Higher Education in Biology in Belgium
A. within the French Community of Belgium
Gisèle Van de Vyver, Université Libre de Bruxelles
1.
Introduction
University biological studies in the French Community of Belgium are
organized into three cycles. Each cycle leads to a degree which is indispensable for gaining admission to the next cycle.
The 1st cycle ‘Les candidatures’ requires two years of study. Students
receive not only a broad basic education in Biology but also in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Earth Science.
The diploma of ‘Candidat en Biologie’ is awarded at the end of the second year.
The 2d cycle ‘Les licences’ lasts two or three years depending on the university. It provides specific training in the chosen discipline and involves
the presentation of a thesis called ‘mémoire’ based on laboratory or field
personal research.
The diploma of ‘licencié’ which roughly corresponds to the B. Sc. is
awarded at the end of this cycle. Concurrently with the second cycle, a
teacher training certificate can be taken.
At the end of this cycle, the students must be able either to join a professional life, or to begin a specialization.
The 3th cycle is spread over one or two years of study depending on the
study chosen. This cycle can be independent or can be combined with a
PhD lasting about four years.
The 3th cycles are presently very heterogenous, but all of them include
advanced courses or a strong training in research work.
The third cycles prepare to an academic career or a highly specialized professional one.
Biology in the sense of a full cursus is taught at five universities belonging
to the French Community; namely:
the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
the Université de Liège (ULg)
the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL)
the Université de Mons-Hainaut (UMH)
the Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP).
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Gisèle Van de Vyver
For all the universities, the requirement for admission as a student is the
diploma obtained after the final examination of the secondary education.
There is no other requirement and no numerus clausus.
Equivalent European diplomas from secondary schools give the same possibilities to enter the French- Speaking Universities as the Belgian students.
The university fees are identical for the five universities. They amount
about 770 Ecus annually.
The number of students arriving to universities to study biology as a
major is at present 450 to 500 annually.
French is the effective language of teaching at least for the first and the
second cycles. Nevertheless, starting from the beginning of the University studies, most of the books recommended as references are written in
English.
Moreover, at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the students are allowed
to follow a first year in Sciences completely taught in English, whereas in
the Université catholique de Louvain and in the Facultés universitaires de
Namur, students have to follow a sixty hours course of English during the
first year.
Remark: in the present report, Biology is defined in a traditional way. The
applied biology taught in Faculties of Agriculture or in the Faculty of
medicine of the ULB will not be reviewed.
All departments of Biology, including most of the time Biochemistry are
part of the Faculties of Science. The university departments are extremely
free in the choice of the content of education.
2.
Studies in Biology
2.1. First cycle (candidatures)
To a large extent, the basic training corresponding to the first year of candidature is very similar in the five universities of the French Community.
If some variability exists, it mainly concerns the ratio between theoretical and practical teaching.
An overview in terms of number of theory and practicals for each course
is given in table 1.
Obviously, all the universities attach much importance to give their students a strong background in basic sciences (Mathematics including Statistics and Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry including Organic
Chemistry).
During the first year, the amount of non-biological courses reaches an
average of 42% (see table 2). Such option is fully justified because Biology
being more and more a multidisciplinary field, it is necessarily based on
advanced concepts in many topics.
Higher Education in Biology in the French Community of Belgium 97
The courses directly related to biology mainly consist in an introduction
to advanced topics. They give an overview of Cell Biology, Genetics,
Zoology and Botany.
During the second year, the ratio of biological courses increases, reaching
65 to 70%, but their content is a continuation of the general basic curriculum.
During the first cycle, all the courses are compulsory.
2.2. Second cycle (Licences)
Regarding to the large diversity of the topics covered by the current Biology, the second cycle curriculum is much more heterogenous according to
the specificities and the particular strengths of each university.
