European Master on Software Engineering

Program Website

http://www.dlsiis.fi.upm.es/emse/

Outline

The aim of the European Master on Software Engineering is to train software engineers qualified to satisfy the current needs in the field of software development.

Software has become an extremely important component of an increasing number of the products that are output today. Development costs have shifted from hardware design and implementation to the construction of the software solution. This has uncovered the need to develop software products with satisfactory functionality and quality on time and on budget.

The European Master on Software Engineering is designed to help software engineers rise to these challenges by offering training in advanced concepts of the discipline, covering all the aspects of software development from business management to  technical and development issues.

This is a two-year programme taught in English and structured around a series of compulsory course units and optional subjects and seminars. The compulsory subjects are broad spectrum and include some advanced topics that meet software development industry demands. Also, the compulsory subjects assure a common grounding for all students. The optional subjects give students the chance to specialize in specific issues and increase their prospects with potential employers. All the subjects are designed to combine the state of the art of research and the state of the practice in industry. These issues are strengthened by the fact that the university develops cutting edge research in the fields of all the compulsory subjects in contact with major software development companies.

Students should earn 120 ECTS across four terms to qualify for the degree.

The degree programme is divided into four modules: Software Development, Project Management and Organizational Processes, Support Processes, Advanced Software Engineering Aspects, Software Project and Master Thesis.

Students are expected to complete, submit and defend a Master Thesis, an original piece of work completed individually, before a higher education board. This piece of work shall be a professional software engineering project commensurate with the competences that they have acquired throughout the course.

Software project and seminar partners

The key aim of the software project is to provide students with guidance on how to apply what they have learned in the real-world. Students complete their project in a work environment that realistically reproduces the conditions that they are likely to encounter at their future workplace.

Prospective Students

This degree targets holders of bachelor degrees in any field of informatics, as well as degree holders in disciplines related to the speciality of computation.

The minimum requirements for students to be able to follow the degree programme are as follows:

• Personal characteristics:
  • Be able to independently learn and upgrade their knowledge and identify their needs in the field of informatics.
  • Know how to work under pressure in situations where there is a shortage of information, coming up with new ideas and being creative.
  • Be able to work as part of team, organizing, planning, making decisions, negotiating and solving conflicts, relating to each other and adopting a critical and self-critical attitude.
  • Be able to take the initiative, adopt an entrepreneurial spirit, and have an ability for leadership, management, team and project management.
  • Be a good communicator, both orally and in writing, in different languages with audiences from diverse backgrounds.

• Competences:
  • Knowledge of high-level programming languages
  • Knowledge of the concepts and basic techniques of software engineering, as well as requirements engineering, and software analysis and design
  • Basic knowledge of software project management
  • English speaking and writing skills

Admission criteria

Students must have a good level of English language, so they will be required a B2 English level  from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) established by the Council of Europe, or similar (language certificates accepted as a B2 level equivalent). Should the student have completed undergraduate studies at a university where English is the regular teaching language, it will be only required a certificate of the university stating such condition. If students do not have any certification of the above, there will be a personal interview with the candidate to verify the English level.
In this way, to be admitted to the Master program, students must have either an undergraduate degree related to the area of Software Engineering or proven professional experience in Software Engineering. Otherwise, students should take the corresponding bridge courses in basic subjects.

Each year, the Academic Committee will assess applications for admission to the Master and organize them in a list sorted by the following criteria:

• Qualification type of access, defined as the bachelor degree that students present for accessing the program and its proximity to Software Engineering. This criterion will be justified by sending a copy of student’s title. As a guide, the Academic Committee may consider the following four situations:
  • Bachelor of Science (BS) in Computer or Software Engineering and additional courses related to the Master program.
  • Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Software or Computer Engineering and similar.
  • Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in related engineering disciplines (such as Computer Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, etc.)
  • Other  Bachelor degrees.
• Results of student’s studies, using a weighted average of the student's academic record. This criterion will be justified by sending a copy of the student’s academic record.
• Work experience and professional qualifications, considering only the experience in software-related tasks. This criterion will be justified by sending the student’s appropriate documentation supporting the referred merits.
• Student’s motivation and interest in doing the Master program. This criterion will be justified by sending a motivation letter, with the possibility of providing any additional documentation students deem appropriate.

Based on the documentation provided by students to justify these selection criteria, the Academic Committee will assess each student’s suitability quantifying and weighting the criteria to obtain the list of admitted students to the program.
In the admission process performed for 2011-2012 academic year,  35% of the 96 requests received were granted admission to the Master programme.

Structure

• Present academic year course units and schedule

Contact person

Jaime Ramírez

master.emse@fi.upm.es

When is this master's degree taught?

The European Master on Software Engineering is taught annually, starting in September and ending in the following July.

How much does this master's degree cost?

Grants

There is a wide range of grants available to students to fund their master's degree studies.

Registration

To gain admission to the Máster en Ingeniería del Software - European Master on Software Engineering students must first register online