Chalmers shall offer education of the highest quality, whose content, format and goals are attractive and relevant to students, teachers and future employers. An orientation decision has now been made on how this will be done.
“It feels really good that we now have a plan for how the range of education is to be developed in a wise and coordinated way,” says Jörgen Blennow, Vice President for Education and Lifelong Learning. These are issues that we have discussed within the university for several years, but have now taken a comprehensive approach to.
On 27 November, the President made an orientation decision that tasks Jörgen Blennow, as Vice President, to work for a number of changes and inquiries concerning Chalmers' range of courses and programmes. A specific focus is on the Bachelor of Science in Engineering programmes (högskoleingenjör) and the relationship between closely related programmes.
Some important governing components in this context are the university's vision and long-term strategy, a unified campus at Johanneberg and the undergraduate education organisation's own vision work.
"Our students who attend the programmes today will not be affected by any changes in the range of courses and programmes that the orientation decision may lead to in the long run – they will of course be able to complete the programme they started," says Jörgen Blennow.
Each program should stand on its own
“The basic prerequisite for our Bachelor of Science in Engineering programmes must be that they have a BSc working life-oriented character in their structure and implementation, in a way that makes the students want to take them as such. This normally means that students enter working life after graduation. The programmes must stand on their own, fill a concrete need that is not covered by other types of programmes and be profiled towards an industry with a clear need for the skills of Bachelors of Science in Engineering. Like all programmes, they must also be attractive enough to attract a high number of students,” Jörgen Blennow emphasises.
It is worth noting that several of Chalmers' Bachelor of Science in Engineering programmes (högskoleingenjör) over the years have become increasingly similar to the first three years of the corresponding Master of Science in Engineering programmes (civilingenjör). This is one of the things that the orientation decision is intended to remedy.
In the same way, the basic prerequisite for Chalmers' Master of Science in Engineering programmes should be that they have their own distinctive character that does not exist within the framework of any other programme.
Moving towards fewer but larger programmes
Students who choose Chalmers are ambitious, and many want to enter a master's programme after completing their BSc Engineering studies. But the question is how resource-efficient it is to have several paths for students to achieve similar goals; to leave the university with a five-year education in their subject area.
“A prominent university conducts education in a way that is resource-efficient,” says Jörgen Blennow. “This orientation means that we will move towards fewer but larger programmes. The number of courses will decrease at the same time as we want to maintain, or probably increase, the number of full-time equivalent students.”
New programmes on a unified campus
The timetable for many of the changes in the educational offering, that will now be investigated, has been coordinated with the decision to gather all Chalmers students at campus Johanneberg. In the autumn semester of 2025, several revised MSc Engineering programmes/BSc Engineering programmes are planned to be launched, which will then receive their first students on a unified campus. Logistically, it has many advantages to make this change in connection with the campus relocation.
“We are also about to investigate exciting opportunities to create new Bachelor of Science in Engineering programmes,” Jörgen Blennow continues. “Not least, we will develop a proposal for a new regionally based BSc Engineering programme with a focus on electromobility, embedded electronic systems and the like. An inquiry will be started to find out if and how this can be done, founded on the existing BSc Engineering programmes Electrical Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering.”
Also, when it comes to the subject of computer engineering, there is a niche for Chalmers to offer more in-demand educational places. A proposal will be developed for a revised, more working life-oriented BSc Engineering programme that is based on today's programme in computer engineering.
The focus and future of maritime education will also be investigated, but outside the framework of this orientation decision.
Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering programme to be discontinued
One of the changes in the educational offering will take effect already from 2024. In parallel with the orientation decision, the President has decided, based on a separate investigation and impact assessment, that the BSc Chemical Engineering programme (TIKEL) will be phased out. The last admission took place in the autumn semester of 2023. The programme has had a low number of applicants for several years and only few students have graduated. Current students on the programme are not affected and can complete their education. The students will shortly receive further information about this from the programme management.
The orientation decision in brief
New programmes that will be developed from existing programmes, until the autumn semester of 2025
- Based on the existing Master of Science in Engineering programmes TKKMT Chemical Engineering and TKKEF Chemical Engineering with Engineering Physics, develop a new cohesive Master of Science in Engineering programme starting in the autumn semester 2025
- TKBIO Bioengineering (which to a large extent co-teach with the programmes TKKMT Chemical Engineering and TKKEF Chemical Engineering with Engineering Physics) will be reworked within the framework of the current programme and will start in a developed format in the autumn semester 2025 with specialisations in multicellular organisms (specifically humans) and single-celled organisms and industrial bioengineering.
- Based on the existing programmes TKMAS Mechanical Engineering (civilingenjör) and TIMAL Mechanical Engineering (högskoleingenjör), develop a new program starting in the autumn semester 2025. The possibility for students to obtain a degree of MSc in Engineering or a degree of BSc in Engineering will be specifically investigated.
- Based on the existing programs TKDES Industrial Design Engineering (civilingenjör) and TIDSL Product Design Engineering (högskoleingenjör), develop a new program starting in the autumn semester 2025. The possibility for students to obtain a degree of MSc in Engineering or a degree of BSc in Engineering will be specifically investigated.
Programmes to be further investigated
- Develop a proposal for a new regionally based Bachelor of Science in Engineering programme with a focus on electromobility/embedded electronic systems/electric drive systems/autonomous systems originating in the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and TIMEL Mechatronics Engineering programmes, and, as an alternative, investigate the consequences of a discontinuation of the two programmes and transferring educational places to related programmes. The investigations will consider the possibility for other higher education institutions to take over the programmes.
- Develop a proposal for a further development of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering programme TIEPL Industrial Management and Production Engineering with stronger elements of production engineering, and, as an alternative, investigate the consequences of a discontinuation of the programme and transferring educational places to related programmes. The investigation will consider the possibility for other higher education institutions to take over the education.
- Develop a proposal for a revised, more working life-oriented Bachelor of Science in Engineering programme in computer engineering based on TIDAL Computer Engineering and with an increased number of places.