The Advanced Master in Nanotechnology offers holders of a basic second cycle degree complementary and/or advanced second cycle training in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. It is intended for, on the one hand, those who do not have any training in this field and who wish to specialise in it, or on the other hand, for those who have already taken an option in this field during their Master’s and who wish to further their training with a specialisation in another area of nanotechnology, e.g. an electrical engineer wanting to further his/her training in nano-biotechnology.

The Advanced Master in Nanotechnology is a program of 60 credits organised around five main areas of specialisation:

- nanophysics: quantum phenomena, molecular transportation, spintronics, simulation, physical characterisations ...

- nanochemistry: synthesis of nanoparticles, chemical and physico-chemical characterisation, quantum chemistry

- nanoelectronics: micro and nanoelectronics, MEMS, NEMS, electronic characterisation ...

- nanomaterials : nanocomposites, nanofils, nanotubes, nanomedicine, biocaptors ...

This program is also intended to train students in the multidisciplinary aspect of nanotechnology. To this end it puts the accent on the different approaches used in these fields : knowledge of basic phenomena at the nano level, nanomanufacturing or the synthesis of nanostructures, the characterisation of nanostructures and the modelling and numeric simulation at the nano level

It also aims to make stuents aware of the impact on society of nanotechnology by way of interdisciplinary seminars on the following themes : ethics, enonomic perspectives, applications of nanotechnology, toxicity of nanomaterials ...

In each of the areas of specialisation, the program involves a minimum of 60 credits. This program comprises :

- a core curriculum of 30 credits consisting of

.  a research work (thesis) carried out in a laboratory of one of the six institutions organising the Master’s (27 credits)

.  interdisciplinary seminars and an individual assignment (3 credits) : students follow seminars common to the various streams and do an assignment on some interdisciplinary themes such as ethics, enonomic perspectives, applications of nanotechnology, toxicity of nanomaterials ... ; these seminars are organised in turn by the program partners in the form of thematic days ; the interdisciplinary seminars are compulsory for all the streams and involve all the Master’s students.

- specialised training (8 to 15 credits) made up of four basic courses  in each of the four disciplines (basic phenomena, nanomanufacturing or nanosynthesis, characterisation of nanostructures and simulation at the nano level) : several basic courses are offered for each of the disciplines, in each of the areas of specialisation, adapted to the previous knowledge of the students ; students will be obliged to choose at least one course in each of the four disciplines

- options in the form of electives (15 to 22 credits)

. in function of their previous studies, students will be able to take general courses (maximum 9 credits), in particular in the chemistry and physics of solids, the chemistry and physics of macromolecules, biochemistry and biophysics ...

. students will specialise in one of the five research or application areas while following specialised courses ; they will devise a multidisciplinary training program in function of the topic of their research work.

Within the area of specialisation, students will, with the assistance of an adviser, devise a coherent program which is adapted to their previous knowledge. With the agreement of their adviser, it is possible to take electives outside the area of specialisation, even out of the Master’s program. If during their previous studies students have already taken a particular course or one deemed equivalent, they cannot include this in their program.

Whatever the area of specialisation, the program will comprise a minimum of 60 credits. It may be raised to 75 credits if intensive upgrading courses are considered necessary by the committee responsible for the program in function of the student’s previous studies (see admission conditions). The program thus constituted will be submitted for approval to the inter-academic committee responsible for the Master’s.

The Advanced Master in Nanotechnology is intended in particular for holders of a degree in civil engineering, bioengineering, a master’s in biology, chemistry, physics, biomedical science or management, wishing to specialise in this field, or advance their training in it. It is characterised by a global approach to the field of nanotechnology, and offers a deliberately multidisciplinary program.

The program is organised conjointly by six universities : FPMs, FUNDP, UCL, ULB, ULg et UMH; the courses are given in these universities. The research work is carried out in one of the laboratories of these universities which is active in the fild of nanotechnology.

These laboratories are members of the Walloon association of nanotechnology (NanoWal). This association also includes research centres and companies active in this field. The students taking the Master’s will also have the opportunity to study and carry out research in a resolutely multidisciplinary environment in laboratories which have a strong tradition of collaboration.

