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In the interdisciplinary programme, Strategic Media Development, you will learn how to make, critique and strategise digital media technologies. Building on a strong theoretical foundation, you will be trained to think critically about changing industries, technologies and cultures, develop creative hands-on skills to design new digital technologies, and drive strategic innovation and transformation through digital media.
New forms of digital media technologies emerge every day, affecting all aspects of our lives as well as changing how organisations and society operate, often in rapid and unexpected ways. From constantly changing forms of mobile communications to virtual and augmented reality, technologies offer new ways of interacting with each other, managing our wellbeing, studying, working and organising our societies.
Creating and managing this complex and rapidly changing media environment requires the ability to see beyond the hype and make informed and timely decisions. This calls for an advanced understanding of the complex interplay between people, organisational processes and digital technologies.
In this master’s programme you — the future professionals and researchers — will learn to navigate the complexities of this new media environment, and to lead the strategic development of future media technologies across various industries where digitalisation is happening and digital media is a key element of success.
The programme offers a unique interdisciplinary, research-based and industry-relevant curriculum that focusses on strategic media development in the data-driven society that is now emerging. As a student, you will learn how to work proactively from technological, business-oriented and user-centric perspectives to innovate and drive change with media. The programme offers ways for you to build and perfect your skills to:
Our courses teach you hands-on skills for finding clarity in complexity, framing problems, and working in creative, experimental ways when designing and prototyping a range of media technologies.
You will engage with cutting-edge research and theoretical perspectives on media. You will develop critical thinking skills that allow you to analyse and position media within cultural, historic, ethical, economic and technological contexts.
You will gain theoretical knowledge and practical skills for data analysis and visualisation, managing uncertainty, thinking and acting strategically, and creating value for organisations and society with media technologies.
The programme is part of a vibrant interdisciplinary research environment that includes the Data Society Research Platform and the Internet of Things and People research centre. You will take part in the ongoing faculty research projects during your specialisation course.
The programme has strong partnerships and relationships with industry experts and organisations from the local community. Our downtown neighbourhood is home to a number of media, technology and creative companies and organisations. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with local industry and gain real-world experience through cases, projects, and internships.
As the pace of technological change continues to increase, the industry will have access to new and extremely powerful tools. But at this break-neck speed of development, it will be increasingly difficult to navigate the plethora of opportunities. The new generation of leaders and entrepreneurs must, therefore, be adept at technology while at the same time being able to help organizations imagine the future, facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration and navigate uncertainty. Malmö University has developed a very ambitious master’s program to teach these skills.
Mats Weidmar, Co-founder and Innovation Strategist, Jayway by Devoteam
Our students come from all over the world and from various professional and educational backgrounds such as media technology, computer science, informatics, information systems, human-computer interaction, interaction design, media/IT management, game development, media and communication studies, and digital cultural studies.
In the age of rapid digitalisation of all industries and infiltration of digital media technologies in every aspect of everyday life, the demand for digital media experts is quickly increasing in several industries.
Graduates with a master’s degree in media technology may pursue several potential career paths. Our alumni typically take managerial positions within their professional domains or they explore new career opportunities related to the development and management of media technologies. They work as media strategist, developer, analyst, media manager, digital marketing manager and media consultant. A master's degree in media technology would also be relevant to positions that continuously emerge in the rapidly evolving media intensive industries.
DA612E Capstone Project in Computer Science and Media Technology, is within the main field of computer science. The course is not compulsory for, but can be included in, the degree requirements for a Master of Science in Computer Science.
Here you can find the entry requirements, as well as how the available study places are distributed between applicants in the selection.
If you have any questions about general admission, you are welcome to contact us.
1. Bachelor degree in media technology or in a related field with a minimum 180 credits. Examples of related fields include: computer science, informatics, information systems, human-computer interaction, interaction design, media/IT management, game development, media and communication science and digital cultural studies.
2. English proficiency equivalent to English 6 from a Swedish upper secondary school.
100% University credits completed
Gustaw Hall is an alum of the two-year Media Technology: Strategic Media Development master’s programme. Before his graduate studies, Gustaw had studied the IT and economy undergraduate programme at Malmö University.
Gustaw Hall is an alum of the two-year Media Technology: Strategic Media Development master’s programme. Before his graduate studies, Gustaw had studied the IT and economy undergraduate programme at Malmö University.
He graduated in 2022, and now works as a business intelligence (BI) consultant for Nexer in Malmö.
“I had a job offer even before graduation,” says Gustaw. “Since we learned the same technologies and methods that are being used in the industry, I got a good understanding of the kind of work I was going to do next. So, I’d say what we learned in the programme was directly applicable to real work life.”
