Curriculum Software Technology 2004

Master
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-------++ Introduction

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The master program Software Technology takes two years of study and
has a total size of 120 European study points (ECTS). 

The academic year is structured into four periods. In each period a students usually takes takes two courses of 7.5 ECTS each.
The structure of the program is summarized by the following table:

| *Period*    | *Year 1*              |    
| 1           | %RED% SWE %ENDCOLOR% GP SWS | 
| 2           | %RED% SWA %ENDCOLOR% %RED% IPT %ENDCOLOR% DBA | 
| 3           | DOS PT PV | 
| 4           | AFP APA CD | 
| *Period*    | *Year 2*              |
| 1           | Seminars              |
| 2           | Thesis Proposal       |
| 3           | Research              |
| 4           | Thesis Writing        |

Of course individual students may follow a different schedule, 
depending on deficiencies, delays, etc.
It is possible to start the program in February (period 2).
Some seminars are offered in later periods than the first.

-------++ Courses (75 ECTCS)

----+++ Deficiencies or Electives (15 ECTCS)

Students with deficiencies in the entrance requirements of the ST
program can take upto two courses to remedy those deficiencies.
Students without a computer science bachelor from Utrecht University,
typically lack one or more of the following courses:

   * Functional programming
   * Grammars and parsing
   * Programmming and correctness

Students without deficiencies (which includes all students with a
computer science bachelor from Utrecht University) can use this space
in the curriculum for elective courses to be filled in with courses
from the ST program or from other master programs.

----+++ Mandatory Courses (22.5 ECTS)

The following courses are required for all ST students:

   * [[Software Engineering]]
   * [[Software Architecture]]
   * [[Implementation of Programming Languages]]

If one or more of these courses have already been taken as part of the
bachelor program, or equivalent courses have been taken elsewhere,
courses from the list of _additional courses_ should be substituted
instead.

-----+++ Additional ST Courses (22.5 ECTS)

At least three of the following courses should be taken.

   * [[Advanced functional programming]]
   * [[Automatic program analysis]]
   * [[Complex data]]
   * [[Data base architectures]]
   * [[Distributed object systems]]
   * [[Generic programming]]
   * [[Program transformation]]
   * [[Program verification]]
   * [[Software specification]]
   * [[Type systems]]

Courses from this list can also be used to fill in the electives. 
Courses used to substitute for mandatory courses do not count towards
filling the credits for this part of the curriculum.

-----+++ Seminars (15 ECTS)

In preparation for their thesis project students take
two seminars or one seminar and an advanced ST course. Seminars
usually take the form of small study groups in which a subject is
studied in depth and may also have a practical component. The subjects
are usually closely linked to the research conducted in the CST and
follow up on earlier courses in the program.
The subjects of seminars may vary from year to year. Typical seminars
that were given in 2003-2004 (for students enrolled in 2002) included:

   * [[High Performance Compilers]]
   * [[Networked objects]]
   * [[Implementation of UHC]]

In 2004-2005 (for students enrolled in 2003) the following seminars 
will be given:

   * [[Efficient implementation of functional languages]]
   * [[Networked objects]]
   * [[Editing structured documents and XML]]
   * [[Software generation and configuration]]

-----++ Thesis Project (45 ECTS)

In the final thesis project a student performs research under the
supervision of one of the staff members of the center. The project can
be conducted in the ST-Lab of the center, in a company, or (partly) in
a related (foreign) research group.

Thesis projects are structured in three phases: colloquium, proposal,
and research. 

-------+++ Software Technology Colloquium (5 ECTS)

In order to prepare for the thesis project and get a broad overview of
ongoing research in the Center and beyond, students attend the weekly
[[Stc.WebHome][Software Technology Colloquium]]. This colloquium provides a broad
overview of interesting results in the ST area by means of research
talks and paper presentations by internal and external speakers. Each
student should attend at least 30 colloquium sessions, give one
colloquium presentation about a topic of choice, and write a literature
study about this topic.

-------+++ Thesis Proposal (10 ECTS)

After choosing a topic for a thesis project, but before actually
starting the research, a student writes a _thesis proposal_ containing
a problem statement for the proposed research, positioning of the
research with respect to other research, an overview of the literature
in the field, and a planning for the project. The proposal should be
accepted by the thesis committee before the project can start.

-------+++ Research and Thesis (30 ECTS)

The final part of the project consists of performing the research
according to the plan in the thesis proposal and writing a thesis
about the result. Relevant parts of the proposal will typically find
their way into the thesis. The project is finished with a defense
of the thesis before the thesis committee.

Courses or seminars taught inside the department and not mentioned below may be 
approved upon explicit request, especially in relation with the choice of a specific thesis area.

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-------++ Advise for Specific Groups

-------+++ Bachelor degree in Computer Science from Utrecht University

If you have such a bachelor degree you can enter the program without
explicit permission.  Please register by sending an email to the [[student advisor]] 
including a letter of motivation for your choice and a plan
with the courses you will take in the first year of the program.  If
you have not yet finished your bachelor program at the start of the fourth
year of study, please include a plan for finishing the last courses.

In case you have already taken one or more of the mandatory courses as part of your Bachelors degree you should substitute courses from the list of additional
courses. Students enrolling into the program in 2003 have done the
courses IPT and SA as part of their bachelor and should therefore
substitute other courses from the list of additional courses.

-------+++ 'Doctoraal' Students Computer Science from Utrecht University

Students who started their (undergraduate) studies before 2002 are not yet taking
part in the bachelor/master system. These students can and are advised to follow 
the master curriculum as described above after finishing the first three years
of the CS curriculum. For those students insisting on studying according to the
old 'OER', the rules for the Software Technology 'afstudeerrichting' are described
in:

   * [[DoctoraalSoftwareTechnology]]

-------+++ HIO Students (Students from Dutch Polytechnic Schools)

Students from the HIO in general have taken a good amount of
project-oriented courses. These students are advised to follow the
technical courses to best complement their prior education. Usually deficiencies
exist in functional programming and grammars and parsing, which should be remedied
by taking these courses early in the master program.

-------+++ Technische Bedrijfskunde / Business Informatics

Students with a background in business informatics who show to have
affinity and experience in programming in addition to their formal
education may be addmitted to the program. For these students it might
be advisable to take some additional courses from the bachelor program.