Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

The Master is aimed at Graduates, Higher Engineers, Technical Engineers (degrees equivalent to 240 ECTS credits) in knowledge areas related to the Master. Accreditation of basic knowledge in Electronics; Circuit Theory, Signals and Systems; Electromagnetism; Computer Science; Software and Simulation Tools is required. Advanced knowledge in the aforementioned points will be positively valued.

Yes. The teaching of the Master is based on the use of the Virtual Learning platform of the University of Seville, which each student can access with the user and password provided upon enrollment. In this platform, each subject has a space where the teaching material (documents, presentations, videos, etc.) is hosted. The coordinator of each subject provides information on how it is scheduled, taught, and evaluated.

The virtual nature of the Master implies flexibility of schedules, since it is the student who, day by day, sets their own pace of learning. Interaction with the faculty is intended to be as fluid as possible, establishing email as the most immediate mechanism for communication. If direct communication (videoconference, phone call, etc.) is needed, a schedule that satisfies the requirements of the teacher and the student will be established, specific to each subject.

The defense of the Master's Thesis can be done in person or by videoconference. The only requirement for physical presence refers to the External Academic Internships, which can be taken as an elective subject.

ECTS credits are used as a unit of measurement within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA or Bologna framework) and measure the total hours of student dedication, considering both class hours and personal study hours:

1 ECTS credit = 10 class hours + 25 student study hours

A 6 ECTS credit subject of a generic degree is therefore equivalent to 60 class hours and 150 study hours. In this Master, being online, class hours refer to hours of online activity.

In general, the thematic units in the different subjects will be released on the Virtual Learning platform as the learning objectives are covered. For this, the evaluation mechanisms that the teachers deem appropriate will be articulated in each subject and published on the Virtual Learning platform well in advance. Interaction with the teacher is intended to be as fluid as possible, establishing email as the most immediate mechanism for communication. Through it, tutorials or other online attention mechanisms can be arranged.

The evaluation system for each specific subject is set by its teachers and is included in its teaching project, information that is also published in the Virtual Learning platform well in advance.

In general, the Master's subjects are evaluated through assignments, delivery of exercises, projects and/or exams, etc. In some cases, videoconferencing is considered as a direct interview resource with the student.

The Master begins in October and is divided into two semesters. In the 1st semester (October-February) the compulsory subjects are taken, while in the 2nd semester (February-June) the specialization lines (elective subjects) are taken. One of the compulsory subjects extends throughout both the 1st and 2nd semesters.

The Master's Thesis can be carried out from the beginning of the 2nd semester and defended, according to current regulations, on the dates and conditions published in our Master's Thesis section.

Students of the University of Seville who enroll for the first time in a subject have 2 annual calls to which they can present themselves for evaluation:

• For 1st semester subjects of the Master, the dates are: 1st call in February and 2nd call in July.
• For 2nd semester subjects of the Master, the dates are: 1st call in June and 2nd call in July.

Those students who enroll in second or successive enrollments have the right to a 3rd call in the first semester of that same academic year.

You can check more details and specific dates for the current academic year in the Calendar section of the Master's website.

Chronologically, the order of holding the calls during an academic year is 3rd, 1st, and 2nd call, so, to have the 3rd call, you must be a repeating student of the subject and, therefore, have paid new enrollment fees for that subject. However, if the student passes the subject in the 3rd call, they have the right to a refund of 70% of the enrollment costs.

The enrollment rules of the University of Seville for Bachelor's and Master's Degrees are approved annually for each academic year by Rectoral Resolution. You can check all the details in this link to the most recent Enrollment Regulations.

Keep in mind that all the Master's subjects but one are semester-based and usually have their evaluation calendars adapted to the default option that students are evaluated in the 1st call (February for 1st semester subjects and July for 2nd semester). However, this does not imply that it is the only available call; the student can freely decide which calls to attend. If your intention is to extend the study and evaluation of a subject beyond the semester in which it is taught, it is advisable to inform the teachers of said subject so that they are aware.

The timing of the studies is reflected in our Calendar section. The reason it starts slightly later than other master's studies at the US is that, in our case, being an online Master, our classrooms are the Virtual Learning platform. This requires the academic year to start once the enrollment period has completely ended and the IT and Communications Service (SIC) of the US has provided all enrolled students with access to the platform.

