MASTER ACADEMIC STUDIES OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

CURRICULUM

 

Institutional language policy

The courses within this study programme are taught in Serbian language.

For all additional information on the courses or a study programme please contact the Erasmus institutional coordinator, Professor Saša Mijalković, PhD, the Vice-Rector for International and Institutional Cooperation, at e-mail: sasa.mijalkovic@kpu.edu.rs.

All information on the teachers who are in charge of the courses of this study programme are available in the following document: TEACHING STAFF.

 

Purpose of the Curriculum

The purpose of this curriculum is for the students to acquire an academic title of Master in Informatics and Computer Science. The contents of this curriculum refer to statistical methods and decision-making, digital forensics, digital telecommunication systems, software engineering, advanced architecture and operating systems, cryptographic tools and anti-hacking tools, biometric forensic identification, specifically AFIS and FIIS among them.

These contents are in accordance with the top notch scientific achievements and standards of crime-investigation and police practice in general. Master of Informatics and Computer Science is capable of doing the most complex jobs at the positions of police officers in the Ministry of Interior, which are of special social significance, as well as in other government and private institutions. Master of Informatics and Computer Science is also capable of becoming a part of an educational process and science and research work of institutions of higher education and science and research, where their knowledge is required (such as Faculty of Information Technologies, Faculty of Security, Military Technical Institute, Institute for Criminal and Sociological Research…). This curriculum provides the possibility for further education, i.e. for enrolment at doctoral studies.

 

Objectives of Curriculum

The objectives of master academic studies curriculum are:
• to adopt scientific methods (computer technologies, criminal-investigative and forensic) which provide competences to the profile of master in informatics;
• application of scientific methods for performance of complex jobs in the Ministry of Interior which refer to prevention and suppression of organized and high-technology crimes;
• the knowledge acquired will be applied when performing the tasks which require the knowledge of specific criminal-investigation methods and in other government bodies, organizations and non-government subjects;
• to adopt legal basis and ethical standards required for performance of specific police jobs.
• preparation for further studies, acquiring knowledge which is necessary and which would allow for further education at vocational and doctoral studies.

One of special objectives is to develop student awareness that there is a need for permanent education and development of a society as a whole.

 

Competences of Graduated Students

The student who passes all exams determined by the master academic studies curriculum and defends the master’s thesis is capable of solving the concrete problems using expert and scientific methods and procedures.

The acquired academic title provides for the following competences:
- quality processing of a high-technology crime scene and finding, retrieving, fixing and preserving traces and items;
- adequate use of automatic identification systems, the selection of quality samples and updating of data bases;
- knowledge of fundamentals of computer equipment and capability to work on various operating systems, primarily Windows and Linux; use of MS Office package, especially advanced use of Excel; use of basic Internet services;
- acquiring basic theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of computer architecture and organization, as well as understanding basic operative system concepts;
- learning phenomena and problems of digital electronic units in real implementation of digital circuits, both combination and sequential; getting to know functioning and use of standard memory and programmable components as well as the principles, implementations and use of signal-converting circuits and understanding and use of more complex digital systems;
- making students capable of independent data base designing and applications and to set complex enquiries over several tables; they can also actively use commercial RDBMS Oracle;
- adopting knowledge in the field of IT provides for successful work in the field of traffic safety;
- the student acquires knowledge necessary for: understanding, analysis and evaluation of work of a biometric system, the selection of the most favourable biometrics for concrete application as well as designing the appropriate biometric system.

Master of informatics is also capable of doing the following specific jobs:
- identifying persons based on unchanging biological characteristics of human bodies - biometrics;
- using software (open source and commercial) solutions, their integration in analysis, processing of virtual environment, finding software and hardware relicts and traces of a committed crime as well as recognizing manifested forms of high-tech crime;
- adequate level of practical application of corresponding methods in the system of national security and their comparison with the neighbouring countries.

As a rule, the competences of students are verified also by at least one paper at a domestic conference in the field of their master’s thesis.

 

Student Enrolment

The following candidates are eligible:
- candidates who have previously achieved the scope of undergraduate academic studies of at least 240 ECTS at the accredited curriculum,

In addition to the abovementioned, a condition is that the candidates have completed previous studies at the appropriate universities as follows:
- for the enrolment on Master Academic Studies in Information Technology – the faculty of natural sciences, faculty of technical-technological sciences, as well as criminalistics, safety, law and economy.

 

Entrance exam

Entrance exam for master academic studies of Information Technology is not necessary for a candidate who has completed undergraduate academic studies at the University at an appropriate department regardless of their GPA, or has completed them at another appropriate higher education institution with a GPA no less than 8.00.

Entrance exam for the curriculums of Information Technology consists of three out of six courses offered: Discrete Mathematics, Computer Architecture, Data Safety, Bases of Telecommunications, Computer Networks and Operative Systems.

For this curriculums each exam is eliminatory, with no possibility of taking them again. A candidate has passed the exam if they were graded with at least 11 of 20 points on the three exams that they take for the curriculums of Information Technology. Literature list for the courses of the entrance exam are available at the web site of the University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies www.kpu.edu.rs.

The ranking list of the accepted candidates is disclosed on the noticeboard of the University and on the web site of the University.

Ranking, that is, the order of candidates for enrolment to Master Academic Studies of Information Technology is determined based on:
- GPA achieved at undergraduate studies expressed in points (up to 40 points, or GPA at undergraduate studies multiplied by four) and
- GPA achieved at the entrance exam (up to 60 points).

Candidates that do not take entrance exam, that is, candidates that have completed academic studies at the University at an appropriate department regardless of their GPA, or have completed them at another appropriate high education institution with a GPA of at least 8.00 during their studies are awarded with the maximum of 60 points which refer to the entrance exam even though they are not taking it.