Information

MSc in Transportation Sciences

Why a master in Transportation Sciences?

A good and international transport system is of vital importance for moving people, goods and information in a local, regional, national and international context. Moreover, it is connected to economic growth! A continuing increase in traffic volumes, both in terms of car transport as well as freight forwarding transport, is predicted for the near future. Already today, negative impacts and consequences of increased mobility can be observed. The explosive increase in transport demand is leading toward major challenges. These concern land use, the impact of urban areas, traffic safety issues, traffic flow, atmospheric pollution and travel behaviour.

The Master in Transportation Sciences is a multidisciplinary master programme in which traffic safety and transportation issues are are approached from different angles. Examples of disciplines are:
economics/management, spatial planning, environment, technology and infrastructure, sociology, transportation research,...

For part-time study, the master's programme is designed to be of 3-years duration and is organized in modules. You will start with 2 years studying eight taught modules (two modules per semester). Seven of these eight modules are core modules and you choose a further one from the optionals modules. The programme is delivered by distance-learning with week-long Residential Blocks.

The Master programme is strongly linked to the research fields of the Transportation Research Institute (IMOB), i.e. travel behaviour, logistics and traffic safety. (For more information, visit the website www.imob.uhasselt.be. In the last master's year, students will write a thesis. This will be an exposition of a research assignment, or either traffic safety or transportation.
As you can see: students in Transportation Sciences are not only focused on events from the past, but mainly focus on current issues and tomorrow's consequences.

Aims

International Orientation

Semi distance leaning combined wirh Residential Blocks

Halfway through each semester, when you are taking the taught modules, you are required to attend one-week Residential Blocks. The Residential Blocks are organised in a two-year cyclic programme and are held, in turn, at each of the major participating institutions.

The teaching methods adopted for this course are not only educationally sound but they meet the needs and constraints of both students and employers. The use of distance learning materials ensures that you are involved in, and given responsibility for, your own learning. The use of case studies allows reinforcement of the distance learning materials and provides work-related situations relevant to your present or future employment.

The major advantage of distance learning lies in the fact that you can undertake the work at the time and in the location that you choose. However, the major disadvantages of distance learning are procrastination and a sense of loneliness. For these reasons, the distance learning are specifically designed to work with module programmes that specify regular targets. In addition, there is an e-learning system, called Blackboard. This e-system has lot of fundtions, which enables:

Accreditation

In 1999 the course was accredited by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport as meeting their academic requirements for Chartered Membership. This was again confirmed at the validation in May 2000.

COURSE STRUCTURE

To gain the MSc you must successfully pass the six core modules, two optional modules and the Project (including the Project Introduction), accumulating 180 credit points.

Core modules

Student workload for each of the eight modules is typically 150 hours. The Project Introduction module consists of about 60 hours directed learning followed by a one-week residential course with an associated workload of about 40 hours. For the Project, about 500 hours of independent learning and formal assessment time is envisaged, giving a total of approximately 1800 hours of total study involvement.

DISTANCE LEARNING

The teaching methods adopted for this course are not only educationally sound but they meet the needs and constraints of both students and employers. The use of distance learning materials ensures that you are involved in, and given responsibility for, your own learning. The use of case studies and real support materials provided by employers, together with group work, allows reinforcement of the distance learning materials and provides work-related situations relevant to your present or future employment.

The major advantage of distance learning lies in the fact that you can undertake the work at the time and in the place that you choose. However, the major disadvantages of distance learning are procrastination and the sense of loneliness. For these reasons the distance learning materials have been specifically designed to operate with module programmes specifying regular targets. In addition there is a system of peer, employer, and lecturer support.

Unique Course