The time it takes a student to finish the Master depends fundamentally on their level of dedication and their level of prior training in the knowledge areas related to the Master. In the case of students with a highly compatible entry profile and full-time dedication to the Master, it is usual that compulsory and elective subjects are passed during one academic year and the Master's Thesis is presented during the first semester of the next.

Yes, the Master can be taken part-time and many students have done so previously.

Students who cannot dedicate themselves to the Master full time or who, due to their training and entry profile, foresee possible deficits that require compensating with greater dedication, have the possibility of enrolling in only 30 ECTS credits. Subsequently, they can enroll for an additional 18 ECTS credits during the enrollment extension phase. With this recommendation, students without full dedication are encouraged to take the Master in two years.

Under certain circumstances regulated in the Student Regulations of the University of Seville, it is possible to further reduce the lower limit of credits that applies to standard enrollment (30 ECTS).

The teaching load of the Master's Thesis (TFM) is 9 ECTS credits. The TFM report can be written in English or Spanish, with a free format and length.

For those students enrolled in the TFM, at the end of the 1st semester, an offer of projects with their corresponding tutors will be published, and an application period will open to make the corresponding assignment. If the student has already made prior contact with the teachers and has already agreed to carry out a specific TFM, the student will appear as a "preferred student" in said offer. Likewise, co-direction of TFMs between Master's teachers and teachers from other institutions is contemplated. The defense can be done in person or by videoconference.

More detailed information on the regulations and available calls can be found in our Master's Thesis section.

Students enrolled in "External Academic Internships" (an elective subject and the only one that involves face-to-face interaction) will be contacted during the 1st semester to inform them about the options of companies and research centers where they can carry out the internships, as well as to gather their opinion regarding time and location availability to carry out the activity, which must always be in person.

Within the Master, curricular external internships can be taken optionally (a 6 ECTS subject in the 2nd semester). The External Internship Regulations of the University of Seville, in its Article 50, indicate that the student may request the recognition of up to six credits per year of accredited work or professional experience, provided that this is related to the skills inherent to the degree.

In turn, the Regulations for the Recognition and Transfer of Credits state that work experience will be recognized by external internship credits if the degree contemplates the possibility of them in its study plan.

If you work or have worked in a company in the Microelectronics sector, it may therefore be of interest to you to request the recognition of your work experience and validate this subject.

The Master is equivalent, in its conception, to the teaching period of the old Doctoral Programs. Passing this Master allows direct access to the PhD in Physical Sciences and Technologies of the University of Seville, under the supervision of a professor or researcher, in any of the following research lines:

• Analog, Mixed-Signal and RF Circuits and Systems
• Sensors, Imagers, Vision Systems, MEMS and Microsystems, Embedded Systems
• Bio-Medical and Bio-Inspired Circuits and Systems, Emerging Technologies
• Design and Test Methodologies. "Hardware-Software" Co-Design
• Circuits and Systems for Cybersecurity

Teaching in the Master is based on the use of the Virtual Learning platform of the University of Seville, to which each student will be able to access with their UVUS details (Virtual User of the University of Seville).

When newly admitted students complete the self-enrollment process, they are automatically provided with the UVUS and informed of their default password.

If at the end of this process you do not have UVUS due to any incident or have problems accessing the platform, you must send an email to sos@us.es attaching a signed request to obtain the UVUS and change the password, your scanned ID or passport on both sides, and your contact details. You can request the application form template from the coordination at master_info@imse-cnm.csic.es.

Those students who were already previously enrolled at the University of Seville or have previously requested the university card, already have a UVUS and access password.

The Virtual Learning tool is configured by default in Spanish. If you wish to change the language to English, you must log in identifying yourself with your UVUS and then go to the "Navegación Global" section, located in the upper right part of the window (where your username appears). Clicking on the drop-down tab, select "Configuración" -> "Información personal" -> "Cambiar la configuración personal" and you will be able to modify the default language.

To specify the email address to which the announcements sent through the platform will be forwarded, access by identifying yourself with your UVUS and go to the "Navegación Global" section (top right). In the drop-down menu, select "Configuración" -> "Información personal" -> "Editar información personal" and fill in or modify the "Correo electrónico" field, indicating your usual address (Gmail, Hotmail, etc.).

The University of Seville makes various services available to its students that can be consulted on its main web portal, among which stand out the personal information management system through Web Mailbox (with corporate email service, virtual disk, etc.) and access to extensive bibliographic resources through the Fama Library catalog, which can be consulted both in person and completely online.

To make use of these services, the UVUS is required; that is, the same username and password provided to access Virtual Learning.