CSE Program at ETH Zurich: Are we doing the right thing?

Abstract

In 1997 a new interdisciplinary program to obtain a Diploma (M.S.) in CSE was started at the ETH Zurich. It is a two and a half years program for students with a two years background in different fields such as electrical or mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, computerscience and mathematics. We give the design principles of this new program and the ways how these are implemented. The focus is on science and engineering and not on computing for the sake of it, and on the ability to be able to work in teams. The curriculum has been built mostly on existing courses and is therefore operating on low costs. We discuss the resulting technical problems. The curriculum has attracted few but excellent students. After 4 years of operation we review the past experiences and discuss the future development.