Projects
The master is project oriented and students are included in the research activities of the affiliated research groups. This project oriented emphasis expresses the goal of translating basic understanding into the construction of state of the art CSIMs, to generate a continuous forward-looking drive onto the basic research and development and to express in a concrete way the adherence to a synthetic methodology in the investigation and realization of CSIMs.
The master is essentially Research oriented although it also has a Professionally oriented branch. However, there are only subtle differences in the type of master thesis and project that the student does as a final phase of the master.
At CSIM we do not take proposals for master projects from the students. The usual procedure in CSIM is that the research groups that are affiliated to the program generate a list of projects (40-60 different projects per year!) and students choose from this list. There are several reasons for this. We want the projects to be sufficiently rich to provide excellent insight to the students. Students defined projects have a high probability of presenting a small scope or a very particular point of view. This can generate situations in which the student works in a very isolated context which we do not like. In contrast, projects proposed by research groups are defined within the larger contexts of complex projects funded by the European Commission, the Spanish government, the Catalan Autonomous government, or through agreements between the group and industry. This not only provides a very solid research context for the work of the student. It also provides a very rich environment where the student sees how the work is part of a much larger goal. Where it can be shared, compared and contrasted with that of other members of the research group and has a much stronger support.
From a logistic point of view, the projects proposed by research groups provide a highly reliable context for the student's supervision that guarantees the correct follow-up of the student's work and the feasibility of achieving a successful end. It may be sometimes very difficult to find a supervisor that will take the responsibility of guiding a project that has an external definition and that does not fully fall within the research scope of that researcher. Our quest is to always guarantee that all projects will be properly and adequately guided all the way through.
Research project:
The research project is essentially rooted within a larger research project of one of the research groups associated to CSIM. Choosing this type of project prepares you to later continue with your PhD studies (although CSIM takes no responsibility in linking you to any specific PhD program). However, this does not limit you to then be able to go out to business or industry.
Professional project:
The professional project is defined with the context of a specific collaboration between university and industry.
It is therefore not a residence program within industry or business. CSIM wishes to keep a clear control of the content and quality of these projects and therefore they are always defined within a larger project of one of the research groups associated to CSIM that is being done in collaboration with industry or business. It therfore allows the student to see how research and innovation is done within industry and how scientific knowledge is transferred onto practical settings in industry. However, this does not limit you to then be able to go on to a PhD program of your choice.