INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA

http://www.iit.du.ac.bd/

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

(MSSE)
1. Institute of Information Technology (IIT)

Institute of Information Technology (IIT), University of Dhaka started its journey in June 2001 to
create efficient manpower in information technology. IIT currently offers Bachelor of Science in
Software Engineering (BSSE), Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE), Master in
Information Technology (MIT) and Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology (PGDIT).
Apart from its regular activities, it also produces state-of-the-art researches and those are published
in world class journals and conferences. Specially, researches are focused towards the different
aspects of software engineering for establishing research culture in this extremely potential area.

IIT has a silent ambience and is adjacent to the Dhaka University Science Library. The four-storied
red ceramic IIT building contains six software laboratories, one seminar library and two large
classrooms. The laboratories and classrooms are air-conditioned and equipped with multimedia,
document camera system and Internet facilities.

2. Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE)

Software engineering is a systematic and disciplined approach to developing software. It applies

computer science, mathematics and business principles and practices to the creation, operation and
maintenance of software systems. It is now more than an integrated approach of design,
development, QA and maintenance rather than only programming. Therefore, it becomes
increasingly important that while understanding developing technologies, architectures and their
influence on software engineering processes, research for novel methods and methodologies on
those very issues. The research is the only sustainable way of meeting the ever increasing global
demands.

CNN/Money Magazine (2011) rated software engineering as the number one best job for salary and
opportunities [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/]. Software Engineering
graduates get employment as software developers and testers, software architects and designers,
team leaders and project managers, and executive-level positions in software development projects.
At the same time, the appeal of research and development on new findings gradually creating
inroads in this popular market. Even in Bangladesh, world-reputed companies like Samsung, LG
and many others are opening their research and development centers.

Master of Science in Software Engineering degree encompasses a wide range of activities covering
software engineering practice, software architectures, formal design methods, automated
verification, computational models and foundations in accordance with the traditional computer
sciences. Mary Shaw shows in his famous journal on research in software engineering that there are
six typical phases in this very new area of research which distinguished software engineering
research from other traditional fields like Physics, Chemistry etc. Those are: Basic Research,
Concept formulation, Development and Extension, Internal Extension and Exploration, External
extension, Exploration and Popularization. The aim of this proposed program is to introduce those
formal phases to the prospective students, and thus to make them ready for this newest challenge in
the industry.

This will be a three semester (one and half year) full time program, where there will be two explicit
parts. Half the semester credits will be allocated for theoretical studies to prepare students to do
research. The rest will be allocated to do research and formal publications.

This will be an elite degree for those students who have excellent grades and also possess strong
communication skills together with an outward worldly focus and personality.

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2.1 Eligibility and Admission

The seats for MSSE program are limited.

Candidates having good grades and have completed their undergraduate degree from IIT
through Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering (BSSE) (internal candidates), shall
get admission to the Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE) automatically.

2.2 Rules and Regulations

2.2.1 Degree Requirements

The minimum duration of the MSSE course shall normally be three semesters. A candidate
for the Masters degree must complete all the requirements for the degree within three
academic years (sessions) from the date of the first admission in the respective program.

For the degree of MSSE a student must earn a minimum of 36 credit hours including a
thesis for which 18 credit hours shall be assigned.

Since this is a regular program, all the students shall be considered as regular students and
shall be expected to finish within the stipulated time of three semesters.

According to the rule of the University of Dhaka, the registration of a Masters student is
valid for three years. This rule imposes the constraints of finishing the degree within the
registration period. Failure to finish the degree within the registration period shall force the
student to drop out.

Regular students must enroll for 12 credit hours per semester.

2.2.2 Course Load for MSSE Students

Academic progress shall be measured in terms of credit hours earned by a student. One credit hour
subject shall normally require one hour of class attendance per week for one semester; while one
credit hour of thesis/project should normally require two hours of work per week for one semester
including guided and unguided supervision; also one credit hour of laboratory should normally
require two hours of work per week for one semester. The number of credit hours for each subject
shall be as specified in the syllabus.

2.2.3 Breakdown of a Semester

The Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE) degree program in the Institute of
Information Technology, University of Dhaka is a one and half year program consisting of three
semesters having duration of six months each, and consists of:

3
 Weeks Purpose
15 weeks For holding classes
1 week Preparation time for examinations
3 weeks Semester final examination
3 weeks Result publication
4 weeks Vacation and holidays

2.2.4 Class Attendance for Final Exam Appearance

Less than 75% attendance will be treated as non-collegiate student. A non-collegiate student
has to apply to the chairman, Regular Program Office to sit for the examination and upon
the approval of academic committee, IIT; he/she has to deposit TK. 5000/- (Five Thousand)
as fine as per university rules.
Below 60% attendance, a student should not be allowed to sit for the examination as per
university rules.
Supplementary examination fee per course is TK. 2000/-

2.2.5 Unfair Means

Students are strictly forbidden from adopting unfair means. Students who will adopt unfair means
will be punished as per rules of the University of Dhaka.

