Flemish physics is tops

Areview of Flemish physics programs at the pre-PhD level found them to be internationally competitive. Requested by the semiautonomous government of Flanders, the review assessed physics at the five Flemish universities; the counterpart French-language universities are overseen by a different government body. The results of the review are eing used in accreditation decisions, a new requirement for Flemish universities.

In addition to high praise, the review also dished out recommendations for improvements. Chief among them was more regional and international exchange of students. This would be helped, the review says, by using English in master’s degree programs.

The low number of incoming physics students—an average of 59 a year from 1999 through 2004—has been “a very serious problem,” and the number of female faculty is “depressingly low,” says Jan Sengers of the University of Maryland, College Park, who chaired the review. He notes that the recent switch by Flemish universities to the bachelor’s–master’s system, in accord with the Bologna Declaration (see Physics Today, May 2001, page 21 ), is likely to attract more students, as occurred in both Denmark and the Netherlands.