SECCLO Master's Programme in Security and Cloud Computing

The SECCLO Master's Programme in Security and Cloud Computing is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree bringing together a consortium of universities and educational institutions in Europe. Led by Aalto University, the consortium consists of:

• The KTH Royal Institute of Technology
• The Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• The Technical University of Denmark
• The University of Tartu
• EURECOM

The consortium also works with industry partners to provide internships, thesis positions, company visits and contributions to the course content. 

About the programme

SECCLO is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programme focusing on information security and cloud computing. Through this programme, students will gain practical engineering skills through a research-based curriculum. SECCLO aims to train professional engineers who can innovate and build the next generation of cloud and mobile computing services and applications. 

This two-year programme is taught in English and students will have the opportunity to specialise in an area of interest to them in their second year. This specialisation will dictate which university they attend in their second year.

Study programme

As detailed above, students will spend their first year at Aalto University and follow a common curriculum on Security and Cloud Computing. They will also have to attend a one-week summer school where new topics in the information security field will be presented and students will be able to network with each other before they move into their second year. Students will also need to complete a summer internship at one of the programme's industry partners or in an applied research project prior to beginning their second year of studies. 

The first year curriculum will cover fundamental concepts, methods and latest technologies on secure systems engineering, distributed application development, network and service architectures, ubiquitous computing, cloud and mobile computing platforms. Students will also be able to choose specialised courses on topics such as network and mobile platform security, computer networking, verification, and data mining. More information on the first year curriculum can be consulted.

The second year curriculum is offered by five universities with the final semester dedicated to the Master's thesis. The table below details the specialisations and the university offering the specialisation track.

The detailed curricula per specialisation can be found on the SECCLO page about the second year curriculum.

Requirements

The SECCLO programme sets out the following admissions requirements: relevant academic background, academic performance, recognition and quality of institution, motivation and commitment to SECCLO, other relevant achievements and English language proficiency.

In regards to the relevant academic background, applicants should have studied one of the following subjects:

• Mathematics (linear algebra, calculus, probability theory, statistics, and discrete mathematics)
• Programming
• Algorithms and data structures
• Databases
• Theory of computation
• Computer networks
• Web software and online services
• Software engineering

If applicants have also studied some of the following subjects, this will be an advantage to their application:

• Additional knowledge of mathematical methods
• Cryptography and its mathematical foundations
• Mobile applications
• Operating systems
• Distributed computing
• Cloud computing and big data
• Embedded systems
• Advanced computer networking
• Machine learning and data mining
• Information security

Alongside an applicant's academic background, their overall academic performance will be taken into consideration. Additionally, an applicant's home university recognition will impact how their academic performance is evaluated. Applicants will also need to detail their expectations of the SECCLO programme, career aspirations, relevant experience and achievements. Should an applicant already hold one Master's degree, they will need to express why another one is necessary. In regards to the English language proficiency, a strong test result will further support an application.