How do second-cycle studies at KTH work?

Study visits. What may a computer scientist do after graduation?

The objectives and parts of the Master's programme: courses, tracks and master thesis.

Channels to find interesting jobs, internationalization, the future for computer science in the working life, ethical responsibility, minorities and equality, lifelong learning

The role of computer science applications to reach economically, socially and ecologically sustainable development

Self-reflection. What do I want with my education?

Evaluation of the programme. Participation in research studies.

After passing the course, the student shall be able to

• review critically and reflect on both the set-up and implementation of the education as well as their own study situation
• compare different workplaces and professions relevant to computer scientists
• reflect in a deeper way over different topics relevant for the professional role, such as channels to find interesting jobs, internationalization, the future for computer science in the working life, ethical responsibility, minorities and equality.
• reflect on and discuss the role of computer science applications to reach economically socially and ecologically sustainable development
• plan and carry out assignments within stipulated time
• identify their need of additional knowledge and continuously develop their skills in relation to the objective of the education and the future professional role

in order to be able to

• obtain the most of the education and the working life in a long-term perspective,
• influence the development of the programme.

The programme integrating course (called "prosamm") is four semesters long and spans both years of the master's programme in computer science at KTH. 

The course uses reflective writing, peer comments and discussions as the main educational instrument. The students of the programme are divided into groups of about 12-16 people. Each group is assigned a KTH teacher as mentor and discussion leader. The mentor is usually an active researcher in the specialisation track you have chosen.

There is one reflective assignment in each of the study periods of the programme. It thus takes two years to finish the course. You will, in total, reflect on eight different topics that are of importance to your future role as a professional computer scientist. You are provided with material (text to read, videos to watch, questions to think about) that prepare you for writing and submitting a reflection document on one of the topics. You then read and comment on other students' reflections and finally meet them and your mentor in a one-hour seminar where the topic is discussed. The seminar is usually in the form of a walk in the park surrounding KTH. Students who cannot join the walk can participate in an alternative zoom seminar with another mentor.

There may also be other tasks included in the assignment, such as a study visit (one per year) or filling out a questionnaire.

Additional learning activities are information sessions where different aspects of the programme are presented and discussed, for example the contents of the different tracks, how to choose courses in order to gain the most from the programme, why the mandatory courses have been singled out as mandatory, etc. 

You find a detailed list of activities under Syllabus/Kursöversikt in the course room in Canvas.

Joint schedule for prosamm25 (year 1 students) and prosamm24 (year 2 students)

There is no textbook. The course material is provided in the Canvas course room.

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

• UPP2 - Exercises, 1.0 credits, grading scale: P, F
• UPP1 - Exercises, 1.0 credits, grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

If the course is discontinued, students may request to be examined during the following two academic years.

The assignments consist of reflection seminars, reflection documents, fellow student feedback and questionnaires

UPP1 consists of the activities during the first year of the course and UPP2 consists of the activities during the second year.

Each year, there are four reflection assignments. In each reflection assignment, your mentor must assign you a passing grade of "P" in each of the following three parts that all have a corresponding column in Canvas under Grades/Omdömen:

• write a reflection document that fulfils the requirements,
• write comments on the reflection document of six other students,
• participate actively in the seminar.

A reflection assignment may also include other mandatory tasks, such as a study visit or answering a questionnaire, that also require a "P" to pass and have their own column in Canvas under Grades/Omdömen.

For more information on these requirements and what to do if you miss one of them, read below.

The reflection assignments

There are eight mandatory reflection assignments in the course - one for each of the eight study periods of the master's programme. Each topic is of importance to your future role as a professional computer scientist at master's level and thus worth reflecting on. The complete list of topics is found in the course syllabus. 

In this course, it is important to pay attention to deadlines and detailed instructions. One of the intended learning outcomes is that you should be able to plan ahead, carry out assignments promptly and respect deadlines. 

At the beginning of the semester, all the deadlines of the coming semester are published in the course syllabus. This will help you plan your time.

