Programme

The academic year is divided into two semesters.  At the start of the first semester there is a period of three weeks with contact courses alternately at Ghent  University  and the Maritime Academy.  These three weeks are followed by a 6-week period during which the students could  follow/take distance learning courses by the internet or work on his/her field training.  This period ends with a revision week and a two week examination period.  These distance courses are available to the students by the internet and they follow/take these courses at their own rhythm. An overview of the courses and their contents could  be find here.

The Field Training is a practical training  the students need  to accomplish in different companies (for at least 90 days).  During the Field Training, the student should  prove his/her progression by personal reports and the Training Record Book. This record book is provided by the IVH and will help the student to plan and register his/her Field Training; it is an important document to evaluate whether the student achieved the goals defined for the Field Training. Students could  execute their Field Training during the academic year and if needed  pursue it (also after having  passed their examinations). There are two moments when students could present their  accomplishments on the Field Training (the end of September and beginning of January).

The second semester starts immediately after the examination period of the first semester with one week contact courses, followed by a time period of 14 weeks (including the Easter Holidays).  During this period, the student has to follow the remaining distance learning courses on their own rhythm and they could  also carry out a part of their  Field Training.

This period of 14 weeks is followed by a four- week period of Integrated Fieldwork.  The Integrated Fieldwork consists of visits to  different organizations involved in hydrography (public and private ones) and training on ships and simulators. The Integrated Fieldwork includes also a two- week period of surveying (hydrographic and adjacent terrestrial) of the coastal zone, a dock or a lake in Belgium (or abroad), followed by processing and reporting on  the collected data. The trainees will be challenged with all kinds of field situations in which they will have to demonstrate that they have acquired the necessary knowledge to solve problems on the field (2 weeks). The Integrated Fieldwork is one of the regular courses of the education programme with a quotation based on the fieldwork (and the reports the students will have to submit and present).

The Integrated Fieldwork is followed by a two- week study period and three weeks of final examinations.

The successful accomplishment of the theoretical courses of the Postgraduate Hydrography B programme (including the Integrated Fieldwork) and the accomplishment of the Field Training (including a  successful defense during the (September or January) session of the Examination Board), will make it possible/will enable to issue the certificate Hydrography Cat. B, recognized by the ISBC, to the candidate.