MSc Advanced Computing

As a subject, Computing is continuously evolving. Its impact on society is such that the way in which people and organisations communicate, trade, socialise and learn has changed significantly over the course of only a few years. The advances made in the field of Computing are particularly evident in specific areas such as mobile applications, location-based services, cloud architectures, mapping via satellite imagery, bio-informatics and linked data initiatives by governments and the private sector.

 

 

With the growth in the demand for specialised Computing graduates, it is becoming increasingly necessary for Master’s graduates to be capable of integrating their specialist skills within project teams that require a diverse set of roles. It's not uncommon nowadays for complex software systems to have sophisticated requirements whose solution may involve a set of many specialist areas. Hence this programme aims to develop the future generation of software engineers and architects, knowledge engineers, enterprise architects, sensor network engineers and R&D specialists for applications such as pharmaceuticals and biomedicine, data analysis, business intelligence and marketing, medical applications, security and multimedia.

 

The programme challenges students to investigate and explore novel areas of Advanced Computing, embedded within one of the internationally leading research groups from the Department of Information Systems and Computing, so as to specifically prepare them to work and succeed in research environments (eg industrial R&D and academic research) where innovation, critical thinking and creativity are fundamental.

 

Aims

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

 

Develop a critical understanding of concepts, issues, tools and techniques relating to a specialist area of Advanced Computing.

Develop research skills that can be applied in both academic and industrial projects involving specialist areas of Advanced Computing.

Develop the technical knowledge and skills required to manage, design and implement software-based artefacts for specialist technologies, individually and in teams.

 

 

The course will cover the following areas:

 

Group Software Development Project

This will take place in Term 1. This is intended as an intensive, group activity to develop a software-based solution addressing a challenging and open-ended real world problem or need. Specifically you will gain (i) practical exposure of the complete software development process for a non-trivial product or service (ii) an understanding of state-of-the-art development processes, support tools and infrastructure (iii) improved ability to work effectively with others from varying backgrounds to accomplish a shared goal.

 

Advanced Computing and Software Technology

This aims to develop a critical understanding of advanced technology (computers,devices and networks) and associated software architectures, platforms and development frameworks - focusing specifically on their interplay in the context of software development and usage.  This will cover large scale distributed computing architectures and platforms; software as a service; pervasive architectures; software development tools and techniques and future web technologies.

 

Advanced Data Analysis and Management

This will cover topics such as data quality and pre-processing; descriptive and inferential statistics; predictive models and forecasting; significance, confidence, effect size and evaluation; meta-analysis; data management and practical applications.

 

Research Methods in Advanced Computing,

This will cover topics such as searching the literature; reading, analysing and synthesising literature; defining a research problem/question; planning a research project; dealing with research ethics, giving oral presentations; writing effectively and organising and writing a dissertation. The module will provide support for students to identify and formulate a research proposal for their individual projects in Term 3.

 

Individual Project

This will take place in Term 3 and form the culmination of the year's study. It is an opportunity to build expertise in a more focused area that is of interest to you and to the Research Centre to which you are attached. It will showcase your project management and subject specific skills to potential employers, and also serves as valuable experience and a solid building block for those wishing to pursue a PhD, on completion of their MSc. Your work will be individually supervised by a member of academic staff.