Parallel Distributed Computer Systems

Student experiences

Some PDCS Students talk about their master

“I joined the Master’s programme in Parallel and Distributed Computer Systems after finishing my Bachelor’s degree. From the very beginning, the lectures I attended at VU University Amsterdam helped me to see the details as well as the big picture. And that after just two courses!
Freedom of choice is the key at VU University Amsterdam. In addition to taking a small number of core courses in the PDCS programme, you can choose subjects from a wide range of relevant courses that best match your own interests. What was it that attracted me to this programme? Besides my own keen interest in PDCS, it was the teaching staff, the research groups, and the great resources that did it for me. And – as I later discovered – the people at the university.”
Ana-Maria Oprescu, international Master’s student in Parallel and Distributed Computer Systems

"I've was a PDCS student at VU University Amsterdam. Currently, I am a PhD Student in the Computer Systems Group at the VU University Amsterdam. My research interests include high performance distributed computing on large collections of multi and many-core processors in clusters, grids and/or clouds - with the main focus on developing high-level programming models for such platforms. I really like the fact that the master focuses on experimental computer science. Sometimes in computer science you can not accurately predict the effects of the changes you make to a certain algorithm, for example, because the behavior of certain hardware features have not been publicly released by the manufacturer. In such cases you need to verify the behavior of your algorithms experimentally. This is exactly the kind of practical approach to solving problems that I like. 
The PDCS masters is also a very international masters program, with students from all over the world. In fact, I was the only dutch student in my year. Together with a mix of good theoretical, practical and research oriented courses, I think the PDCS program is a great preparation for students who consider pursuing a PhD after their masters."
Ben van Werkhoven, (former) dutch Master student PDCS