This program is designed to provide students with an opportunity to further their knowledge in a specific area of software engineering and to provide a significant introduction to research in software engineering.
Potential students in this program include graduates from software engineering programs or from other disciplines with good software engineering background, who want to further their knowledge and carry out research in a specific area of software engineering. The program will appeal primarily to students interested in full-time study.
Students from cognate disciplines such as computer science, computer engineering, or mathematics who have completed undergraduate software engineering or computer science core courses may apply.
Graduates of the program will be prepared for further study at the doctoral level; occupations in research and development in business, industry, and government; consulting and software engineering design in the field of software and information processing systems; and teaching of software engineering.
- Admission Requirements: Applicants to the MASc program must hold an undergraduate degree or graduate diploma in software engineering, computer science, or another discipline such as engineering, science, and mathematics with very high standing. Qualified applicants requiring prerequisite courses may be required to take such courses in addition to their regular graduate program.
- Application Deadlines: Applications for admission from within Canada must be submitted to the Graduate Application Centre by June 1 for the Fall term, October 1 for the Winter term and February 1 for the Summer term. Applications from outside Canada must be submitted by February 15 for the Fall term, June 15 for the Winter term and October 15 for the Summer term.
Degree Requirements
- Program of Study: A fully qualified candidate is required to complete successfully, a minimum of 45 credits. Each individual program of study must be approved by the Department.
- Completion: Normally a full-time student will require six terms to complete the degree requirements.
- Transfer Credits: Students may be granted transfer credits for, in general, not more than 8 credits taken in approved graduate studies prior to their entry in this program. A course submitted for transfer credit must be appropriate to the student's program of study at Concordia University. An application for such credit will be considered only at the time of admission.
- Cross-Registration: A student in the program wishing to take courses under the cross-registration scheme outlined in the graduate calendar must first obtain permission of the graduate program director.
- Time Limit: All work for a master's/magisteriate degree for full-time students must be completed within 12 terms (4 years) from the time of initial registration in the program at Concordia University. The time limit is 15 terms (5 years) for part-time students, however, the Department does not recommend students to register for this program on a part-time basis.
- Thesis: Students must complete a 29-credit thesis as part of their degree requirements. The thesis must represent the results of the student's independent work after admission to the program. The proposed topic for the thesis, together with a brief statement outlining the proposed method of treatment, and the arrangement made for faculty supervision must be approved by the graduate studies committee. For purposes of registration, thesis work will be designated as SOEN 7941 Master's Research and Thesis. The thesis will be evaluated by the student's supervisor(s), and at least two examiners appointed by the graduate studies committee, one of whom shall be external to the Department.
Curriculum
Students must complete a minimum of 45 credits as shown below:
- A minimum of 16 credits of course work.
- A minimum of 8 credits must be chosen from Topic Area C09 (Software Engineering).
- A maximum of 4 credits can be chosen from computer science courses at the 6000 level marked with (*).
- Any remaining credits may be chosen from any of the Topic Areas C01 through C09 or C12 (Cognate Disciplines).
- Thesis 29 credits.
Notes:
- The student's study program must be approved by the supervisor(s) and either the Graduate Program Director or the Department Chair.
- Students who have not completed an undergraduate Software Engineering degree may take SOEN 6011 for credit.