Legally, the second cycle in Biology leads to two types of degree: the ‘licence en Zoologie’ and the ‘licence en Botanique’. The students have to
choose their orientation at the starting point of the second cycle. Nevertheless negotiations are in progress to fuse both orientations in an unique
‘licence en Biologie’ offering a common compulsory part and some
optional courses e;g. Molecular and Cellular Biology, Organismic and
Population Biology,…
Presently, each university has its own organization, particularly at the
level of the first licence.
In the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the compulsory courses of the former
first licence in Zoology and first licence in Botany have been pooled and
divided into six modules (Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Genetics, Ecology and Ethology, Morphology, Physiology, Taxonomy and Biogeography).
Each student has to choose a total of 800 hours of teaching corresponding
to 60 ECTS, with at least one course (theory + practicals) in each module.
In the Université catholique de Louvain, all the students in Biology have to
take 345 hours of compulsory common courses and 375 optional hours either
in Molecular and Cellular Biology or in Organismic and Population Biology.
In the Université de Liège, the complete splicing between Zoology and Botany is still effective. Moreover, an additional orientation: namely Biochemistry is available. Within each of these three lines, the students have to follow
345 hours of compulsory common courses and about 375 optional courses.
In the Université de Mons-Hainaut and the Facultés universitaires de
Namur, a first licence in Zoology, only is available. All the courses are
compulsory. In Mons, the largest part of the courses is oriented in the
field of Organismic Biology.
Taking into account the large diversity of fields covered by the current
Biology, the splicing between compulsory and optional courses, when it
exists, gives the students the opportunity to benefit from a good overview
of Biology and simultaneously to initiate some specialization which will
be developed during the following year.
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Gisèle Van de Vyver
Moreover, thanks to its flexibility, this new formula fits particularly well
with the ERASMUS programme, since it makes the mobility of students
much more easy to organize and it makes more obvious the academic recognition of a stay abroad.
The general idea behind the structure of the 2d licence (or the 2d and the
3st licences when occurring) is that ‘the best way to learn science is to do
science’.
Consequently, the last year of the undergraduate studies includes participation in an actual research project which culminates in the preparation
and presentation of a thesis, called ‘mémoire’.
The time devoted to this work roughly corresponds to one semester. The
basic curriculum of the other semester consists in a selection of advanced
courses.
The compulsory character of the ‘mémoire’ aims to give the students
experimental methods and technics through active participation in
research including verbal and written presentation of research results.
The high diversity of the biological topics results in a specialization of
most of the universities in function of the staff available. In none of the
universities can the whole panel of topics be offered to the students. However the choice could be largely opened to other fields through cooperation between universities having complementary cursus.
Presently, more and more students are taking advantage of this possibility
and are going abroad, in the frame of an ERASMUS network to realize their
mémoire.
3.
Assessment of the students in the 1st and the
2d cycles
Every year, students have to present written and oral examinations for
each course. Theoretically, all the examinations have to be open to the
public.
Each course is quoted in a 0 to 20 system.
In the global assessment of the whole year, variations exist from university to university or even within one university from one department to
another. But roughly, a student fails when he does not reach a global average of 10 or if he has two or more courses with a mark lower than ten.
At the end of the fourth year, the mémoire has to be written and defended
orally in front of the relevant board of teaching staff. The marks devoted
to the thesis form a substantial part of the final year results.
For each year, the grades that may be attributed to the students who succeeded their examinations are: Satisfaction, Distinction, Grande Distinction and la plus Grande Distinction.
If a student is failing the two annual examination sessions (June and
August), he has to register for the same teaching year in the following aca-
Higher Education in Biology in the French Community of Belgium 99
demic year. Nevertheless, he may obtain some exemptions from courses
where he got excellent results.
4.
Post graduate studies (3st cycle)
Due to the extend of the cursus, graduates can obtain employment in a
variety of fields but presently most of them continue their training either
by preparing a PhD or by following during one or two years a specialized
teaching, more directly turned to professional needs.
4.1. Preparation of a PhD
The graduate students have the possibility to complete their training by a
thesis leading to a PhD degree. Two public organisms support PhD students by attributing grants.
The FNRS (Fond National de la Recherche Scientifique) which grants the
students according to the excellence of their marks during the B. Sc. and a
written presentation of an original research programme.
