A crucial part of software engineering is learning what software solution is needed and the value it will deliver to both the company and the users. Our students, with their background in IT, already have an understanding of what is possible. Using their analytical capability and working under guidance of experienced analysts and designers they can now do the research that is needed to come up with a solution that is of real value to you and your customers.

The teams will follow a basic plan:

• Understand the vision and problem domain;
• Map the territory: identify where  necessary information can be found;
• Validate the problem: what exactly is the problem that is being solved, to whom is it a problem, and how significant is it
• Work out different solution scenarios 
• Design and, if time permits, run some experiments to test the most promising solution

✅ Key features of the challenge

• Students per team: 4-10 students
• Teams per challenge: 1-3 (when submitting indicate how many teams you prefer)
• Course: Requirements Engineering
• Programme: Software Engineering (UvA)
• No. of hours spent per team (based on four students): 200 hours
• Deliverables: Presentation, prototype and report with recommendations
• Company time investment: Your time involvement is around 12 hours
• Matching fee: €850,- (ex tax, charged by Master Challenge (NOT the university), that is a flat fee regardless of the number of teams you get assigned)

Some projects of the past years

• IT strategy to optimize digital presence in local markets
• Helping companies to become NIS 2 compliant
• Your smart assistant to find the right gift
• Using smart online presence to reach target groups and persuade them to visit art exhibitions
• What should the UvA offer to support life long learning
• Streamlining school administration
• Next generation of a well being app
• Selecting the right Learning Management System for the UvA
• Applicability of light weight cost estimation model for software projects
• User needs for Open Overheid
• Key features for travel website
• Key features for a job site
• Your Digital legacy

🏢 Company requirements

• To do good research the teams need good data, be able to talk to stakeholders, (future) users, and examine the current processes
• We encourage a wide variety of companies to apply and do not limit ourselves to a specific industry or sector

👉 What does the challenge ask of you as a company when matched to a team?

To get the teams up to speed please provide an elaborated briefing in the first week of the project, with links to relevant information. Also setup some first meetings with major stakeholders and future users.

💰 Costs

To help facilitate this challenge we charge a matching fee of €850,- (ex tax).

❗️You will only be charged when matched to a team.

❗️Non-profit organisations / NGO's / Overheidsorganisaties / Onderwijsinstellingen: free of charge

📨 How to apply

You can submit the challenge directly through the website. Provide a title that summarises the challenge. Subsequently, briefly elaborate on your challenge. See link for a template you could use: https://link.masterchallenge.me/challenge-template or use the challenge generator: https://masterchallenge.me/challenge-generator

🗓 Planning

• August 26: Deadline for submitting your challenge
• August 26 (or sooner): Receiving message if your challenge is approved by the Course Coordinator
• September 1-5: Matching phase
• September 1: Student teams rank the challenges
• September 2 (by 12pm): Challenge owners rank the student teams
• September 2 (afternoon): Matches are communicated
• September 9: Kick-off meeting with your team
• October 13-14, 9:00 – 17:00: Final presentations