning Agreement if necessary (in case of timetable conflicts, etc.), in agreement with your home university and your EPL academic supervisor.

Courses taken at other UCLouvain faculties on the campus of Louvain-La-Neuve

Exchange students also have access to courses organized by the Faculté des Sciences" at UCL (for courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) and to the "Faculté d'ingénierie biologique, agronomique et Environnementale". Courses of the "Faculté d'architecture, d'ingénierie architecturale et urbanisme" are also accessible.
It is also possible to take some non technical courses in other UCL faculties (eg. business, finance, law, litterature, etc.).
As a reminder, the amount of non-EPL courses is strictly limited to a maximum of 2 courses per academic semester, whether they are organised by the ILV (language courses) or by other faculties.

Language courses

Incoming exchange students are allowed to take a "French as foreign language" course, free of charge when the course is included in their ECTS learning agreement. See ILV related information. You can take MAXIMUM 2 French courses per semester, i.e., per semester, 1 general French course (their code LFRAN1_ _ _ ends in -01), possibly combined with 1 complementary French course whose code ends in -03, 04 or 05.
Examples : LFRAN1001 (A1 level), LFRAN1201 / LFRAN1205 (A2 level), LFRAN1301 / LFRAN1303 / LFRAN1304 (B1 level), LFRAN1401 / LFRAN1403 / LFRAN1404 (B2 level) and LFRAN1505 (C1 level).
The course level will be defined by the UCLouvain language school, ILV, at the start of the student's exchange programme.

The following language courses, in the framework of the bachelor programmes, are proposed at ILV for incoming exchange students and they are also free of charge on the same principle as French:

LANGL1171 Anglais pour ingénieurs civils I (Q1)
LANGL1272 Anglais pour ingénieurs civils II (Q1)
LANGL1373 English for engineers 3 (Q1)
LNEER1300 Néerlandais général et académique - Niveau moyen (Q2)
LNEER1500 Interfac - Néerlandais général et académique - Niveau approfondi (Q1 ou Q2)
LALLE1101 Allemand - Niveau élémentaire 1e partie (0-A1) (Q1 ou Q2)
LALLE1102 Allemand - Niveau élémentaire 2e partie (A1-A2) (Q2)
LALLE1300 Allemand général - Utilisateur indépendant – niveau seuil (Q1+Q2)
LESPA1101 Espagnol - Niveau élémentaire 1ère partie (0-A1) (Q1 ou Q2)
LESPA1102 Espagnol - Niveau élémentaire 2e partie (A1-A2) (Q1 ou Q2)
LESPA1301 Espagnol - Niveau moyen 1e partie (A2 - B1.1) (Q1 ou Q2)
LESPA1302 Espagnol - Niveau moyen 2e partie (B1.1 - B1.2) (Q2)

The following language courses, in the framework of the master programmes, are proposed at ILV for incoming exchange students and they are also free of charge on the same principle as French:

LANGL1181 (Anglais pour informaticiens I)
LANGL1171 (Anglais pour ingénieurs civils I)
LALLE2500 Professional development seminar German (B1 level required to attend the course)
LALLE2501 Professional development seminar German (B1 level required to attend the course)
LESPA2600 Vocational Induction Seminar - Spanish (B2.2/C1)
LESPA2601 Vocational Induction Seminar - Spanish (B2.2/C1)
LNEER2500 Seminar of Entry to professional life in Dutch - Intermediate level
LNEER2600 Seminar of entry to professional life in Dutch - Upper-Intermediate level

As a reminder, the amount of non-EPL courses is strictly limited to a maximum of 2 courses per academic semester, whether they are organised by the ILV (language courses) or by other faculties.

Other language courses proposed at ILV may be accessible but with a tuition fee and cannot be included in the student's learning agreement. You will then be registered as a "free student". More information here.

Courses on other UCLouvain campuses

Be aware that certain courses in Biomedical Engineering (LGBIO) are organized on the UCLouvain campus of Brussels-Woluwe, which requires commuting from Louvain-la-Neuve to Brussels.
It is also important to note that Bachelor and Master courses in "architectural engineering" only are organized on the campus of Louvain-la-Neuve. Bachelor and Master courses in "Architecture" are organized on other campuses in Brussels (St Gilles) and Tournai and are uneasy to access from Louvain-la-Neuve.

Information regarding the completion of your Learning Agreement

Please use the UCL ECTS Learning Agreement template unless your institution's Learning Agreement is mandatory.
Start and end dates of each semester:
Autumn semester = from 14 September to 31 January
Spring semester = from 01 February to 30 June
Academic year = from 14 September to 30 June
Data of the Receiving institution:
Name = UCLouvain
Faculty-Department = Louvain School of Engineering (EPL)
Address = Rue Archimède 1 bte L6.11.01 - 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Country = Belgium
Eramsus code = B LOUVAIN01
Contact person = Sandrine Matthieu - email: epl-exchange@uclouvain.be - Phone: +32 10 47 85 30
Responsible person at the Receiving Institution (who will sign your Learning Agreement) is your EPL academic responsible (not the EPL international mobility coordinator). Note that Sandrine Matthieu will complete this supervisor's name.

Exams

To take an exam, you have to be registered usually a month and a half before the start of the Exam session, you will be informed about the registration process in due time. There are 3 exam sessions over one academic year: January, June and August/September.

For the first term (September to January), the exams are held in January and, for the second term (February to June), they are held in June. Retake exam can only be done in August/September in Belgium. In some exceptional cases, and always with the professor's approval, students can take retake exams from their home university under certain conditions.

Each student has the right to take the same exam twice during the same academic year:

First possibility, the regular exam session at the end of the semester the course is given
Second possibility, the resit exam session (August-September).

The UCLouvain does not allow the organization of exams outside the official exam session.

In order to take an exam or retake an exam you must be registered for it.
The EPL Exchange Students Coordinator will register you to your exams by default for the January and June exam sessions. You will be asked to check your registration online via your UCLouvain account and, if you want you will have the possibility to drop an exam by notifying the coordinator.
Students who did not take or failed one or more exams in January or June will receive an email in early July with instructions on how to register for the August-September exam session.
Be aware that, if you register to a course but choose to drop the exam, the course will still be listed on your Transcript of Records with the mention "NE" for "Not Evaluated".

Where to find books and course materials?

At EPL you will find a student association which prints all the course material that you need, so that you can buy them at a very cheap price. This organization is called the SICI. They also sell books cheaper than in bookstores. The SICI's office is located in the Pierre Curie building (offices a.030.30 and a.030.40). It is therefore highly recommended to come and purchase books and syllabi for EPL courses at the SICI.