Study Guide

Descriptions

Study objectives:

The Master's degree programme in Software Engineering and ICT is part of Turku University of Applied Sciences' (TUAS) Master School. TUAS Master School brings together all TUAS' Masters' degree programmes in the fields of Business, Culture, Healthcare and Social Services, and Technology. It gives the students a great chance to create new networks with other experts beyond fields, both in Finland and globally. In the School of Leadership Excellence, you study and acquire skills and competences as a business leader and manager, and in the School of Professional Excellence, your focus is in developing to a specialist in the selected discipline.

The Master of Engineering in Software Engineering and ICT is a creative problem solver with knowledge and skills in the fields of mathematics, science, demanding hardware and software technology management. In addition, he/she has a deeper understanding of business without forgetting good communication and interaction skills. Project and development skills are acquired especially through the possibility of participating in the work of a research group in their field. The career of a technology expert demands lifelong learning as renewable technology challenges one's own expertise for continuous development.

Upon graduation, the student will master the practical knowledge and skills of the field, as well as their specific theoretical basis with the chosen emphasis. In education, the focus will be on Information Security and related topics. The student will have the ability to follow and promote technical development at a profound level, the skills for lifelong learning in the chosen field, and sufficient communication and language skills for participating in research discussion. Typical professional titles include, for example, a telecommunication engineer, an IT expert, a system designer, a usability planner, a software developer, a project manager, IT security expert, network designer, IT design manager, product development manager, and many more leadership roles requiring more in-depth technical knowledge and vision.

The primary tuition language is Finnish, but some courses or parts of courses might be conducted in English. The operating environment is international and many courses and projects are also attended by the students of the English degree programmes and exchange students.

Study contents:

The focus areas for the training are information security, the Internet of Things (IoT), and new software development methods for building cloud services. Active learning methods, which require the student to take responsibility for his / her studies, are applied. Studies include a variety of theoretical and laboratory work during the contact days, as well as online studies, exercises, projects, and internships as distance learning. Interaction and communication skills develop e.g. in group work with the research team. Studies from other Master’s programmes can also be flexibly incorporated into the student’s curriculum. Many Masters of Engineering, at some point in their careers, work either as independent entrepreneurs or as responsible managers or experts in companies. Therefore, it is possible to incorporate studies in business knowledge and project management into elective courses.

Choosing a main subject or field of specialization:

Professional studies are offered in the following topics:
• Communications networks and data security
• Embedded programming and IoT
You can also study as optional:
• Software production and application architectures

Expertise areas:
Telecommunication Networks and Information Security have their own research team, whose projects include the opportunity to participate in testing and developing the latest technologies in the subject area. The programme offers two courses on the basics of security, risk management, and privacy.

Embedded Programming and the IoT Theme provide basic information about connecting devices to the network and advanced knowledge for designing and implementing microcomputer-controlled systems, including data security with e.g. blockchains.

Software engineering and application architectures develop expertise in software production methods and solutions, taking into account the methods provided by the microservice architecture used to develop cloud services.

Examples of systems where the above-mentioned skills are needed are wireless sensors, smart devices, mobile phones, robots, and future vehicles. Some of the studies are conducted in English.

Structure of studies:

The extent of the Master’s degree in Software Engineering and ICT is 60 ECTS and the duration is 1.5 years. The degree title is a Master of Engineering.

The studies consist of
• advanced studies (core competence) 20 ECTS
• elective studies (complementary competence) 10 ECTS
• Master’s thesis 30 ECTS

Advanced studies extend the student’s previous studies and consist of methodological and professional studies. The scope of an advanced study course is 5 ECTS and it is typically accompanied by two contact days.

With elective studies, the student can expand his/her skills by incorporating studies from his/her own programme, other TUAS Master’s programmes or the Master’s programmes of other universities. There are also elective studies offered fully online available.

Final project:

The thesis is implemented as a development project with a clear research focus and a close connection to the practical work. The thesis is mostly carried out as a development or research project in the student's own organisation. If a student does not have a development task based on the actual training needs or does not have an employment relationship, Turku University of Applied Sciences research groups offer subjects suitable for the thesis. In software engineering and ICT education, the research group studies are carried out in the projects of the Telecommunications and Information Security Research Group.

Internationalization:

The student’s own needs and the requirements of his/her work determine how the student develops his/her international competence. An international perspective can be linked with the thesis, for example by participating in an international conference or seminar in the field. An international perspective also contributes to the development of language skills. A significant part of the source material for studies and learning assignments comes from international academic and professional sources.

Qualification:

The Master's degree in engineering is a university degree that gives the same eligibility for public positions as a Master’s degree awarded by a university.

Career opportunities:

Masters of Engineering are widely located in various sectors of working life. For example, a career path can be found in the industrial product development tasks or in the development, sales, commissioning or maintenance of equipment and systems. The IT departments of different organisations employ a large number of engineers in the field and many are involved in the business and public sector project management and consulting. An engineer can also be an independent entrepreneur.

Postgraduate study opportunities:

A Master’s degree awarded by a university of applied sciences provides eligibility for further academic studies (Licentiate, Doctor) as well as for applying for professional teacher education. However, the receiving faculty always determines its own admission criteria and may require e.g. supplementary studies. Their purpose is to ensure that the student's starting level meets the requirements specified for academic research.

Co-operation with other parties:

The Software Engineering and ICT programme is planned and implemented together with working life. The working life connection involves primarily the student, the student's workplace, and the degree programme. The interaction between the students working in different positions plays an important role in the development of professional skills and the creation of collaborative networks.

The most important element of the Master’s studies is the Master’s thesis, which is a development task that serves the working life. The thesis develops the student's professional skills and competence and serves the development needs of working life. Several local and international partners are also involved in research and development activities.

Within the framework of flexible studies, the student can participate, for example, in the courses organised by the University of Turku or Åbo Akademi University and include them in his/her degree. The student can also take advantage of CampusOnline, which offers the selection of joint online courses by Finnish universities of applied sciences.

Research focus:

Turku University of Applied Sciences' Software Engineering and ICT studies and research, development, and innovation activities focus on telecommunications and information security in particular. Laboratories and experts in this field of expertise are at the student’s disposal, especially in professional studies, as well as, for example, as thesis mentors and supervisors.

Objective

After completing the programme, the student is able to:
• identify and model security threats
• ucreate and implement security policy based on the information security risk management principles and risk management as well as put it into operation
• utilize lifecycle models in software development and use of public key in encryption
• organize and manage a security risk mapping in an SME size enterprise and protect his/her own electronic communications
• take into account how the Internet of Things affects business and identify the opportunities it gives
• describe general IoT implementation architecture and build IoT in a laboratory environment
• describe the differences and potentials of wireless IoT systems for at least one system
• describe how software engineering is implemented in the project and how it works at the different stages of the software project
• describe the different application architectures available for developing cloud services and how to implement an application with microserver architecture

Development

Studies include a variety of theoretical and laboratory work on contact teaching days, as well as online studies, exercises, projects and internships as distance learning.

Further information

The objectives for skill levels in a master’s degree are based on the legislation concerning universities of applied sciences and the European Qualification Framework (EQF). The level corresponding to a master’s degree is level 7. The study evaluation criteria are described in the implementation plan of each course. Criteria are varying depending in different objectives, contents and implementation models.