The IRSIA (Institut pour l’Encouragement de la Recherche Scientifique
dans l’Industrie et l’Agriculture) which grants the students according to
the presentation of a written research programme and its oral defence in
front of a interuniversity board.
The grants conceded by both organisms cover to a maximum four years
with an annual assessment. People nominated at the University for a
teaching function have concurrently to prepare a PhD, but they dispose of
six years instead of four.
Doctoral studies are not organized in terms of a curriculum comparable to
that of the basic and advanced studies; a large freedom is given to each
university to organize the PhD preparation. Doctoral students are supposed to devote themselves to their research. However, in some universities, a preparation programme consisting in advanced courses is
requested before the candidate is allowed to defend his thesis.
In the French Community of Belgium, it is now very usual that PhD students spend some time abroad to elaborate part of their thesis in a laboratory having a good know how in some fields poorly developed in their
home university.
Obviously such tradition, which was exceptional, less than ten years ago,
is highly encouraged by the existence of the ERASMUS programmes and
networks.
The general assessment of a PhD thesis is made by a jury of at least five
staff members. Nevertheless, most of the time, one or two members
external to the institution and generally belonging to another EU university are invited to join the board as expert.
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Gisèle Van de Vyver
After the oral defence of the thesis in front of the jury, the students are
proclaimed ‘Doctor in Science’ with one of the four possible grades: Satisfaction, Distinction, Grande Distinction, La plus Grande Distinction.
4.2. Advanced studies (Masters)
Since presently, there is no official reglementation of the teaching curriculum at the Master level a great heterogeneity exists between the universities and even within a define university. The types of Masters proposed
are mainly related to the particular strengths of each university. The various fields of study, the wide range of programmes offered and the different
degrees available (licences spéciales, DEA = diplôme d’études approfondies, certificates) have a number of appealing advantages in that graduate
students may for instance concurrently have a job and follow a specialized training.
5.
Teacher training certificate
The B.Sc. opens the door to teacher profession at the level of secondary
schools and high schools. However, to be allowed to teach, the bachelors
have to follow an additional training.
The certificate of ‘Agrégé de l’Enseignement secondaire supérieur’ is
awarded on the basis of methodology and pedagogy courses, and practical
stages given to students of secondary schools.
6.
Number of students
Tables 3 and 4 describe for two consecutive academic years (1993-1994,
1944-1995) the complete population of students involved in undergraduate studies in Biology, preparing a PhD and following a teacher training.
At the B.Sc. level, during the former academic year the number of students fluctuated from 434 in the first year to 164 in the fourth one, and
during the present academic year, it passes from 416 to 149. This means
that at least for the two last years, the frequency of registered students
getting their final B.Sc. in biology reaches about 37%.
Tables 5 and 6 describe the evolution of the numbers of students in the first
year in Biology during the last decade. They clearly point out that the number of students who attempted biology studies drastically felt between
1985 and 1990. Within five years, the decrease reached about 33%.
From the beginning of the nineties, we observe a global steady state with
some fluctuations between the different universities.
Higher Education in Biology in the French Community of Belgium 101
Such distinterest seems astonishing, if we keep in mind that the key roles
played by the different fields of Biology (Biotechnology - Environment Human Biology) are increasing years after years.
Theoretically, due to the extend of their training, graduates in Biology
would be able to obtain employment in a variety of fields: e.g. fisheries,
Nature Conservancy Council, Museum work, basic research, research in
medicine, management and marketing posts…
However in Belgium, especially in the French Community, the knowhow of biologists is obviously underestimated. This misappreciation
involves great difficulties for biologists to find a job, at least in their own
field, and obviously makes the study in Biology less attractive.
Consequently, it seems to be very urgent and important to carry out a
very large assessment of the Biology studies content and their adequation
to the needs of the society in order to make clear the possibilities offered
by biological trainings.
Leading such assessment at the global level of the EU would be of course
much more significant and meaningful as if it would be made at the local
level.
