Type of the Study and the Outcome of the Education Process
The Master of Science in Information Technologies study program represents graduate academic studies in the IT field at the University of Novi Sad, performed at the Faculty of Sciences.
Professional Title, Academic, or Scientific Title
Upon completing the studies, successful candidate obtains degree MSc in Informatics – Information Technologies.
The Structure of the Study Programme
The requirement for obtaining the degree MSc in Informatics – Information Technologies is that the student passes one mandatory course, successfully defends master thesis and collect a total of 60 ECTS points.
The study program curriculum consists of one mandatory course and a set of elective courses. The mandatory course equals 7 ECTS, while master thesis takes additional 30 ECTS points. There are 10 elective courses within the study program. Students select elective courses to complement 37 mandatory ECTS to reach at least 60 ECTS points.
The content of the mandatory subject refers to qualitative and quantitative methods of scientific and professional research in the IT field. Elective courses include the following topics: preparation, planning and monitoring of software projects, critical evaluation and project analysis; critical analysis of the factors from the impact on maintaining the balance between work efficiency, law and professional practice in the IT field; contemporary aspects in the field of software engineering (modeling and design of software architectures; object-oriented software development; software components and the like); theoretical and practical teaching content for modeling and implementation of complex information systems.
Teaching is conducted using classical methods as well as modern approach using computers and communication equipment. During lectures, an audit method is used, predominantly frontal, with the use of computer equipment and other contemporary visual teaching aids. Exercises are realized in computer classrooms using appropriate software environments.
The Time Allotted for the Realization of Particular Study Forms
The duration of studies is 1 year, 60 ECTS in total.
Credit Values of Particular Courses
The number of ECTS for each course is shown in the curriculum table, organized by semesters and years of study, as well as in the tables within the specification of courses.
Master Thesis
Within the study program, students are required to write and defend the master thesis. MSc thesis should include description of goals and problems, an overview of the current state of the art in the subject area and description of obtained results.
Prerequisites for the Registration for Particular Courses or Group of Courses
The preconditions for enrolling to individual courses or group of courses are indicated in the curriculum tables. Students who have completed undergraduate academic studies in the field of computer science or information systems may enroll to this study program aiming at continuing education in this field.
The main purpose of this study program is education IT specialists with emphasis on the field of information technology and software engineering. Additional purpose is the preparation of students for teaching in the field of IT in elementary and secondary schools.
The experts of this kind are recognized as a necessary human resource for the development of a knowledge-based society, ie an information society that has already been significantly developed in the countries of the European Union, the United States, Australia, Japan, etc. Since 2000, Serbia has also been exposed to the increased need for IT staff due to increased investments and the emergence of foreign companies and standards in the IT field, as well as in other areas that have the need for IT support.
The goals of the graduate IT study program are:
- training for successful individual and team work,
- understanding and critical evaluation of information requirements of software systems,
- getting acquainted with modeling and design techniques for various software architectures,
- development of information systems,
- providing a theoretical basis for understanding modern database management services and their integration into information systems,
- application of formal methods for software testing,
- designing and implementing distributed systems as well as their integration,
- component-based development overview at all stages of software development,
- education of all-round experts in the field of IT, who will be able to participate in the work of software teams and to contribute to the study of computer science, as well as to solve the non-standard problems that occur in the IT practice,
- education of versatile experts in the field of IT, who will be able to work as lecturers in primary and secondary schools.
General and Course-specific Competencies of Students
General and subject-specific competencies are:
- project management at all stages of development of software systems,
- application of scientific or expert methods in realization of projects in the field of IT,
- compliance with ethical and social norms in the realization of projects.
The Outcomes
After graduation, a successful student will be capable of:
- development of software support in various areas,
- research activity at universities and scientific institutes and independent scientific work,
- understanding the impact of abstraction, modeling, architecture and patterns on the development of a software product,
- practical realization of the implementation of information requirements and critical evaluation of the role of software tools and methods in engineering,
- discussing the features and disadvantages of various information systems development methods,
- clear understanding of various database management systems and their characteristics,
- a critical assessment of the importance of software testing and the assessment of the need and usefulness of formal methods in testing,
- a critical assessment of the current basis for software evolution, the use of re-engineering techniques for migration and software abstraction,
- clear understanding of theoretical basis of component-based development,
- knowledge of the latest research directions and achievements in the field of IT,
- acquiring a series of theoretical and practical knowledge for carrying out teaching of IT with the knowledge of modern trends in IT,
- using modern IT equipment.
Mandatory courses take a total of 37 ECTS (61.7%) together with the master thesis, while the remainder up to 60 ECTS is supplemented with elective courses. Elective courses are arbitrarily selected from a group of 10 courses. Students are required to select at least 23 ECTS (38.3%) from this group. In this way, the total number of 60 ECTS is achieved by combining mandatory and elective courses within the study program. Each student is required to have at least 20 hours of active teaching per week, of which at least 10 hours must be lectures.