The instructions of the assignment are not available directly at the start of the study period, but will be published in the Canvas course room one week before the deadline for submitting the reflection document. It is important that you reserve time during that week for working on the assignment.

In the following, we explain the different steps of an assignment. 

The preparations

• Study the preparation material that is included in the assignment. It will be in the form of e.g. texts to read, videos to watch, a study visit, questions to reflect on. 
• The assignment usually consists of three parts (writing a reflection document, making comments and attending a seminar), but sometimes there are other elements, such as a study visit or filling out a questionnaire. Read the instructions carefully in order not to miss anything!

The reflection document

• Based on the preparations, write a reflection document in which you answer and reflect on all the questions given in the assignment.
• The document must be written in a personal and reflective style. If you are not used to reflective writing, there is a link to an explanatory video in the first assignment of each academic year. 
• The document should be between 500 and 1000 words. Not too long, not too short.
• The document must be written in English.

• Note that there are strict limitations on how you can use generative AI in this course:

  • When you write the reflection document, you are welcome to use generative AI for typesetting with LaTeX and for proofreading (checking the spelling and grammar) of your text. You do not need to disclose that you have used generative AI in this way.

  • You are not allowed to submit any text that has been directly produced by a generative AI tool.

  • However, you may use generative AI in order to research ideas that you intend to write about in your reflection – but in this case you must disclose how you made use of generative AI. For each use of generative AI (except for assistance with typesetting and proofreading), you must explain in writing which generative AI tool you used and which prompt you gave to the tool. Include the explanation at the end of your reflection document. The explanation does not count towards the total number of words required for the reflection. Example: "My reflection on X has been researched using AI tool Y with the following prompt:...". 

• You can prepare your document in the editor of your choice, but in order to submit it, you need a personal Google account. If, for any reason, you don't want to submit using Google, you find an alternative later in this text.
• Put the text of your reflection in a document in Google Docs and give it a self-explanatory name such as YourName-YourProsammYear-TheNumberOfTheStudyPeriod. Example: KarlGustav-Bernadotte-prosamm25-period4.
• Make your Google document readable and commentable by others. 
• In the Canvas course room, find the link that leads to the Canvas home page of your group. It should be clearly visible as a menu item when you connect to the course room. If you can't find your group's page or don't know your group number, contact the course coordinator.
• On the group's Canvas home page, there are links to pages provided for submitting the reflection document of each assignment. Choose the relevant submission page, edit that page and enter a line of text that mentions your name. Turn the text into a link that leads to the URL of your Google document.

The comments

• When you have submitted your own reflection, read the reflection documents of all the other group members.
• Choose six of them and write at least one reflective comment in each of those six documents. When you choose the documents to comment on, at least two must be from year 1 (prosamm25), two from year 2 (prosamm24) and the remaining two are free of choice. The year of the author should be clearly visible in the file name (as per the instructions above). 
• Your comments must be reflective and have some sort of content, not just "I agree", at least not as your first comment to an author. If the comments turn into a longer discussion thread within the document, perhaps with several participants, it is natural if one of your later comments is "I (don't) agree".
• You will probably receive comments on your own reflection. In that case, it is a requirement that you reply, in a reflective manner, to at least one of the comments you receive. Out of courtesy to your fellow students, you may want to reply to all or most of them.
• You are not allowed to use generative AI tools (except for proofreading) when you comment on other students' reflections or write replies to comments you have received.

The seminar

• The seminar will take place shortly after the deadline for commenting on other students' reflections. It is usually on a Tuesday or Thursday.
• When the assignment is published, you will see the exact date, time and meeting place of your group's seminar. Note that a seminar is 50 minutes long. The starting time is often 10 minutes past the hour.
• You will meet your mentor and fellow group members at an address on KTH campus and then you will usually all go for a walk in the park surrounding KTH.
• During the walk, the mentor will initiate discussions on the topic of the assignment. Make sure that you participate actively.  
• At some point during the seminar, the mentor will check who is present. It is important that you make sure your name is noted. 
• After the seminar, the mentor will enter a Pass grade in Canvas for those who were present during the full seminar and participated actively in the discussions.
• Note that late arrival is not a good idea. You are supposed to be present during the full 50 minutes of the seminar for a Pass grade. Be punctual.