As a BI consultant, Gustaw helps clients in both the private and public sectors and across a variety of markets which want to make better use of their data. These include clients within the insurance industry, the car industry, and Swedish municipalities. In his work, Gustaw is tasked with finding and using relevant data that a client is generating and to visualise the data in ways that improve the client’s ability to make strategically sound decisions.
“It could for example be that I extract data from the client’s databases with sales figures from stores to build a report with visualisations concerning sale figures across a period of time. By visualising the data in different ways, I bring it to life, and make it easier for management to see, patterns in the data and get a greater understanding of their business.”
It was during the master’s programme that Gustaw discovered his interest in data visualisation as a method for digital storytelling. For his master’s thesis, he used network analysis to visualise how a domestic far-right extremist group used social networks to tell their story and to recruit new members.
“I have always been interested in the relationship between technology and social issues. This is what motivated me to do my master´s thesis.”
Some of the benefits of the programme, according to Gustaw, are the opportunities for students to network and cooperate in projects with external companies and stakeholders.
”This programme suits people who want to work in a number of industries, not only in media. Because of its broad focus, you get knowledge of various business aspects, which means that a lot of different doors are going to open for you when you graduate.”
Alexander Liderås, 25, is a recent graduate from the Media Technology: Strategic Media Development master’s programme. He recently started to work as a project manager for Tietoevry in Malmö, a career opportunity that came to him via another alum of the programme.
Alexander Liderås, 25, is a recent graduate from the Media Technology: Strategic Media Development master’s programme. He recently started to work as a project manager for Tietoevry in Malmö, a career opportunity that came to him via another alum of the programme.
“After I graduated from the media production and process design bachelor’s programme here at Malmö University, I felt that my skillsets were a bit scattered,” explains Alexander.
“So I decided that I needed to specialise and focus on digitalisation from a business development perspective. I found out about this master’s programme, and it felt like a match made in heaven.”
Alexander, who grew up in the Swedish town of Västerås and moved to Malmö to study, describes himself as someone who is comfortable in a project leader role. He loves problem solving and wants to find flexible work with lots of room for creativity.
”The programme gave me a good understanding of many different aspects of my field, and I felt well-prepared to jump right into my professional career. This feeling came from the fact that I had already done a great deal of ‘real work’ throughout the course of the programme, so I understood what would be expected from me.”
One thing Alexander liked about the master’s programme was the flexibility in the assignments. Through dialogue with the teachers, he was able to help shape the assignments, which felt extra motivating. Overall, the courses include a lot of group work, something which Alexander enjoyed.
In the programme courses, Alexander liked the data sprint assignments the most. During these two-week group assignments, he and the other student in his group would receive a data set from one of the programme’s external collaboration partners. They would then be asked to visualise the data to help solve a client’s real-life problem and then prepare and pitch their solutions to the partner companies.
“I liked the intensity of the assignments and fact that the data sprints so closely resembled real work life situations. Once we got the data set on the first day, we would need to have an idea by the end of that day and then just keep on working under time pressure. By the end of the first week, we would start preparing for how we would present our case to the customer.”
According to Alexander, the skills he and the other students learned in the programme are by no means useful only in the media, advertising and marketing industries.
“This programme suits people like me, who want to work behind the scenes, come up with cool ideas and then put those ideas into this world. If you want to lead projects and work strategically with digital content, you should consider applying to this programme.”
Sebastian Hastrup is an alum of the Media Technology: Strategic Media Development master’s programme. He is a former PhD student in computer science at Malmö University and a lecturer in media technology at Blekinge Institute of Technology.
Sebastian Hastrup is an alum of the Media Technology: Strategic Media Development master’s programme. He is a former PhD student in computer science at Malmö University and a lecturer in media technology at Blekinge Institute of Technology.
The programme was interesting and challenging. It forced me to think critically about media and design problems. I particularly liked how it enabled me to make use of my previous knowledge in new contexts.
I wanted to widen my perspective on media theory and media culture. Added to that, I had decided to pursue a career in academia, so a master’s degree was the obvious next step.
I come from a mixed background in terms of disciplines, and previous to the master’s degree I also had several years experience in lecturing within different media technology topics. I think the programme suited me well because I like to work in different disciplines. So if you have acquired skills in some media-related subject or practice and want to put it into meaningful contexts, you should apply for the programme. Students applying for the programme should ideally be open for different approaches and practices in media technology.
In terms of preparation, completing a master’s thesis was a revelation in that I realised that I had the ability to do research on a higher level. My research studies will focus on sonification, i.e. using sound as a medium to understand data. In particular, I want to look at how interaction and aesthetics can have an effect on sound perception.
There were instances throughout the courses were we could take part in ongoing research projects. There were also some thesis projects offered from different companies in the region.
See a presentation film for Sebastian’s master thesis project Reactiscape
