European Master in Distributed Computing — EMDC

The Erasmus Mundus programme in Distributed Computing is a cooperation between KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Spain. It is a two-year Master's programme including compulsory mobilty for the students.

The EMDC programme offers education of high international standard as well as cultural experience from two different European countries and a double degree from two universities.

Students from any country are welcome to apply. A number of Erasmus Mundus scholarships are available.

The European Master in Distributed Computing aims at giving the best possible foundation for a career in research and development of scalable and reliable distributed systems. After the program, students should not only understand and be able to use large distributed systems but they should be capable of designing and constructing such systems.

The European Master in Distributed Computing is an Erasmus Mundus Master program operated jointly by:

• KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
• Instituto Superior Técnico, IST , Portugal
• Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, UPC, Spain

Career prospects

Information technology is becoming ubiquitous and increasingly important for all kinds of organizations, including enterprises, factories, public utilities, state bodies, health care, banking, transportation, airport and harbor control, etc. Information technology, and Distributed Computing in particular, is required to successfully undertake and manage large-scale projects on such organizations. Furthermore, Distributed Computing provides the foundations to manage the communications and data processing required by other science fields such as health sciences, biology, physics, chemistry, mechanical and civil engineering.

The programme comprises three semesters of course work and one semester for thesis work, 120 ECTS in total. The first year of studies, 60 ECTS, is carried out at one of the two optional entry locations, IST and UPC. The third semester of studies will be carried out at KTH, 30 ECTS. Students will then prepare their master thesis at one of the participant institutions, 30 ECTS.

The first year of studies achieves integration of courses between IST and UPC in solid distributed computing fundamentals background, while allowing a significant degree of specialization in more advance courses, tailored for different student profiles and principal faculty expertise of each institution.

The specific profiles offered at IST and UPC address two different sets of concerns in design, development, evaluation, and evolution of distributed computing systems: overall system reliability at IST (fault-tolerance, interoperability, autonomic systems), performance and scalability at UPC (performance measurement, tuning, large-scale systems).

The third semester of studies at KTH receives all students providing them with common advanced courses that assume and leverage course integration of previous semesters. This motivates students to develop large-scale projects integrating both common and complementary skills acquired earlier, and developing research methodology and scientific writing, essential to pursue further studies and research.

Course overview

UPC

1st Semester:

• Distribute and Networked Systems, 6 ECTS
• Security in Information Technology Systems, 6 ECTS
• Parallel Programming Models and Algorithms, 6 ECTS
• Performance Tuning and Analysis Tools, 6 ECTS
• Concurrent and Distributed Programming, 6 ECTS

2nd Semester: (5 out of 6)

• Execution Environments for Distributed Computing, 6 ECTS
• Decentralized Systems, 6 ECTS
• Scalable Distributed Systems, 6 ECTS
• Measurement Tools and Techniques, 6 ECTS
• Mathematical Concepts Applied to Computer Networks, 6 ECTS
• Internet and Multimedia Application Protocols, 6 ECTS

IST

1st Semester:

• Middleware for Distributed Internet Applications, 7.5 ECTS
• Network and Computer Security, 7.5 ECTS
• Peer-to-Peer Systems and Overlay Networks, 7.5 ECTS
• Parallel and Distributed Computing, 7.5 ECTS

2nd Semester: (4 out of 6)

• Fault-Tolerant Distributed Systems, 7.5 ECTS
• Cloud Computing, 7.5 ECTS
• Virtual Execution Environments, 7.5 ECTS
• Mobile Computing, 7.5 ECTS
• Applications and Implementations of Cryptographic Algorithms, 7.5 ECTS
• Database Administration and Tuning, 7.5 ECTS

KTH 3rd Semester:

• Theory and Methodology of Science with Applications, 7.5 ECTS
• Advanced Topics in Distributed Computing, 7.5 ECTS
• Implementation of Scalable Distributed Systems, 7.5 ECTS
• Technical Writing, 7.5 ECTS

Master's thesis

The objective is for students to demonstrate the individual skills acquired during the programme and apply them to solve a realistic problem. The student should write a thesis report and present, demonstrate and defend the results. The thesis project may be proposed by the student, an examiner, a company, a public agency or any other external organization.

