Master Thesis: Modern software development relies on automated testing to detect defects and support
Removed from the employer's board on Oct 14, 2026. First seen by Alion on Sep 18, 2026. Ericsson scores A on the Alion truth index.
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About this opportunity:
Modern software development relies on automated testing to detect defects and support frequent delivery. However, high test coverage does not necessarily indicate that a test suite can identify meaningful faults. Mutation testing evaluates test effectiveness by introducing small, controlled changes, known as mutations, into source code and checking whether the tests detect them.
Traditional mutation testing can be computationally expensive because many code variants must be generated and executed. Some mutations may also be unrealistic, redundant, or equivalent to the original code. Large language models may help address these challenges by generating context-aware mutations, prioritizing relevant mutants, analyzing test results, and explaining weaknesses in existing test suites.
What you will do:
The goal is to design and evaluate a prototype that uses large language models to support mutation testing. The following steps are envisioned:
- Review research on mutation testing, large language models, and automated software testing.
- Investigate how language models can generate realistic mutations, prioritize mutants, or analyze mutation-testing results.
- Develop and evaluate a prototype on selected open-source software projects.
- Compare the approach with a conventional mutation-testing method.
- Measure mutation quality, defect-detection capability, execution time, and computational cost.
- Analyze the reliability, reproducibility, and limitations of the results.
The final scope may focus on one primary aspect of mutation testing, such as mutation generation, mutant prioritization, equivalent-mutant analysis, or the explanation of surviving mutants. The thesis should distinguish between improvements caused by the language model and those caused by the surrounding testing workflow.
The skills you bring:
- Master´s students in computer science
- Relevant experience in software testing and LLMs is preferred.
Why join Ericsson? At Ericsson, you´ll have an outstanding opportunity. The chance to use your skills and imagination to push the boundaries of what´s possible. To build solutions never seen before to some of the world’s toughest problems. You´ll be challenged, but you won’t be alone. You´ll be joining a team of diverse innovators, all driven to go beyond the status quo to craft what comes next.
What happens once you apply?Click Here to find all you need to know about what our typical hiring process looks like.Encouraging a diverse and inclusive organization is core to our values at Ericsson, that's why we champion it in everything we do. We truly believe that by collaborating with people with different experiences we drive innovation, which is essential for our future growth. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply and realize their full potential as part of our Ericsson team. Ericsson is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. learn more.
Primary country and city: Sweden (SE) || Linköping
Req ID: 791420