Design and Implementation of the Bachelor with Honors Program at TU Wien

This note outlines the Bachelor with Honors (BHons) program of the Faculty of Informatics at TU Wien, the very first honors program shaped according to American standards at an Austrian university. Besides the usual excellence goals of such programs, a main driver for its creation was exposing gifte...

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Main Author: Ulrich Schmid
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Honors Council 2019-11-01
Series:Journal of the European Honors Council
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jehc.eu/index.php/jehc/article/view/113
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author Ulrich Schmid
author_facet Ulrich Schmid
author_sort Ulrich Schmid
collection DOAJ
description This note outlines the Bachelor with Honors (BHons) program of the Faculty of Informatics at TU Wien, the very first honors program shaped according to American standards at an Austrian university. Besides the usual excellence goals of such programs, a main driver for its creation was exposing gifted students to scientific research very early in their academic careers to hopefully prevent them from accepting industry jobs before doing a Ph.D. Main design challenges were broad accessibility for all top students, demanding and fully transparent admission and completion rules, and dealing with severe resource constraints for running the program.  Main implementation challenges were the need to convince other Faculties at TU Wien that the BHons would not jeopardize the existing Bologna-type study programs and to overcome certain reservations against such “elite programs” in general. Substantial efforts eventually convinced the senate of TU Wien to approve the program, which was started in January 2018. Albeit still in the bootstrapping phase, we are happy to say that the program has developed very well so far.
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spelling doaj-art-55ca7df76d994f3a9484228a197c8d052025-08-20T03:33:37ZengEuropean Honors CouncilJournal of the European Honors Council2543-23112543-232X2019-11-013210.31378/jehc.113Design and Implementation of the Bachelor with Honors Program at TU WienUlrich Schmid0TU WienThis note outlines the Bachelor with Honors (BHons) program of the Faculty of Informatics at TU Wien, the very first honors program shaped according to American standards at an Austrian university. Besides the usual excellence goals of such programs, a main driver for its creation was exposing gifted students to scientific research very early in their academic careers to hopefully prevent them from accepting industry jobs before doing a Ph.D. Main design challenges were broad accessibility for all top students, demanding and fully transparent admission and completion rules, and dealing with severe resource constraints for running the program.  Main implementation challenges were the need to convince other Faculties at TU Wien that the BHons would not jeopardize the existing Bologna-type study programs and to overcome certain reservations against such “elite programs” in general. Substantial efforts eventually convinced the senate of TU Wien to approve the program, which was started in January 2018. Albeit still in the bootstrapping phase, we are happy to say that the program has developed very well so far.https://jehc.eu/index.php/jehc/article/view/113Bachelor with Honors programsBologna systemdesign challengesimplementation challenges
spellingShingle Ulrich Schmid
Design and Implementation of the Bachelor with Honors Program at TU Wien
Journal of the European Honors Council
Bachelor with Honors programs
Bologna system
design challenges
implementation challenges
title Design and Implementation of the Bachelor with Honors Program at TU Wien
title_full Design and Implementation of the Bachelor with Honors Program at TU Wien
title_fullStr Design and Implementation of the Bachelor with Honors Program at TU Wien
title_full_unstemmed Design and Implementation of the Bachelor with Honors Program at TU Wien
title_short Design and Implementation of the Bachelor with Honors Program at TU Wien
title_sort design and implementation of the bachelor with honors program at tu wien
topic Bachelor with Honors programs
Bologna system
design challenges
implementation challenges
url https://jehc.eu/index.php/jehc/article/view/113
work_keys_str_mv AT ulrichschmid designandimplementationofthebachelorwithhonorsprogramattuwien