Software Engineering, MSc

Programme description

The field of software engineering is about designing, building, and maintaining complex systems that operate reliably in the real world. Software engineers must balance technical excellence with long-term considerations of usability, ethics, and sustainability.

The foundations of the programme include quality assurance and testing, requirements engineering, and advanced industrial development practices like Agile and DevOps. From there, you will have the opportunity to specialise in a number of areas that reflect the most important developments in the field. These include AI engineering, human-computer interaction, and research and innovation, allowing you to gain deeper expertise and tailor the programme to your individual interests.

AI in particular is increasingly transforming software engineering, allowing anyone to generate huge amounts of code and run automation processes. The programme addresses this, while still emphasising the vital human aspects of software engineering. That means both collaboration and teamwork, as well as an understanding of the end users for whom software is designed.

Project work is central throughout. You will apply your theoretical knowledge to real, practical settings, including recreating research results, and case studies contributed by industrial partners. Software engineering is an increasingly global and intercultural field, and the programme addresses this. You will have the chance to develop skills like organisation, giving and receiving feedback, and conflict management for effective teamwork in intercultural environments.

Many of these projects are done together with representatives from relevant industrial partners. Through guest lectures, research collaborations, and opportunities for placements, you will gain first-hand experience of the challenges faced by organisations developing the next generation of software systems. There is also a focus on broader societal questions, such as privacy, sustainability, safety, and ethics, ensuring the human aspects of software engineering are never left out.

Job opportunities

After graduation, you will be prepared for a wide range of roles across the software industry. You could work in areas like software development, systems engineering, quality assurance and DevOps, on everything from large-scale digital platforms to interactive applications. Depending on where you specialise, you can also find opportunities in AI and machine learning, game design, software architecture and more. If you are interested in team leadership, you will also be well-prepared for roles such as scrum master, digital product manager or technology and innovation manager.

Software engineers are in demand across virtually every sector of society today, and Chalmers has close, long-standing links and alumni working with major organisations across many industries. These include tech firms like Spotify and Amazon, communications companies such as Ericsson, utilities like Göteborgs energi, and game designers like Electronic Arts, DICE and Epic Games. Many of these companies are involved in the programme, through projects, guest lectures and internship opportunities. You can also potentially complete your master's thesis in collaboration with these kinds of companies.

The programme also provides an excellent foundation for doctoral studies in software engineering and related disciplines.

Research

Software Engineering at Chalmers is closely connected to active research across the university. You will engage with this through project courses, seminars, and your master's thesis.

Relevant areas include AI engineering, software testing, behavioural software engineering, robotics, cloud computing and much more. Researchers work on challenges such as building trustworthy AI systems, understanding how people collaborate in software teams, and software for autonomous and robotic systems. These research groups span departments like Computer Science and Engineering to Technology Management and Economics.

You will also have access to advanced research facilities like the AI Engineering Laboratory, the ICET Laboratory, and the self-driving group Revere.

There are also connections to national initiatives such as the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, AI Sweden and the Software Center. This is a collaboration between several Swedish universities and companies focused on advanced software engineering research, and you will have good opportunities to carry out your thesis projects in collaboration with these partners. Your thesis work may contribute directly to both academic research and real-world software development and innovation.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in: Software Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering

Prerequisites: Mathematics (at least 12 cr. including at least 6 cr. of Discrete Mathematics), Programming (at least 18 cr. including at least 6 cr. of Object-Oriented Programming), Algorithms and/or Data Structures (at least 6 cr.), Basic Software Engineering (at least 6 cr.)

English language requirements: Prove your English proficiency

How to apply