The grading

• The mentor of your group will read all the reflections and comments and assign a Pass grade in Canvas Grades/Omdömen for those who fulfil the requirements, as well as the grade for the seminar. This should happen within two weeks of the seminar.
• If you do not see a grade in Canvas Grades/Omdömen within two weeks of the seminar, send an email to your mentor to ask what happened. If there is no reply within a week, contact the administrative course coordinator.

What if you don't want to submit your reflection as a Google document?

There is a workaround for those who don't want to submit their reflection as a Google document and/or don't want to insert comments in a Google document of another student. 

• Instead of putting your reflection in a Google document, put it in a file in PDF format (no other formats are accepted). Use the naming convention already mentioned above. 
• Instead of writing your comments in the Google documents of the other students, write a document in the editor of your choice where you collect, for each comment you want to make, the name of the student whose document you want to comment, a quote of the relevant part of the document and finally your comment. Convert your file to PDF format. Use a self-explanatory file name, e.g. comments-by-KarlGustav-Bernadotte-prosamm25-period4.pdf
• Upload both files (your reflection document and your collection of comments) to the relevant submission page for your group in Canvas. Look for the command Files/Filer on your group's home page

Active participation in all compulsory activities and passed reflection documents.

What happens if you cannot participate in the seminar?

If you know in advance that you will not be able to participate in the seminar, you should try to swap groups with another student. There is a seminar group swap page provided for this purpose. Do this well ahead of time. At the seminar, make sure that both mentors take note of the right name of the student.

Another possibility is to participate in the Zoom seminar that is held as an alternative for those who cannot participate in the walking seminar with their regular mentor. You find information on the date and time in the assignment instructions. At the seminar, make sure that the mentor in Zoom makes a note of your name.

If you still cannot participate in the seminar, you can do the substitute assignment for a missed seminar:

• Write a document of two pages (not one, not three) where you reflect on the reflections of all other members of your group. You can, for example, analyse if several of them express the same opinion, or perhaps the opposite, and reflect on the reason.   
• It must be apparent that you have really read all the reflections. Your reflection must be written in the same personal and reflective style as usual. Don't use any generative AI tool to write the text for you. See the information in the course room on the use of generative AI. 
• Send your two-page document by email to your mentor in PDF format.   
• If you don't get a confirmation within two weeks, send a reminder to your mentor. If there is no reply within a week, contact the administrative course coordinator.

Note that the above substitute assignment only concerns your absence from the seminar. You must still submit your reflection document on time and comment on other students' reflections.

What happens if you do not submit your reflection document on time?

Please do your best to submit on time, otherwise you disturb the chain of events in the course. Students get the most of this course if they can count on other students meeting the deadlines.

If you still cannot submit your reflection document on time, you can do the substitute assignment for a missing reflection document: 

• Do the preparation part of the assignment as usual and write a reflection document of double the usual length (write at least 1000 words).    
• Make your reflection accessible via your group's submission page in Canvas as usual.
• Also send the reflection by email to your mentor in PDF format.
• If you don't get a confirmation within two weeks, send a reminder to your mentor. If there is no reply within a week, contact the administrative course coordinator.

What happens if you do not comment on other students' reflections on time or if your comments were insufficient?

Please do your best to comment on time, otherwise you disturb the chain of events in the course. Students get the most of this course if they can count on other students meeting the deadlines.

If you still cannot make all your comments on time, or if your mentor couldn't assign you a Pass grade, you can do the substitute assignment for missing comments: 

• Note that it is no use making comments directly in other students' documents later than the regular deadline. They will usually not be read and do not count in the course.
• Instead, write a document where you collect the comments you would like to make. You have to comment all the reflections submitted in your group. In the document, for each of your comments, write the name of the author of the reflection that you are commenting, include a quote of the relevant part of the other document and write your comment.
• Additionally, check if you have received comments on your own reflection from other students. In your document, state how you would have replied to each of those comments.
• Remember that you are not allowed to use generative AI tools (except for proofreading) when you comment on other students' reflections or write replies to comments you have received. See the information in the course room on the use of generative AI. 
• Send the document as an email to your mentor in PDF format.
• If you don't get a confirmation within two weeks, send a reminder to your mentor. If there is no reply within a week, contact the administrative course coordinator.