7.
Future of Biology and Biologists
Biology, with its recent developments, has gained in importance for an
increasing range of topics which concern the welfare of the whole society.
Indeed, the advances in Biology are supposed to contribute to the solutions of such problems as: degradation of the environment, elimination of
human and animal diseases, increase in the needs of food,…
In regards of this situation, graduates in Biology would have the opportunity to find employments in many fields; but obviously, this is not the
case. Such discrepancy, between the potentialities offered by the advanced
Biology and their recognition, could be related to the fact that there is no
clear definition of what a biologist is, and of what he is able to do.
In the French Community of Belgium e.g., the degree delivered at the end
of the undergraduate studies in Biology is still ‘Licencié en Zoologie’ or ‘Licencié en Botanique’. Such qualification gives a false impression of the
training received, since today, in all the universities , specialization must
be understood in terms of new topics, such as environmental aspects,
molecular orientations or human biological concepts rather than in terms
of animal or plant studies.
It would certainly be of great help for graduates to suppress this obsolete
distinction between Zoology and Botany.
To answer the needs of employment, more opportunity for more students
to qualify in a specific field, including new interdisciplinary areas certainly has to be offered. But in our universities, the number of staff members,
able to teach specialized fields is limited and has even a tendency to
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Gisèle Van de Vyver
decrease. Moreover, the number of Masters which are officially recognized, that is, which receive a financial support is low and strictly limited.
The situation, I described for the universities belonging to the French
Community of Belgium is obviously not an exception. The diversity of
fields covered by Biology today increased so fast, that no university is anymore able to cover all the fields at an advanced level.
Consequently, the only way to meet the challenges for the future of biological education proceeds by the creation of coordinated programmes
into network as well at the education level as research since both are
closely related. Such programmes would be established on complementation of curricula between foreign universities at an European level.
The success of such enterprise will of course depends on a reciprocal trust
in the education quality, on academic recognition and on a large flexibility of the curricula.
The topics which will be examinated during the European Colloquium in
Evaluation in Biology, such as, importance of ECTS, interuniversity cooperation, European Masters and PhD, are certainly main elements to start a
professional training in Biology.
Higher Education in Biology in the French Community of Belgium 103
Table 1 – Curriculum of the first year in Biology in the five universities
of the French Community
NUMBERS OF HOURS
PERCENTAGES
Theory
FUN
UMH
UCL
ULG
ULB
Average
FUN
UMH
UCL
ULG
ULB
%
Average
Math.
Phys.
Chim.
Biol.
Geol.
Philo.
Psycho.
Lang.
120
150
195
370
30
52.5
30
40
90
100
130
340
75
15
0
0
120
135
135
345
45
60
0
60
55
120
100
365
45
5
0
0
165
130
160
270
60
15
0
0
110
127
144
338
51
30
6
26
12.2
15.2
19.7
37.5
3.0
5.3
3.0
4.1
12.0
13.3
17.3
45.3
10.0
2.0
0.0
0.0
13.3
15.0
15.0
38.3
5.0
6.7
0.0
6.7
8.0
17.4
14.5
52.9
6.5
0.7
0.0
0.0
20.6
16.3
20.0
33.8
7.5
1.8
0.0
0.0
13.2
15.4
17.3
41.6
6.4
3.3
0.6
2.2
Total
987.5
750
900
690
800
825
100
100
100
100
100
100
NUMBERS OF HOURS
PERCENTAGES
Practicals
FUN
UMH
UCL
ULG
ULB
Average
FUN
UMH
UCL
ULG
ULB
%
Average
Math.
Phys.
Chim.
Biol.
Geol.
Philo.
Psycho.
Lang.
