Structure and Aim of the ETH Certificate Programme in Computer Science

The ETH certificate programme in computer science provides a challenging in-depth training in an area chosen by the student according to his or her field of interest. Usually, five courses are chosen out of a pool of some 80 possible courses (so called focus courses, elective courses, or seminars) offered by the Department of Computer Science in its Master programme (4th year). Focus courses and elective courses are the most advanced courses offered by the department's faculty, usually in a 12-month cycle. Typically, those courses consist of two or three hours of lectures and one or two hours of exercises per week during one 14 week term plus corresponding exams.

The Certificate Programme in Computer Science is regulated by the Reglement 2010.

An all-encompassing array of focus and elective courses - not just for full-time students.

The advanced nature of the focus and elective courses is the result of their positioning in the curriculum of computer science students of ETH Zurich. As a part of the master studies, they require knowledge of the fundamentals of computer science as taught in the bachelor's program. The computer science faculty offers some 80 focus and elective courses (roughly 40 each semester). These are not only open to full-time students. Certificate programme students are also entitled to compose their programme from this pool of courses. The credit point system that has been in place since 1993 allows different combinations.

The Certificate Programme results in a ETH Certificate

Upon successful completion of a course or seminar, students obtain ECTS credit points (typically between 4 and 7 for a course and 2 for a seminar). An official "ETH Certificate in Computer Science" (with grades) requires a minimum of 20 ECTS credit points which must be acquired within either one or two terms (part-time).

Requirements for admission

Registration in the Certificate Programme is only open to persons who have a Bachelor or an equivalent degree of a recognized university/college plus knowledge in Computer Science at least on the level of the compulsory major course (obligatorisches Fach der Vertiefung) of the corresponding specialization area. Those without this background in Computer Science must take the appropriate compulsory major course and pass an exam to qualify.