Computer Science - MSc

Within the module of Computer Programming you will learn the key skills of Programming and how this relates to technology and communications.  Programming is an engineering tool that plays a vital role to drive most of the modern technologies surrounding us, including the technological devices for communication, transportation and entertainment. In other words, it can be said that our modern lifestyles are heavily dependent on programming. Moreover, businesses increasingly rely on computers and the software run on them. Programming skills and a broader and deeper understanding of programming are therefore becoming increasingly important to the jobs market.  

This module is about software engineering with a focus on software design. It covers three stages of the software engineering life-cycle, requirements, design and implementation, but with a focal point on design and an emphasis on the design theme. The module provides the necessary skills to construct models of requirements and designs. The standard UML is used as the modelling language, the vehicle through which important design concepts are explored to convey a software engineering ethos based on getting it right by adequately studying the problem and mindfully constructing designs of software solutions.  

This module provides a comprehensive introduction to a vitally important core IT topic (database technology) that is found in almost every IT installation in the world and as such provides extremely good transferable skills. The module not only introduces you to traditional database skills and knowledge (data models, normalization, SQL etc.) but also looks forward into the future IT world via OO, XML and web-database technologies. Once mastered, these database skills will provide a firm foundation for higher-level academic study or a rewarding IT career. 

This module aims to provide you an in-depth knowledge of the skills and techniques required to develop web applications. The module will equip you with skills for client-side programming, serverside programming, and backend services e.g. databases to build modern web applications. You will also learn how to deploy and maintain web applications.

The amount of data produced by humans and machines today far outstrips the ability of humans to consume, analyse, and make complex decisions based on that data. Artificial intelligence forms the foundation of all machine learning and reflects the future of all contextual decision making. From healthcare to finance, AI now impacts nearly every industry by dramatically improving workplaces' efficiencies and expanding the capabilities of the work humans can do.  When AI takes over repetitive or dangerous tasks, minimises occurrences of 'human error', or support decision-making, it frees up the human workforce to do work they are better equipped for, involving creativity and empathy.

This module prepares you for the research project that you will undertake towards the end of your master’s course. It equips you with knowledge and transferable skills that will also help you in your subsequent career, for example, when you are asked to write a report or to carry out an IT project. You will become familiar with the research literature in your discipline, research methodology and research ethics, as well as project management tools, methods and techniques.

The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and research-informed Level 7 project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. In agreement with your supervisor, you will decide upon your topic which will take the form of a practical outcome (artefact) with accompanying contextual material. The main consideration when choosing your topic is that it must be aligned to the programme you are studying and informed by the research strategy of your school, and you should consider the relevance of this topic to your future academic or professional development.