IMSE

The IMSE programme (120 ECTS) is organised in four successive phases over two years, each providing the core knowledge and developing the skills of the incoming students. The phases are as follows:

1. Development and monitoring of software services (University of Stuttgart)
2. Analysis of service enabled business processes (University of Crete)
3. Design of software services (Tilburg University)
4. Thesis: Services Science Topics (any location inside/outside Europe)

The first year comprises the first two phases: during the first phase students learn about middleware platform- and programming models to realise software services, while during the second phase they are trained in analysis and design of software services that realise global business processes.

In the second year, the emphasis shifts towards socio-economic analysis of service-enabled processes in service networks, and optimizing service network performance in terms of business-level key performance indicators (KPIs). The second semester of year two is devoted to thesis work.

Global orientation

Cooperation with both industry and research institutes, links the IMSE programme in a controlled and sustainable manner with the professional sector. IMSE will not only be enriched by knowledge and expertise from top quality research institutes but also by that from leading companies located in different continents, which again underlines the global orientation of the programme.

Course overview

The IMSE programme progresses from service middleware up to the layer of service networks, where courses in higher-level layers built on prerequisite courses in lower levels. An overview of courses can be found in the table below:

Table 1: Partners and courses per IMSE layer