Master in cybersecurity

The Master in Cybersecurity trains students who will act as researchers and / or professionals in information security, security management, and security engineering in the many branches of the IT industry.

We want our graduates to have a strong sense of ethics and to be fully autonomous, able to self-teach, dedicated to their role in society, self-evolving throughout their careers, and to have a high level of qualification in IT security.

Courses in this Master are offered by four academic partners (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Université Catholique de Louvain, Université de Namur, and the Royal Military School) and two higher education institutions (Haute École Bruxelles-Brabant and Haute École Libre de Bruxelles), which jointly deliver a single diploma; classes are given in a rich and multidisciplinary environment. 
 

Students attend interactive theoretical classes and take part in projects and challenges that further add to the expertise and practical know-how required in the IT industry.

These projects will give students (alone or in groups) the opportunity to apply the concepts covered during the lectures, and to learn new material by solving proposed challenges.

Along with the practical implementation of these learning activities, students develop their abilities (soft skills) to write solid, scientific, and structured reports and documentation. In addition, they look into cybersecurity from the perspective of management and ethics.

The programme is organised around five specific and complementary key disciplines: (1) Cryptography, (2) Systems and Networks, (3) Legal, ethical, and human aspects, (3) Security management, and (5) Secure software engineering

The first year of the Master is dedicated to a common set of courses. Several seminars and elective courses ensure the curriculum is dynamic and remains up to date. For instance, 10 credits can be chosen as elective courses, selected from courses already taught in the participating academic institutions.

In the second year, half of the programme's credits are for courses in one of two focuses: ‘system design and analysis’, which is dedicated to the design and thorough analysis of secure systems, and ‘corporate strategies’, which is dedicated to more concrete applications. Both focuses are built on the students’ personal involvement and self-learning, through several projects. A significant part of the skills involved is acquired during the mandatory long-term work placement in a professional environment (typically 12 weeks).

Students take part in projects and challenges that further add to the expertise and practical know-how required in the IT industry. They apply the concepts covered in lectures, and learn new material by solving proposed challenges.

At the end of the programme, students prepare a Master's dissertation under the supervision of a professor who is an active researcher in the field.