82.5
79
115
288
20
22.5
0
0
105
105
120
325
0
0
0
0
75
130
174
249.5
30
0
0
0
45
120
150
341
33
0
0
0
165
110
189
260
64
0
0
0
95
109
150
293
29
5
0
0
13.6
13.0
18.9
47.4
3.3
3.7
0.0
0.0
16.0
16.0
18.3
49.6
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
11.4
19.7
26.4
37.9
4.6
0.0
0.0
0.0
6.5
17.4
21.8
49.5
4.8
0.0
0.0
0.0
20.9
14.0
24.0
33.0
8.1
0.0
0.0
0.0
13.7
16.0
21.9
43.5
4.2
0.7
0.0
0.0
Total
607
655
658.5
689
788
680
100
100
NUMBERS OF HOURS
100
100
100
100
PERCENTAGES
Total
FUN
UMH
UCL
ULG
ULB
Average
FUN
UMH
UCL
ULG
ULB
%
Average
Math.
Phys.
Chim.
Biol.
Geol.
Philo.
Psycho.
Lang.
202.5
229
310
658
50
75
30
40
195
205
250
665
75
15
0
0
195
265
309
594.5
75
60
0
60
100
240
250
7.6
78
5
0
0
330
240
349
530
124
15
0
30
205
236
294
631
80
34
6
26
12.7
14.4
19.4
41.3
3.1
4.7
1.9
2.5
13.9
14.6
17.8
47.3
5.3
1.1
0.0
0.0
12.5
17.0
19.8
38.1
4.8
3.8
0.0
3.8
7.3
17.4
18.1
51.2
5.7
0.4
0.0
0.0
20.8
15.2
22.0
33.4
7.8
0.9
0.0
0.0
13.4
15.7
19.4
42.3
5.3
2.2
0.4
1.2
1379
1588
1505
Total
1595
1405
1559
100
100
100
100
100
100
104
Gisèle Van de Vyver
Table 2 – Cursus of the first year in Biology in the five universities of
the French Community
LOI ACTUELLE
FUNDP
UCL
Notions de Philo
➀
➁
30 - 00
30 - 15
60 - 15
➁
Physique
expérimentale
➀
➁
120 - 79
30 - 00
150 - 79
➀
➁
Chimie générale
➀
135 - 60
➀
➁
➁
15 - 00
45 - 55
30 - 30
organique
Biochimie
(Cristallo.)
Informatique
➀
➁
15 - 00
75 - 85
60 - 45
135 - 130
➀
130 - 110
➀
➁
➀
45 - 60
45 - 54
45 - 60
➀
100 - 144
➀
40 - 40
➀ 90 - 90
➀
➁
30 - 00
30 - 45
30 - 15
➁ 60 - 60
➁
30 - 00
190 - 189
40 - 40
30 - 30
30 - 15
15 - 15
155 - 140
➀ 40 - 30
➁
➀
➁
➁
➁
➀
95 - 95
➀
40 - 30
➀ 60 - 60
Compléments
30 - 00
05 - 00
130 - 110
15 - 00
➀ 100 - 105
120 - 120
100 - 105
190 - 180
Proba et distr stat
Proba et stat
Stat gén & trait des donn. biostat, info
➁
➁
15 - 15
➀
➁
➁
45 - 35
30 - 10
60 - 60
30 - 15
Intr info, concepts, outils
➁
➁
30 - 15
120 - 82
90 - 88 - 4
45 - 45
120 - 75
➀
➁
22 - 15
30 - 00
➀
➁
25 - 25
165 - 165
30 - 00
60 - 88 - 2
Meth altem
Invert et syst ner
Cyto, Physio, meth alt
➁
➁
➁
75 - 90
Stages de terrain (B+Z)
➁
00 - 00 - 5
127 - 105 - 5
➀
➁
➀
➁
67 - 45
45 - 30
120 - 114 - 2
➀
➁
➁
➁
112 - 75
Géologie
Minéralogie
➀
30 - 12 - 1
30 - 12 - 1
➀
45 - 30
45 - 30
Génétique
➁
30 - 10
➁
30 - 15
Ecologie
➁
30 - 10
30 - 15
30 - 15
➁
30 - 15
30 - 15
30 - 15
Sociologie
religion
Langues
(Anglais)
➀
➀
➁
30 - 26
➁
Biol cell et vég
22 - 00 - 1
22 - 00 - 1
20 - 00
