Erasmus Mundus - Engineering of Data-Intensive Intelligent Software Systems (EDISS)

EDISS intends to bring together software engineering educators working in data collection, data-driven assessment, and decision-making for both design- and runtime and software engineers, architects and data scientists working on data pipelines, data architectures, DataOps and in experimentation systems. We expect that such synergy will lead to sharing knowledge and expertise, and thus create new ideas and impactful solutions. 

EDISS will educate experts who can masterfully integrate data science and ML solutions into software and system engineering processes.

Programme Design

EDISS is a two-year programme (120 ECTS) based on the collaboration between four university partners. Åbo Akademi University is the entry university for all students and in the second year the students will follow their individual mobility path within one of the three specializations provided by EDISS. For each student the choice of the second year institution will be decided, in the second semester of the first year, by the EDISS selection committee based on the student’s list of preferences, his or her academic performance and the teaching staff input.

All students completing the EDISS programme will obtain a double master’s degree from Åbo Akademi University and the institution chosen for the second-year specialization.  

In addition to the mandatory and elective courses offered in the programme, EDISS students will participate in a one-week winter school organized each year during the second semester of the academic year. The programme also includes a mandatory internship for first-year students with an associate company.  

First Year Curriculum

The first year courses focus on building strong theoretical tools for the students to be able to master the skills, techniques and requirements of the second year specialization. The hosting university for all studies during the first year of the programme is Åbo Akademi University, Finland.

The students will study core data science and software engineering courses during the first year. The 40 ECTS “core module” focuses on providing theoretical ground work for the second year specialization. The first year study at Åbo Akademi University provides a strong practical aspect of the field as well, to equip students for real working life situations. The practice oriented studies at Åbo Akademi University are  overed through the 20ECTS “project and practice module”. 

Core module (40ECTS)

Compulsory 20 ECTS

• Data Science 5 ECTS 
• Artificial intelligence 5 ECTS *
• Machine learning 5 ECTS
• Embedded AI 5 ECTS *

Elective, select 20 ECTS from

• Software quality 5 ECTS 
• Cloud computing 5 ECTS 
• Parallel programming 5 ECTS 
• Software safety 5 ECTS 
• Autonomic software and systems 5 ECTS
• Analytics for industrial internet 5 ECTS
• System Architecture of IoT  5 ECTS

* New course, description available in the near future. 

Project and Practice (20 ECTS)

• Internship (Associated and HEI partners)  5 ECTS *
• Winter school (Associated and HEI partners)  5 ECTS *
• Data Intensive Engineering I 5 ECTS*
• Data Intensive Engineering II 5 ECTS*

* New course, description available in the near future. 

Second-year specialisations

In the second year, the students will start their specialization based on the mobility path they have chosen:

• Industrial Machine Learning – Software Engineering
• Computer Vision and Intelligent Systems
• Model Driven Machine Learning – Software Engineering

During the first semester of this second year, they will receive the required formal training needed for carrying out their master thesis as well as training on research methodology. During the last semester of their studies, the students will focus on implementing their master thesis work.

Master’s thesis

The final semester of the EDISS programme is dedicated to the Master’s thesis, jointly supervised by personnel from both universities the student has studied in. The thesis is usually written in a research and development project either in industry or in academia.

Learning Environment

• Åbo Akademi University – Turku, Finland
  Established 102 years ago, Åbo Akademi University operates currently in two cities in Finland – Turku and Vaasa. Our leading principles include diversity, openness, courage, sustainability and participation. Åbo Akademi University offers both undergraduate and graduate studies to some 5 500 students and extensive research opportunities on two campuses.
• University of the Balearic Islands – Palma, Spain
  The University of the Balearic Islands invites you to study and research in a privileged backdrop, where the peace, tranquillity and wellbeing of Mediterranean living come together in perfect harmony with a work-oriented environment designed to educate, generate knowledge and innovate, while always aspiring to excellence in research and quality.

• University of L’Aquila – L’Aquila, Italy

  Established in 1952 (but its origins date back to the 16th century), the University of L’Aquila (UnivAQ) is a public teaching and research institution offering a full range of academic programs including biotechnologies, sciences, economics, engineering, education, humanities, medicine, psychology, and sport sciences. At present UAQ counts about 20,000 students, around 650 teachers and researchers, and nearly 500 administrative and technical staff members.

• Mälardalen University – Västerås, Sweden

  Mälardalen University (MDH) is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions, with 16 000 students taking courses and programmes in Business, Health, Engineering and Education. At MDH, research is conducted within all areas of education to address the challenges of society, and of this the research in future energy and embedded systems is internationally outstanding. MDH’s close cooperation with the private and public sectors enables us to help people feel better and the earth to last longer. MDH is located on both sides of Lake Mälaren, with campuses in Eskilstuna and Västerås, about one hour by train from Stockholm and Arlanda Airport.