Information and communication technology, MSc

Information and communication technology master's programme​ at Chalmers

We live in the age of information, where communication and information processing are at the heart of our modern society. Intelligent transportation systems, smart cities, traffic safety, positioning and navigation, eHealth, Industry 4.0, and cloud services. All of these rely on our ability to store, share, process, and deliver massive amounts of data. In a constantly and rapidly evolving field, you will rethink, design, and build the systems of the future to enable the interconnected world.

Please note - This programme was previously named Communication engineering.

We are currently witnessing an explosion of information services and applications, in both volume and variety. These services include social networks, video sharing, streaming, and cloud computing. Providing these services on a wide scale requires the ability to globally store, share, process, and deliver massive amounts of data. Therefore, there is a tremendous need for know-how to tackle this data flooding and the accompanying challenges. Furthermore, the need for communication engineers goes far beyond the conventional data delivery and storage problem. A striking example is intelligent transportation systems and traffic safety: a world of autonomous vehicles would not be possible without the integration of communication, information processing, positioning, and navigation.

Other evolving fields of the “interconnected world” where the knowledge of communication engineers is vital for their development are the Internet-of-things, Industry 4.0, environmental monitoring, and smart grids, to name only a few. 

In the master’s programme Information and communication technology, you will prepare for an advanced engineering career in the fields of communication and information science. You will acquire deep theoretical and applied knowledge, the competence to conduct complex projects and a passion for discovery. In the core courses of the programme, the focus lies on giving you solid analytical skills and an understanding of the fundamental principles of communication and information processing, random signal analysis, applications of digital signal processing, antennas, information theory, and coding theory. The master’s programme offers three main tracks for specialization, with a generous number of courses to choose from.  

In general, the educational methods in this programme have a specific emphasis on building and refining problem-solving skills, teamwork, and presentation skills. In this programme, you will also get the opportunity to interact with the industry via guest lectures and study visits. The master’s thesis gives you training in individual research, project planning, documentation, and presentation. As a graduate student of this programme, you will be able to contribute to the development of the transformative and disruptive technologies that are needed to enable the interconnected world.

Topics covered

The subjects of communications systems, machine learning, IT, electronics, electrotechnics, and telecommunications are fundamental areas in the master’s programme in Information and communication technology. The courses included in the programme handle topics such as mobile communication, Internet-of-Things, Industry 4.0, Deep Learning, eHealth, Smart Society, Intelligent Transportation Systems, RF Hardware Design, Optical Communication, Satellite and Sensing Systems, and Information Processing. 

Career

The master’s programme in Information and communication technology prepares you to work at the cutting edge of technology in areas such as multimedia communication, data storage and computing, intelligent transportation, traffic safety, positioning and navigation, wireless networks, and the Internet-of-things; areas in which information processing plays a significant role. Our students can usually be arranged into two groups after finishing the programme.

With the skills and methods gained in the programme, you will be able to compete for leading positions in globally operating companies worldwide. In the Gothenburg area, international players, such as Ericsson, Huawei, Volvo Cars and Volvo Trucks, Zenseact, Saab group, ABB, Ruag Space, and Autoliv, actively recruit our graduate students. There are also plenty of smaller companies, start-ups and consultancy companies specializing in communications in Sweden. The prospective jobs range from research and development to project management and consultancy.

At Chalmers, the Communication Systems group at the Department of Electrical Engineering is one of the strongest research groups in information and communication theory in Europe, which gives you the chance to learn research skills from widely recognized researchers. In most cases, these graduates obtain a PhD position at Chalmers or at various European and American universities.​

Research

Your teachers in the programme are internationally recognized researchers who are actively engaged in research and development projects in the areas of information and communication technology. Particularly, the Communications Systems group is the largest research group in communications in Sweden, and one of the leading research groups in Europe in information and communication theory. The research activities include information and communication theory, coding theory, machine learning, distributed data storage, caching and computing, vehicle-to-vehicle communication for traffic safety, positioning and navigation, cyber-physical systems, and wireless and optical communications.

The researchers at the department are internationally recognized in their respective fields and are engaged in collaborative research with researchers from top universities around the world. More specifically, the group comprises two IEEE Fellows, three IEEE Europe, Middle East & Africa Region Outstanding Young Researchers Awardees, and one ERC grant Awardee. The department is also actively engaged in research and development projects with world-leading research bodies and companies, such as the German Aerospace Center, Ericsson, Volvo, Nokia-Bell Labs, and Orange Labs, to only name a few.

Find out more about research in Electrical engineering