20 - 00
40 - 00
55 - 45
Lab bio marine
Biol gén et vég
105 - 60
60 - 30 - 1
➁ 30 - 45
Informatique
165 - 90 - 1
➀
➁
➁
90 - 105
➁
Immuno ➁
Compl ➁
Cyto,
➁
30 - 00
15 - 00
15 - 60
40 - 40
Physio, anat ➁45 - 30
anim
15 - 00 - 10
105 - 105 - 10
30 - 00 - 1
30 - 45 - 1
30 - 35 - 2
30 - 26
120 - 106 - 4
➀
➁
➁
60 - 40 - 3
60 - 40 - 3
➁
30 - 40 - 1
30 - 40 - 1
➀
➁
20 - 00
15 - 15
35 - 15
20 - 00 - 2
20 - 00 - 2
45 - 35
40 - 30
50 - 40
145 - 130
Gén
Bota
Bio vég
Compl
➀
➀
➁
➁
60 - 30
30 - 30
30 - 30
15 - 45
135 - 135
➁
- 75
- 75
135 - 105
➁
30 - 00
30 - 00
60 - 00
60 - 00
Options
Logique formelle
➁
30 - 00
Intr Neuropsych
➁
30 - 00
30 - 00
987 - 551 - 7*
* in days
120 - 120
➁ 15 - 00
➁
30 - 15
115 - 103 - 4
Compléments
90 - 60
➀
15 - 00
165 - 189
➀
05 - 00
➁
10
Hist ➁ 15 - 15
Botanique
30 - 00
➁
UMH
Notions de statistiques
➁
Zoologie
45 - 45
15 - 07
ULG
➁
225 - 145
Géométrie
analytique
Proba et stat
ULB
➀ = 1st semester
885 - 634 - 5*
830 - 724 - 9*
705 - 570 - 13*
➁ = 2d semester
750 - 655 - 0*
Higher Education in Biology in the French Community of Belgium 105
Table 3 – Number of students in Biology (year 1993-1994)
1st candi
2d candi
1st lic
2d lic
3d lic
Ph D
Teacher
76
142
55
67
94
434
29
44
33
15
15
170
20
37
38
41
21
21
186
27
35
15
39
13
13
164
22
47
105
82
76
*
26
26
13
31
14
*
17
17
ULB
Bio
Biochem
ULG
UCL
UMH
FUNDP
TOTAL
* non available
Table 4 – Number of students in Biology (year 1994-1995)
1st candi
2d candi
1st lic
2d lic
3d lic
Ph D
Teacher
81
138
48
58
91
416
29
40
31
10
51
161
25
31
28
38
9
33
164
27
31
16
34
18
23
149
13
36
49
89
47
46
*
10
*
13
28
11
*
20
*
ULB
Bio
Biochem
ULG
UCL
UMH
FUNDP
TOTAL
* non available
Table 5 – Evolution of the number of students in the first year in
Biology during the last decade
85/86 86/87
87/88 88/89 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95
FUNDP
122
168
90
64
160
121
114
76
69
129
108
114
61
68
116
94
126
39
63
109
82
127
53
71
75
100
126
47
76
73
86
137
44
51
69
74
158
53
63
90
76
142
55
67
94
81
138
48
58
91
Total
604
509
467
431
408
422
387
438
434
416
ULB
ULG
UCL*
UMH
* The numbers given for the UCL are underestimated, because students following the polyvalent first year in Natural Sciences are allowed to enter the second year in Biology.
106
Gisèle Van de Vyver
Table 6
F
1
F
150
F
F
1
B
F
B
F
F
1
F
B
100
F
1
B
1
B
H
H
J
H
J
B
J
1
B
1
H
J
J
H
J
H
H
B
B
J
50
86
87
88
J
H
H
H
85
1
1
B
1
J
F
B ULB
H UCL
1 FNDP
F Lg
J UMH
89
90
91
92
93
94
95