Undergraduate Education in ECE School


The high level of studies offered at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) is on par with that of leading European Technical Universities, while NTUA diplomas are essentially equivalent to M.Sc. and MEng. Degrees of Technical Universities in Europe and overseas. The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) maintains a tradition of attracting excellent students, offering them high quality undergraduate and postgraduate studies with an emphasis on scientific principles that enable technological advancements. Our students’ education is supported by a five-year undergraduate program consisting of two periods of study. The first period (core) lasts five semesters and builds the essential background and basic knowledge of all subjects of ECE through a set of mandatory courses. The second period lasts four semesters and provides in-depth mastery within the broad spectrum of knowledge of ECE. It is organized into streams of thematically relevant courses, that is, sets of courses that comprise a wider scientific and educational module and are combined to compose the four fields of concentration of the diploma (Electronics and Systems, Communications, Information Technology, Energy). Students’ education is completed with the preparation of the diploma thesis during the last (10th) semester of study. The diploma thesis is an extensive assignment, in which students complete their studies and demonstrate their ability to manage and confront independent projects relevant to the ECE field. In 1995 the School’s undergraduate program was radically restructured, with the introduction of course-streams organized in four concentration fields. This was a pioneering decision that set a paradigm for engineering curricula nationally. The course-streams system offers a wide range of specialization/concentration choices. Students have the opportunity to select courses with flexibility, concentrating οn specific subjects of interest while building their own academic profile, since the same concentration can be fulfilled by different course combinations. In all subsequent curriculum revisions, the core maintains a central role, aligned with the School’s strategic choice for offering an integrated diploma.

  • Core courses are taught during the first five semesters and are common to all students.
  • Stream courses are selected by students according to their preferred concentration field.

All courses are divided into mandatory, elective and optional.

  • Mandatory courses are foundation courses that provide students with the necessary ECE knowledge background and enable them to formulate their decisions on their preferred concentration field.
  • Elective courses are advanced courses that enable students to fulfill the concentration/specialization of their choice and excel in their selected areas of interest.
  • Optional courses may be chosen freely by students who wish to broaden their knowledge in various topics.

Τhis integrated undergraduate studies program constitutes a strategic choice of the School as it successfully encompasses a wide range of the ECE knowledge background and provides a broad spectrum of professional activities. European Universities offer similarly structured programs of study that are known as Integrated Master of Electrical and Computer Engineering (MEng ECE). Throughout the undergraduate years, extensive laboratory training, teamwork, research projects, and, on occasion, non-mandatory internships, engage students with fundamental principles and techniques of design and analysis, as well as various applications, in a diverse range of ECE areas. Moreover, as students advance in more complex and demanding subjects, they enrich their educational experiences and acquire skills to contribute in novel and innovative ways in research and development.

For more information, you can consult the School’s Guidebook.

Program of Studies

Scholarships


Each year, several Institutions award Scholarships to students and graduates of NTUA. Scholarships may address NTUA in general or only specific NTUA schools, e.g. School of ECE.

Rules and procedures to award Scholarships

Applicants for a scholarship are ranked in an order of merit, according to their academic performance in the current academic year. In particular, each applicant is ranked according to his/her aggregate mark in the running academic year. The following rules apply:

  1. The student is registered for current academic year courses.
  2. The student has successfully passed at least 12 courses per year. In the 9th semester particularly, the student is required to have successfully passed 5 courses.
  3. The student has successfully passed:
    • mandatory courses, as listed in the school’s program and/or
    • mandatory stream courses, including the semesters of the academic year for which scholarship ranking is being calculated.

Internship Program


The Internship Program is integrated as an elective course in the 8th semester of the School’s undergraduate program and aims at:

  • Facilitating consolidation of theoretical and laboratory knowledge through its implementation on a professional level.
  • Familiarizing students with the current status in the ECE professional field.
  • Promoting and enhancing students’ skills as well as broadening their subjects of interest.

The framework of the internship program consists of the following main points:

  1. Internship is optional and lasts between 6 and 12 weeks. The selection of students is based mainly on their grades.
  2. Students who are eligible to participate in an internship program must be registered in the 8th semester of study.
  3. Supervising Professors have the scientific responsibility for the internship program; the number of supervisors is proportional to that of intern students.
  4. Upon completion of the internship, it is the intern’s responsibility to deliver a report that is submitted to the Supervising Professor and remains at the disposal of the School. The internship can be completed in organizations and companies in the public or private sectors as well as in Greek or European research centers. The financing is covered by the regular budget in accordance with the current legislation for internship programs in Greece. For internship programs in laboratories or companies abroad, financing is derived from European programs, such as the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) and ERASMUS+.