With its training and research components, the Advanced Master in Nanotechnology also prepares students for the PhD program. Most of the teachers involved in the Master’s are members of the thematic doctoral school MAIN (Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux, des Interfaces et des Nanostructures) which can supervise students wishing to do a PhD.

In accordance with the decree of 31 March 2004 on higher education, encouraging the integration of higher education and financing universities within Europe, the general admission conditions are set out on the website « Conditions d'admission - Masters complémentaires : http://www.uclouvain.be/68958.html

The specific admission conditions to this program are as follows :

1) Access to the Advanced Master in Nanotechnology is unconditional for holders of a Master’s degree of at least 120 credits in study area No.19 of the Sciences de l’Ingénieur awarded by the French-speaking community of Belgium, as well as holders of a similar degree awarded by the Dutch-speaking community of Belgium.

2) Access to the Advanced Master in Nanotechnology is conditional for holders of a Master’s degree with at least 120 credits in study areas No.18 in Agronomy and Bioengineering, No. 17 in Science, and No. 15 in Biomedicine and Pharmacy, as well as holders of the degree of Master in Management in the study area No. 10 of Economics and Management awarded by the French-speaking community of Belgium, as well as holders of a similar degree awarded by the Dutch-speaking community of Belgium.

3) Access to the Advanced Master in Nanotechnology is conditional for holders of a Master’s degree other than those listed in 1) and 2), as well as holders of a second cycle foreign degree of at least 300 credits. The enrolment procedure is identical to that in 2).

Applications received will be subject to scrutiny by the program committee with a view to admission. The admission application should contain the following items : a letter of motivation, copy of the Master’s degree or a document listing successful completion of the program and courses taken.  A maximum of 15 credits of prerequisites may be imposed on candidates covered by points 2) and 3).

Personalized access

All Masters (apart from Advanced Masters) are also accessible on application, especially on validation of experience (VAE).

Prérequis :

sur dossier

Accès personnalisé : pour rappel tout master (à l'exception des masters complémentaires) peut également être accessible sur dossier et notamment par validation des acquis de l’expérience (VAE). > En savoir plus

See the general admission requirements

Those who do not have a Master’s degree in civil engineering awarded by the French-speaking Community of Belgium should submit an admission application to the committee responsible for the Master’s (see Contact).

The Advanced Master in Nanotechnology is a resolutely multidisciplinary program, the objective of which is to train students in both theoretical, and experimental and applied approaches in the field of nanotechnology.

By its structure of leaving a very wide choice of courses, this program allows students to construct a program to suit them and their personal needs.

To minimise students’ travelling, distance-learning (video-learning) accompanied by supervision will be progressively established.

A variety of the learning structures and scientific approaches is provided by the inter-university organisation of the program.

The learning activities are evaluated accordiing to the regulations in force at the university (see the examination regulations), viz. written and oral examinations, laboratory examinations, individual or group assignments, public presentations of projects, thesis defence.

To allow access to the Master’s program to non-French speaking students, a major part of the program will be given in English.

Most of the laboratories of  the teachers involved in the Master’s program belong to European networks of excellence  (FAME, SINANO, NANOSIL, ...), and international research programs.

This Master’s program is an interuniversity one. In the list of courses below, the names of courses are followed by their UCL course code if they are organised by UCL or the abbreviation of another university if they are taught elsewhere. If the course is taught at UCL, it is advisable to go and check the details (number of contact hours, ECTS weighting, names of teachers, semester in which it is taught ...), typing the UCL code in the search engine for every course available on the webpage of the program. For the others, students should go to the website of the university concerned.

In addition, the courses are also followed by the following symbols in brackets " ( P, C, B, E, M ) " where one or more letters may be missing and replaced by dashes " - " . The letters P,C, B, E, M indicate the streams to which these courses may belong. To understand how this works, students should refer to the regulations for constructing their program as set out in the section « General presentation of the program” above. They indicate: Nanophysics, Nanochemistry, Nanobiology, Nanoelectronics and Nanomaterials.