2.3 Grading System

2.3.1 Definition of a Credit

The Credit is defined as follows:

Most of the courses will consist of both theoretical classes and laboratory works.
The total number of credits of a course will be distributed for both theoretical classes and
laboratory works as follows:

Class Hours/week
1 Credit Theory 1
1 Credit Laboratory 2

2.3.2 Letter Grade, Grade Points and their Meaning

Grades in each course will be assigned (in accordance with the rules of Faculty of Science,
DU/UGC) as mentioned below:

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 Marks Letter Grade Numeric Grade Comments
80% or above A+ 4.00 Excellent
>=75 but < 80% A 3.75 Better
>=70 but < 75% A- 3.50 Good
>=65% but< 70% B+ 3.25 Above average
>=60% but <65% B 3.00 Average
>=55% but <60% B- 2.75 Below average
>=50% but <55% C+ 2.50 Satisfactory
>=45% but <50% C 2.25 Not satisfactory
>=40% but <45% D 2.00 Pass
Less than 40% F 0.00 Fail
I Incomplete
W Withdrawn

The GPA (Grade Point Average) and CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) will be calculated
as follows:

GPA or CGPA= Grade Points in a Course X credits for that course

Total Credits taken
2.3.3 Assessment and Evaluation

Except the thesis, the total performance of a student in a given course will be based on continuous
assessment and course final examinations. Marks distribution will be as follows:

Continuous Assessment 50% of total marks

Course Final Examinations 50% of total marks

The continuous assessment may consist of class tests, attendance, seminars/presentations/viva-

voce, assignments, completion of projects, and mid-term examinations. The mentioned criteria to
assess a student will be justified by individual course teacher and he/she may set his own
assessment criteria except final examinations.

Assessment of Thesis Course:

All the students have to submit a thesis book at the end of their third semester. The thesis will be
evaluated by two examiners: two experts of the area of research (experts can be selected from IIT
or from outside of IIT selected by the supervisor of that thesis). The evaluation of the thesis will be
as follows:

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 Continuous Evaluation 20
Supervision 25
External 25
Defense 20
Publication 10

After having experts evaluation report, a student may have to revise his/her thesis and resubmit the
thesis. In case of having a "Fail" grade, a student has to retake the whole 18 credits of thesis.
After completion of writing the thesis, with the consent of the supervisor, a student may apply for
his/her thesis defense. The supervisor will arrange a rigorous thesis presentation at the seminar
room (open to all) and then arrange an interview session with the MSSE exam committee of IIT
and some experts on that area of research.

2.3.4 Promotion to the next Semester

The overall CGPA obtained by a student in the previous semester must not be less than
2.5.
A student will have to secure at least grade D in each course in the previous semester.
Students who achieved overall CGPA 2.5 but F in any course will sit for a supplementary
exam and he/she will get no more than B+ in that course.
Students fail to get promoted will retake that semester with the following batch. However,
a student may retake only those courses for which he/she got F grade.

3 MSSE Curriculum

3.1 Course Structure

In order to understand the program structure, the semester-wise credit distribution is shown below.
To address individual subjects, the following course prefixes have been adopted.
Semester 1
Course Code Course Title Credit Theory Lab
MS1001 Research Methodology 3 2 1
MS1002 Formal methods and Models in Software Engineering 3 2 1
MS1003 Secure Software Design and Programming 3 2 1
MS1004 Distributed Software Engineering 3 2 1
4 Courses 12 8 4

Semester 2
Course Code Course Title Credit Theory Lab
MS1XXX Elective 1 3 2 1
MS1XXX Elective 2 3 2 1
MS1007 *Thesis 6 - -
3 Courses 12 13 5

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Semester 3
Course Code Course Title Credit Theory Lab
MS1007 *Thesis 12 - -
1 Course 12 - -

* Thesis (MS1007) shall be considered as a single course of 18 credits, however spanned over 2nd
and 3rd Semester. The evaluation of this course will be done at the end of 3rd semester.

3.2 Elective Courses

The elective courses enrich students knowledge regarding advanced studies and research. More
promising course might be included here based on demand and the availability of the resource
personnel.
Number Course Code Course Name

1. MS1008 User Interface Design And Development

2. MS1009 Reusable Software Architecture

3. MS1010 Quality of Services for Software Architectures

4. MS1011 Information Security Theory and Practices

5. MS1012 Software Engineering and Security Architecture

6. MS1013 Security Risk Analysis and Management

7. MS1014 Software Engineering Economics

8. MS1016 Cloud Computing

9. MS1018 Mobile and Wireless Security

10. MS1020 Distributed Databases

11. MS1021 Data Warehousing and Mining

12. MS1026 Simulation and Modeling

13. MS1028 Algorithm and Optimization

14. MS1041 Software Evolution and Reengineering

15. MS1042 Computer Vision

16. MS1043 Wireless and Mobile Network

17. MS1044 Software Analytics

18. MS1045 Graph Theory

19. MS1XXX Empirical Methods in Software Engineering

20. MS1XXX Software Project Planning and Estimation

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** The Course code MS1XXX will be mentioned later.

3.3 Program Fee Structure

Since this will be the regular MS program offered within the jurisdiction of the University of
Dhaka, the program fee structure will be as per the university rules. However, if any additional
costs should incur, IIT holds the right to charge those extra fees with permission from the
Academic Committee of IIT.

4 Final Remarks

Software Engineering is an important stream of typical computer science what IIT is planning to
address. There are other streams such as, database, networking etc, which have acute market
demands. The future goal of IIT is set to produce quality researchers in those streams as well.

IIT authority will resolve any other points not mentioned in this brochure.