Admissions – Undergraduates
The Department of Communication Systems Engineering (CSE) was established in 1996 in order to answer the growing need of the Israeli hi-tech industry for communication engineers which are experts in all aspects of the system and the technology in the domain of networking and communications. The CSE department in Ben Gurion University is the only department in Israel that is devoted to the field of communication systems alone. This fact is reflected in the unique academic programs for both undergraduate (B.Sc.) and graduate (M.Sc. and Ph.D.).
The Mission of the CSE department is to produce engineers and researchers that can lead the area of communications and networking to new heights, identify and invent new technologies, and define the future.
Why study Communication Systems Engineering?
The department’s curriculum provides the graduates with a profound understanding of all aspects of communications systems, including software, hardware, and technologies. The curriculum covers a variety of topics, including a solid basis in physics, electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, and industrial engineering. Due to this ample basis, our graduates can then easily choose their favorite aspects which are related to communications systems (even during their undergraduate studies), and dig deeper into these topics.
The undergraduate studies in Communicatoin Systems Engineering are very intensive, and require a high level of commitment and dedication. Dealing with the demanding curriculum prepares our graduates for dealing with the intensive nature of the hi-tech world. This demonstrated ability of our graduates makes them extremely popular in the industry (see a recent employment survey, and also find out what our graduates have to say about the department).
What’s in the department?
Our faculty consists of 11 senior academic staff, who teach most of the courses given by the department. Many of our faculty are young enthusiastic researchers and teachers, and the department hails the fact that our staff’s doors are always open, both literally and conceptually.
The department has several teaching labs which are available for student usage at any time, as well as several research labs where our faculty and graduate students perform their research. These labs are also where our undergraduate students perform their final 4th year project, under the guidance of one of our faculty.
The department works in close collaborate with various industrial partners, both in joint research projects, and also in employing our graduates. Furthermore, some of the 4th year projects are done in collaboration with the industry. Among the companies the department works with one can find:
ECI • Rad • Pelephone • Checkpoint • Audio Codes • Cellcom • IBM • Elbit • Freescale • Runcom • Infineon • Nice • El-Op • Tadiran Communications • Sun • Scopus • Texas Instruments • Bigband • Comverse • Motorola • Cisco • Intel • Allot Communications • Avaya • Seabridge • RadLan • Montilio • Gilat Satellites • MaxTech Networks • Go Networks • EZchip • DiskSites.
What about an excellence program and graduate studies?
The department has a unique excellence program, which targets the best students in every year. The students in the program are assigned a mentor among our faculty starting from day one, and are entitled to a personalized curriculum in their last years of studies. In addition, the students of the program receive a laptop for their usage during their studies, and also attend special seminars.
Students in their 4th year with excellent standings can enroll in the direct track for an M.Sc., in which they start their graduate studies towards a master’s thesis during their 4th year. The program’s goal is to enable the participating students to obtain an M.Sc. within 5 years from starting their undergraduate studies.
A substantial part of the students in the department goes on to graduate studies, in pursuing an M.Sc. or a Ph.D. diploma, and work on research projects under the guidance and supervision of our faculty.
What does one study?
The topics covered in the department’s curriculum are divided into years as follows:
First and second year: Basic studies in engineering, including mathematics, physics, computer science and electrical engineering. Basic courses in communication systems.
Third and Fourth year: Unique studies which cover various aspects of communication systems, including advanced networking, digital communications, distributed algorithms, information theory, operating systems, network programming, wave propagation, optical networks, network optimization, wireless networks, multimedia in networks.
During the fourth year, our students also performs a final project, which enables getting a hands-on experience in a communication systems engineering task, and gives them a chance to incorporate many of the topics covered during their studies.
Further details regarding our undergraduate program can be found in the department’s almanac.
What are the research areas addressed by the department?
The research areas covered by our faculty span the full range of topics relevant to communication systems and technology and include among others:
Wave propagation · wireless networks · mobile communications · switching architechtures · network processors · distributed communication systems · network management · video and multimedia in networks · sensor networks · ad-hoc networks · Quality-of-Service in networks · information theory and coding · data mining and data representation
How to I register?
The major source of information is the university’s registration site.
In order to be admitted a candidate must have a combined registration grade above a certain threshold. If at any point in time during the registration period your grade is above the threshold – you’re in. If at a later time the threshold increases, you’re still in.
You got admitted? Congratulations (and good luck)!! You can find more information in the admitted candidate brochure.
What’s there to do other than study?
In addition to being a place where you study, Ben Gurion University is known as a place that’s fun to be in. Various options are available in the University (and around) for leisure, sports, and entertainment. A good source of information about these activities is the university’s student’s associations.