To qualify for the EMDC programme applicants need to fulfill the admission requirements based on previous studies, English proficiency and documentation. Please note that the admission requirements can vary for each Erasmus Mundus Masters Programme.1. Previous studies: A completed Bachelor's degreeApplicants must have completed a Bachelors degree in Computer Science encompassing a minimum of 180 ECTS credits or equivalent academic qualifications from an internationally recognized university. Excellent grades from courses in operating systems, networking, programming languages, computer architectures and theory of computing are required.Conditional acceptanceStudents in their final year of undergraduate education may also apply and if qualified, receive a conditional offer. If you have not completed your studies, please include a written statement from the degree administration office (or equivalent department), confirming that you are enrolled on the final year of your education and giving your expected completion date. If you receive a conditional offer, you should present your degree certificate to the Admissions Office before enrollment at the latest. Applicants following longer technical programmes and who have completed courses equivalent to an amount of 180 ECTS, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.2. Language requirements: Proof of English proficiencyApplicants must provide proof of their English language proficiency, which is most commonly established through an internationally recognized test. IELTS A minimum overall mark of 6.5 is required, with no section lower than 5.5 (only Academic Training accepted). IELTS-tests are verified online by KTH admissions office, sending a photocopy of your test together with your application documents is therefore sufficient. TOEFL English test results from TOEFL should be sent directly from the ETS test centre to KTH Admissions Office (institution code 7966, department code 99). Examinee score reports or photocopies are not accepted. Please also note that neither TOEIC nor institutional TOEFL are accepted as sufficient proof of English proficiency.The following TOEFL test scores are accepted as a minimum:Paper-based test: total result of 575 (written test, grade 4,5)Internet-based test: total result of 90 (written test, grade 20)University of Cambridge/ University of Oxford CertificatesCertificate in Advanced English (minimum grade C).Certificate of Proficiency (minimum grade C).Diploma of English Studies (minimum grade C). English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 CAE score: (read more) Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) is part of the Cambridge English suite and is targeted at a high level (IETLS 6.5-8.0). It is an international English language exam set at the right level for academic and professional success. Developed by Cambridge English Language Assessment - part of the University of Cambridge - it helps you stand out from the crowd as a high achiever. 60 (Grade C) TOEFL paper-based test score : 575 TOEFL iBT® test: 90

The EACEA (the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency) grants 7 to 9 category A scholarships and 7 to 9 category B scholarships per Erasmus Mundus Master's programme. Candidates who apply for an Erasmus Mundus Master Programme are considered for a scholarship nomination for this specific programme.

Category A scholarships can be awarded to applicants from non-EU member states that have not resided in an EU member state or in Norway, Liechtenstein or Iceland for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years (by 28 February 2013). Note that there is an exception for applicants from the EES member states Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, they are not eligible for a category A scholarship.

The category A scholarship includes:

• Participation costs (including insurance coverage): 8000 per year
• Monthly allowance: 1000 per month
• Travel and installation costs: 8000 for a 2 year programme

Category B scholarships can be awarded to all applicants that are not eligible for a category A scholarship. This means applicants from EU-member states, applicants from Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, and applicants from non-EU member states that have lived in an EU or EES member state for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years (by 28 February 2013).
The category B scholarship includes:

• Participation costs (including insurance coverage): 4000 per year
• Monthly allowance: 500 per month
• Travel and installation costs - only if the Erasmus Mundus Master's programme includes a mobility period to a Third-Country partner: 3000

Students fulfilling the eligibility criteria for both Category A and B e.g. students with a double nationality must select the Category of their choice. As a result, they are entitled to apply only to one of the two categories of scholarship at a time.
Student candidates for an EMMC scholarship

• Only candidates who have applied to and have been accepted by an EMMC consortium in accordance with its specific students' application and selection criteria are eligible for a scholarship.
• Students can apply for an Erasmus Mundus scholarship to the Erasmus Mundus Action 1 joint programme (EMMC) of their choice but the number of applications must be limited to maximum three different joint programmes (EMMC and EMJD together).
• Each project may give rise to the award of only one EU grant to any student for the same joint course over the length of the course concerned.
• Scholarship candidates must have already obtained a first higher education degreeor demonstrate a recognized equivalent level of learning according to national legislation and practices.
• Individuals who have already benefited from an EMMC scholarship are not eligible for a second scholarship in order to follow the same or another EMMC.
• Students benefiting from an EMMC scholarship cannot benefit from another EU grant while pursuing their Erasmus Mundus masters studies.
• EMMC students scholarships are awarded exclusively for a full-time enrolment in one of the course editions.

EMMC students holding an Erasmus Mundus scholarship must:

• Commit themselves to participate in the masters programme in accordance with the terms defined by the consortium in the Student Agreement. Failure to do so could lead to the cancellation of the scholarship;
• Spend their study period in at least two of the full partners located in different European countries. These countries must be different from the country in which the scholarship holder has obtained his/her last university degree; the mandatory mobility periods cannot be replaced by virtual mobility, neither can they take place in institutions outside the consortium;
• Spend most of the study/teaching/research period in the European countries represented in the consortium. However, if the EMMC consortium includes third-country partners (either full partners or associated partners):

  • Category A scholarship holders can spend a learning/training/research/fieldwork period of a maximum of one trimester (i.e. 3 months or the equivalent of 15 ECTS) in these third countries, under the direct supervision of one of the consortium partners and only if this country is different from the student's country of origin; periods in excess of this duration or spent in the students country of origin may not be covered by the EMMC scholarship;

  • Category B scholarship holders can spend a minimum of one trimester or the equivalent of at least 15 ECTS and up to half of their masters course studies in these third countries, under the direct supervision of one of the consortium partners concerned; periods in excess of this duration may not be covered by the EMMC scholarship.

  • For both Category A and B scholarships, the minimum duration of 1 trimester (15 ECTS) should correspond to one consecutive stay in the third-country full/associated partner concerned.