Since 1992, the universities of Bern, Neuchâtel, and Fribourg have been involved in a network called BeNeFri, whose goal is the coordination of the programs at those universities. The network was developed over many years, and current practice allows students to easily take individual courses at the universities in the network while enrolled in a program of study at one of the universities.
In autumn 2010, the new Swiss Joint Master of Science in Computer Science starts. It constitutes a larger and structurally improved program compared to the current master’s programs available at the individual universities, even when they are combined with the possibilities offered by the BeNeFri network, and will better support both specialization and diversification. However, since the program is new, some administrative aspects will still be under modification in the autumn 2010 semester, but will be stabilized in the next year.
In the future, studying for the Swiss Joint Master of Science in Computer Science will feel like studying at one university that is spread over a large and comfortable university campus called Bern-Neuchâtel-Fribourg. In particular, students will no longer be bothered with heterogeneous administration, or have to cope with coordinating courses and schedules themselves.