SuperWise: Match with the perfect thesis supervisor

During the summer semester of 2025, the students of the App Development Lab were asked to develop a product as a mobile-optimised end-user application. This task was performed in teams where each team had to manage their project, workload, and time to deliver a production-ready app by the end of the semester. Four possible projects were offered, and it was up to each team to decide which one to work on. One of the projects was Match Maker -- a convenient way to find a supervisor for your thesis.

Objective

SuperWise is an example of a solution designed at at USTP -- University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten to match students and supervisors based on an advanced, AI-supported algorithm. It aims to offer an improved way to initiate and keep track of supervision requests, for both students and supervisors. Before this project, students often did not know who to ask to supervise them, whose expertise fits their thesis best and who still has open spots. Also, it was easy to lose track of which supervisor they already requested. Supervisors are often overwhelmed by the number of supervision requests they receive by students and the time-consuming process of having to ask students for more information about their topic. With SuperWise, they can keep track of who they are already supervising and how many more open spots they have.

The goal of the students' project was to improve this procedure, not only by simplifying it, but also by substantially improving the user experience as the procedure does not involve multiple platforms such as eCampus, Microsoft Teams, email, etc. anymore. The app should support users in having their necessary information on their profile and finding a supervisor quickly and easily. It is a PWA (progessive web app), so it leverages all the capabilities of a native app, while also being a full-fletched website. Target users include university lecturers, university administrators, and students.

Project steps

To achieve this goal, the students proceeded with a user-centred approach, involving students and lecturers in different stages of the app’s design and development. Each student performed a specific role in the project, including design, development, quality assurance, and management. The students implemented Scrum and reported on product increments to their project manager every week. They also had to meet with other students and lecturers periodically during the semester to report the intermediate status of their application and obtain feedback.

Outcomes

The main outcome of the project is an open-source application, which can be added to a university’s ecosystem for simplifying the thesis student-supervisor matching process. The platform requires a secure login and allows for a quick profile setup. It works well on both small and large screens, making it easy to manage supervision on the go. When opening the app, the student can start their search and view potential supervisor profiles quickly to find a perfect match and send a request. The supervisor can easily manage all received, accepted and declined requests. Once a student-supervisor pair is found, a confirmation can be downloaded.

The project can be found on github.