The BICS Challenge is aimed at all high school students (15–18 years), and is offered both nationally and internationally. Its principle is simple: Each participant is asked to submit a presentation that illustrates their solution to a specific “challenge” chosen by the student on the website. In total, four subjects are proposed to the participants: the invention and illustration of a design for a new model of drone; an explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of JavaScript; the development of a model for a mobile application operated within a driver-less car and lastly, the definition, illustration and critique of the Turing test. “Students really do have a choice. The objective is to avoid limiting them in the development of their project, so as to awaken their creativity to the maximum, ” says Professor Nicolas Guelfi, director of the BICS study program. Participants need to submit their presentation online by 5 February 2018.

Requirements

Projects may be submitted in one of the following languages: Luxembourgish, French, German, or English. The evaluation will focus on the creative and pedagogical aspects of the presentation, as well as the student’s ability to handle scientific subjects and digital technologies. Publication of the results is scheduled for 1 June 2018. Several prizes will be awarded for the best challenge presentations at a ceremony planned for the end of June 2018.

BICS: A new academic bachelor’s degree in computer science

The BICS challenge is part of the launch of the University of Luxembourg’s new study program: The “Bachelor in Computer Science (Academic)” (BICS). Thus, there are various degree courses making their debut in the 2017–2018 academic year at the Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication (FSTC), on the Belval campus (Esch-sur-Alzette). Students who have completed the various courses will be able to continue their studies with a master’s degree in science which will qualify them for high-level positions as engineers with multi-lingual companies.