What happens if you go on exchange studies?

The best solution is that you participate from abroad in the reflection assignments according to the usual deadlines, with some minor modifications as follows: 

• When you write your reflection document, make it a bit longer than usual (about 800-1100 words) by adding a couple of reflections on your exchange studies. They can be either within the context of the topic of the assignment or you can tell the reader something interesting about your host university. In this way, your group members and mentor can enjoy reading about a perspective from abroad. 
• Write this in capital letters at the top of your document "TO THE MENTOR: THIS REFLECTION IS WRITTEN DURING EXCHANGE STUDIES".    
• Submit your reflection document according to the usual deadline (Swedish time).   
• Comment on other students' reflections according to the usual deadline.
• If you have written your reflection according to the instructions above (800-1100 words etc), this replaces your presence at the seminar. Your mentor will enter a Pass grade for the seminar. If you have followed the instructions but don't see a Pass grade for the seminar, please remind your mentor.
• A special note if you are on exchange studies during period 2. This means you will miss the study visit in Stockholm that is needed to write the reflection document. Try to find a solution at your exchange destination, e.g. by organising a study visit at a local IT company or in a research group within computer science at your host university. The visit should last between 20 and 60 minutes. Please explain how it was organised in your reflection for period 2. If you cannot arrange this, you will have to do the substitute assignment for missing study visit that is described in the instructions for period 2. 

Is it possible to finish the course faster than 2 years?

That depends on your situation with the other courses in the master's programme. It sometimes (rarely) happens that a student, at the start of year 1 in prosamm, clearly can get the degree in less than four semesters at a normal study pace. This is normally due to unusual circumstances that do not apply to many students. 

If this is your situation, you should make sure to finish all assignments during your first semester of prosamm. When that is achieved, contact the administrative course coordinator at the beginning of the spring semester (start of period 3) in order to apply for the possibility of doing special assignments that replace the regular assignments that you would normally do later than getting your degree.

Your mentor will report the results from the seminars (reflection document, comments and participation) in Canvas, normally within a week after the seminar. If you do not see your results in Canvas within two weeks after the seminar, you should inquire with your mentor. If your mentor does not reply within a week, you can contact the administrative course coordinator.

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

EECS code of honour and use of generative AI tools

In this course, the EECS code of honour applies, see: http://www.kth.se/en/eecs/utbildning/hederskodex

Pay special attention to rule number 7 in the code honour on how to correctly use generative AI tools.

In this course, there are strict limitations on how you can use generative AI.

In all assignments of this course, you are welcome to use generative AI for typesetting with LaTeX and for proofreading (checking the spelling and grammar) of your text. You do not need to disclose that you have used generative AI in this way.

You may also use generative AI in order to research ideas that you intend to write about in your reflection – but in this case you must disclose how you made use of generative AI.

You are not allowed to submit any text that has been directly produced by a generative AI tool.

You are not allowed to use generative AI tools (except for proofreading) when you comment on other students' reflections or reply to comments you have received.

To ensure academic transparency, you must disclose whether and how generative AI has been used in your work. The disclosure should be made as follows:

For each use of generative AI (except for assistance with typesetting and proofreading), you must explain in writing which generative AI tool you used and which prompt you gave to the tool. Include the explanation at the end of your reflection document. The explanation does not count towards the total number of words required for the reflection. Example: "My reflection on X has been researched using AI tool Y with the following prompt:..."

Note! AI-generated references or quotes must be checked for accuracy and relevance.

In the course room, you will find more information on how you may use generative AI in this course.

The official course syllabus is valid from the autumn semester 2022 in accordance with the decision from the head of school: J-2022-0575.

Decision date: 21/03/2022