Study location	Italy, Florence
Type	Graduate, full-time
Nominal duration	2 years (120 ECTS)
Study language	English

Application fee	€20 one-time Application fee is non-refundable

Entry qualification	Undergraduate diploma (or higher) Admission requirements are available here The entry qualification documents are accepted in the following languages: English / French / Italian / Spanish. Often you can get a suitable transcript from your school. If this is not the case, you will need official translations along with verified copies of the original.

Language requirements	English Applicants are required to: have a B2 (or higher) European level English proficiency certification or reside in a country where English is the official language or have previously completed a first-level degree course (or equivalent) held entirely in English.

Other requirements	At least 2 reference(s) should be provided.

More information	sst.unifi.it/index.html?newlang=eng

Overview

Software is the substance of which many transformations of this era are made, with a crucial impact on our society’s industrial, economic, social, and cultural development. The M.Sc. Degree in Software: Science and Technology prepares professionals to design and develop complex software systems, capable of combining knowledge and practice of advanced methodologies and state-of-the-art technologies.
The M.Sc. is entirely delivered in English, which is the natural language for the computer science discipline.
The M.Sc. is jointly organized with the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca. IMT will provide facilities for carrying out laboratory activities and expert teachers in relevant research fields.

The M.Sc. Degree in Software: Science and Technology trains experts for the design, implementation, validation, and maintenance of highly complex software systems with high quality in terms of such requirements as performance, security, and reliability. The M.Sc. provides solid knowledge and skills for developing IT solutions, emphasizing the practical application of theories and methodologies through projects and real-world case studies.
Graduates will have the computer science and engineering knowledge necessary to apply a rigorous methodological approach to software development. Some application domains of interest are critical systems and infrastructures, internet-of-things, systems-of-systems, cloud, microservices, blockchain, and resilient systems.
Most of the courses include laboratory activities and require the implementation of projects to put the theoretical knowledge acquired into practice. In particular, with the involvement of companies of various sizes, intensive courses in the form of bootcamp will be organised.

Programme structure

The M.Sc. Degree in Software: Science and Technology is organized on 2 years, for a total of 120 CFU (Crediti Formativi Universitari). The M.Sc. consists of a single curriculum. The Student Guide indicates each year the activated courses and how they are allocated among the years of the course.

12 CFU are reserved for the educational activities autonomously chosen by the student. To this aim, the student can select teaching courses among all those activated in the University. The choice of these activities is free, but it has to be evaluated in line with the training plan by the Degree Board.

Finally, 27 CFU are reserved for the Final exam, i.e., the graduation Thesis. The students are expected to devote approximately 6 months to the development of their Thesis. Such Thesis shall have an appropriate level of innovation and will be developed with the supervision of a member of the M.Sc Degree Committee. Such member is officially appointed as Thesis Supervisor.

More information on the program structure is availble here

Career opportunities

The professional figure of the M.Sc. is the Software Systems Designer, who is able to:

• design, implement, integrate, test, and maintain software components and systems that meet functional and non-functional requirements;
• define quality policies (in terms of performance, correctness, reliability, resilience, etc.) and verify, validate, and certify compliance with them by the developed system;
• understand and apply the methodologies for the analysis, verification, validation, and certification of critical software-intensive systems;
• manage software projects, from their conception to final delivery, ensuring compliance with established quality policies;
• apply a secure-by-design development methodological approach through the use of IT security techniques and practices;
• designing sustainable computer applications and systems;
• use and configure modern computer networks.

Graduates will possess the skills required by public/private, national/international companies and organizations operating in the IT sector or in the development of complex software systems. The training of master’s graduates is also aimed at their inclusion, after further periods of education (PhD) or training, in scientific and technological research activities at an advanced level.