Overview of Study Programme

The 120 ECTS SSI+ MSc Programme is studied over four semesters, the students will spend one semester at each of the three universities, taking full advantage of the recognised expertise, the research and educational facilities of each university. The MSc programme will provide state-of-the-art applied knowledge in the field of Smart Systems design and manufacturing, as well as gaining transferable skills such as advanced writing, research preparation and entrepreneurship.

The first semester in Scotland, is dedicated to the fundamental knowledge and training in Smart Systems Integration.

In the second semester in Norway, the students study manufacturing methods and characterisation techniques for smart systems.

The third semester, in Hungary, focuses on MEMS modelling, analogue and digital hardware design for Smart Systems.

The fourth semester is devoted to the Master Thesis  

Each student will carry out an independent project for the master thesis work at one of the three institutions or with a collaborating partner (primarily industrial partners). The master thesis project will make use of the knowledge, skills and competences obtained from the taught semesters.

Study tracks – From the second semester the students have the option of selecting a course toward to specialisation in one of two directions in Smart Systems Integration.  

The study tracks are: Cyberphysical Systems and Smart Biomedical Systems. In the second semester the students can choose between two study tracks in accordance to their interests and then take the available course topics and laboratory projects based on the specialization in the subsequent study.

Industrial placement – The SSI+ Programme is supported by industry, giving the students opportunities to gain industrial experience and commercial awareness, and to apply the multidisciplinary knowledge acquired during the semesters.  

After the second semester the students may take the opportunity to take industrial, international or research internships. The second academic year starts with the Summer School in Hungary, with a technical and industrial programme. After the third semester the students are placed in an industrial environment before commencing the master thesis project in the fourth semester.

Transferable Skills: research preparation, readiness for entrepreneurship and understanding European Society. Those skills represent the 15% of the ECTS credits and are fairly equally distributed between the three semesters.  

A course in Advanced Writing Skills, Research Preparation and Entrepreneurship will prepare students for research methodology, scientific writing and how to start up a Company. For many of the students, this provides an opportunity to improve their reading and writing skills in English, and an opportunity to improve their scientific writing skills. The topics in Entrepreneurship will cover Intellectual Property, Writing up of a Business Plan, understanding Technology Readiness levels and How to create a start-up company. During the semesters dedicated courses deal with the culture and language of the hosting countries. Throughout the programme an emphasis is taken on developing good technical reporting, communication and scientific publication skills.
Transferable Skills17.5 ECTS
Advanced Writing Skills, Research preparation and Entrepreneurship5 ECTSSem. 1
Introduction to Scottish Society2.5 ECTSSem. 1
Norwegian Society, Language and Culture5 ECTSSem. 2
Introduction to Hungarian Language and Culture5 ECTSSem. 3

Fundamentals and skills related to manufacturing and technology are mainly taught in the first two semesters and represent about 30% of the ECTS credits.  

The related courses cover the fundamentals of smart systems and their integration with particular emphasis on hands-on work using the UV-LIGA process, a simple but versatile process that allows students to understand and put in practice the foundations of micro-manufacturing in a clean-room environment. A course on packaging and integration is delivered as these topics are fundamental to the understanding of the manufacturing and costs of a smart system, both for silicon-based and non-silicon based smart systems. These topics will also benefit from current cutting-edge research being undertaken in the university laboratories. In the second semester, the courses are built upon the first semester courses, with a focus on both classroom and laboratory teaching. A course in manufacturing processes for smart systems will continue the first semester teaching of the fundamentals of SSI, the focus will be on silicon processing, including laboratory work in the cleanroom facilities. The important topic of measurements and characterization will be covered, also with student laboratories on research-level measurement tools. This course is supplemented by the validation, testing and virtual instrumentation course held in the third semester, taking a step towards the automatized manufacturing and testing of smart devices.
Fundamentals and skills related to manufacturing and technology34 ECTS
Fundamentals of Smart Systems Integration7.5 ECTSSem. 1
Measurements and Characterization10 ECTSSem. 2
Advanced Packaging and Integration7.5 ECTSSem. 1
Manufacturing Processes for Smart Systems5 ECTSSem. 2
Testing, Validation and Virtual Instrumentation4 ECTSSem. 3

Students can choose between two study tracks in the second semester based on two fundamental Smart Systems Application area: Cyberphysical Systems (e.g. autonomous vehicles, smart sensors) or Smart Biomedical Systems (Lab-on-a-Chip devices, health monitors).  

The choice of Cyberphysical Systems study track implies choosing the subject of Microsystems Design in the second semester. This subject builds further upon “Sensors, Actuators and IoT” from the first semester, where the functionality and working principles of Sensors and Actuators were detailed. The subject of Microsystem Design will teach the students how to design Sensors and Actuators, in particular MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) devices.
The subject of Micro and Nano Biological Systems, being the other elective subject, is one of the speciality research fields of HSN/IMS, particularly through bio-MEMS and applications of smart systems for biological and biomedical systems. In the third semester, the students are arranged into groups and work together the design of a complete Integrated Smart System. The topic of this project is related to the chosen study track.
Smart Systems Applications25.5 ECTS
Sensors, Actuators and IoT7.5 ECTSSem. 1
Microsystem Design110 ECTSSem. 2
Intelligent Sensor Devices Project18 ECTSSem. 3
Micro and Nano Biological Systems210 ECTSSem. 2
Smart Biomedical Devices Project28 ECTSSem. 3

The Summer School prior the third semester is an exceptional opportunity for current and graduated (Alumni) students to meet and getting to know each other’s work and also provides feedback for the programme.  

The five days professional programme will be held in Hungary, at Lake Balaton as the most visited tourist destinations of Hungary. Presentations of “state of the art” by academic and industrial experts in Smart Systems Integration will be given, and also workshops with industry (the associated partners EPoSS and NCE-MNT, as well as other collaborating industry partners). Second-year students will present their newly finished master projects.

The third semester is dedicated to improve Design Skills through special courses in a chosen field of application area. Design and Application skills represent the 25% of the total ECTS credits.  

The courses are highly relevant to understand the design methods of smart systems. The courses take place at the MEMS and VHDL design laboratories of BME. The topics have been formulated to offer breadth of coverage in all aspects of smart systems design as well as the design of digital and high frequency integrated circuits surrounding smart sensors. The theoretical knowledge imparted in the classroom environment is supplemented by hands on laboratory design work using the state of the art CAD tools currently available. This provides a systematic approach of building smart systems by integrating the sensing or actuating functionality with its associated signal processing electronics.
Smart Systems Design14 ECTS
MEMS and IC co-design4 ECTSSem. 3
System Level Design4 ECTSSem. 3
Individual Project Laboratory5 ECTSSem. 3

The third semester ends with an Industrial Placement where the already achieved knowledge, skills and competences can be utilized in industrial environment.

The Master Thesis project in the last semester represents 25% of the total ECTS value.  

Each of the collaborating institutions will propose master projects for one-thirds of the students. The student group will be divided between the three institutions, as far as possible meeting the students’ first choice while still conforming to a fairly equal size of the student groups going to each institution. A large number of the proposed master projects will be in close collaboration with the associated partners EPoSS and NCE-MNT, as well as other collaborating companies.