The PDCS master program at VU University Amsterdam

The PDCS master programat VU University Amsterdam

The PDCS master program at VU University Amsterdam 1 / 17

Amsterdam

Bustling international city, capital ofthe Netherlands

Renowned cultural, scientific andcommercial center

Over 50 museums

Many restaurants, excellent shopping,friendly bars

Extensive public transport network

English widely spoken


Campus

Compact campus in south-westAmsterdam

All amenities within walking distance

In the fastest growing economic regionof the Netherlands

Excellent transport connections

20 minutes from the historic city centre

8 minutes from the Schiphol airport

Vibrant Romanian community (3Romanians researchers in the ComputerSystems group, many more masterstudents)


Short Track Master: one master, two degrees

Spend your final study year atVU University Amsterdam

Get a double degree

You can choose from a widevariety of courses

You will improve your positionin the labor market

You will gain internationalexperience


Special masters program: PDCS

Andrew Tanenbaum

Goal: prepare for PhD studies

Highly systems oriented:I Operating systemsI Computer networksI Distributed systemsI Network securityI Parallel & Grid computing

Very international students:I India, PakistanI US, Canada, Venezuela, IcelandI Europe


Study program overview

Hardworking students

1st year: at UPB

2nd year: strong focus on researchI Research seminars – studying &

presenting scientific papersF Read some of the best recent

research papers in the domainF Prepare difficult presentations,

improve your presentation skillsF Debate the presented topics

I Research proposal writing – the realthing

F Prepare your own proposalF Have it evaluated by your peersF Evaluate proposals from fellow

studentsF Learn to argue about good and bad

proposals


2nd-year program overview

Mandatory:I Sep-Oct: Advanced topics in distributed systemsI Nov-Dec: Advanced topics in computer and network securityI Nov-Dec: Research proposal writingI Jan-Jun: Master project

Plus at least one course out of:I Sep-Oct: Coding and complexityI Sep-Oct: Evolutionary computingI Sep-Dec: Performance analysis of communication networksI Nov-Dec: Computer GraphicsI Nov-Jan: Parallel programming practicalI Feb-Mar: Distributed algorithmsI Anytime: Selected topics in parallel and distributed systems


Master projects

Master projects are directly linked with our own research

Examples of projects from last yearI Data placement in a scalable transactional data storeI Aggregate queries in NoSQL Cloud data storesI P2P social networkingI Impact of security techniques on BGP performanceI Distributed Model Checking of JVM BytecodeI Fast TCP on StreamlineI Reverse engineering of data structuresI Record, replay and attack detection for normal Linux processesI Etc.


Meet the team

Andrew Tanenbaum (full professor)I Operating system security (Minix)I RFID-based systems

Henri Bal (full professor)I Support for parallel programmingI Parallel applications

Maarten van Steen (full professor)I Large-scale decentralized systemsI Peer-to-peer systemsI Extreme wireless ad-hoc networks


Meet the team

Herbert Bos Bruno Crispo Thilo Kielmann Guillaume Pierre Spyros Voulgaris

Herbert Bos: reverse engineering of stripped binaries

Bruno Crispo: network security, secure sensor networks

Thilo Kielmann: programming support for computing grids & clouds

Guillaume Pierre: scalable Web hosting, cloud computing

Spyros Voulgaris: P2P, sensor networks


Facilities

DAS4: our wide-area distributed clustercomputer

I 5 sites across the NetherlandsI 200 dual-quad-core compute nodesI GPUsI Insanely fast networks (10 Gb/s between

clusters thanks to dedicated light paths)

Fun part: you get to use it


Career prospects

90% of students complete studies in two years

Virtually all PDCS students graduate with honorsI Only 10% of regular computer science students manage to accomplish

this

90% of students are offered PhD positionsI VU, INRIA, EPFL, ETH Zurich, Georgia Tech, Waterloo, etc.

Lots of job opportunitiesI On graduation date, 100% of our students have a job that matches

their qualification


Admission criteria

A solid grounding in Computer Science,especially computer architecture, com-puter networking, operating systems, dis-tributed systems.


Financial matters

Tuition fees: 1713 e/year

Cost of living: ∼ 1000 e/month(including accommodation)

VUFP fellowships available: 5500 e

Research assistant jobs:∼ 500 e/month

If you have a job ≥ 8 hours/week:you can apply for an extra grantand/or loan

Without a job you can apply for aloan


Application procedure

You will need a formal approval fromthe coordinator stating that you havebeen selected for the Short TrackMaster

A completed application form, a formwith a list of completed courses, a proofof proficiency in English

In April, the Examination board willdecide which applicants get admitted.Applicants will be notified by Mayabout the result of their application andscholarship

Deadlines:I VU Fellowship program: March 1stI PDCS enrollment: April 1st


VU starter’s kit

We will arrange for you:I HousingI VisaI Residence permit

International student association: ESN-VUniverse

A mentor to answer all your questions


More information

http://pdcs.vu.nl

Ms. Greetje Gorens(official matters)

[email protected]

Dr. Corina Stratan(Romanian postdoc)[email protected]


[email protected]

[email protected]

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The PDCS master program at VU University Amsterdam

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