Computer Science MSci

You’ll examine current techniques for the extraction of useful information about a physical situation from individual and sets of images.

You’ll cover a range of methods and applications, with particular emphasis being placed on the identification of objects, recovery of three-dimensional shape and motion, and the recognition of events.

You’ll learn how to implement some of these methods in the industry-standard programming environment MATLAB.

You’ll spend around three hours a week in lectures and laboratory sessions.

This module will enable you to appreciate the range of data analysis problems that can be modelled computationally and a range of techniques that are suitable to analyse and solve those problems.

Topics covered include:

• basic statistics
• types of data
• data visualisation techniques
• data modelling
• data pre-processing methods including data imputation
• forecasting methods
• clustering and classification methods (decision trees, naīve bayes classifiers, k-nearest neighbours)
• data simulation
• model interpretation techniques to aid decision support

Spending around four hours each week in lectures and computer classes, appropriate software (eg. R, Weka) will be used to illustrate the topics you'll cover.

You’ll be given a basic introduction to the analysis and design of intelligent agents, software systems which perceive their environment and act in that environment in pursuit of their goals.

You’ll cover topics including:

• task environments
• reactive, deliberative and hybrid architectures for individual agents
• architectures and coordination mechanisms for multi-agent systems

You will spend around four hours each week in lectures and tutorials for this module.

Providing an introduction to machine learning, pattern recognition, and data mining techniques, this module will enable you to consider both systems which are able to develop their own rules from trial-and-error experience to solve problems as well as systems that find patterns in data without any supervision. 

You’ll cover a range of topics including:

• machine learning foundations
• pattern recognition foundations
• artificial neural networks
• deep learning
• applications of machine learning
• data mining techniques
• evaluating hypotheses

You’ll spend around six hours each week in lectures and computer classes for this module.

Students undertake a programming project for an external client in self-formed groups of two to four students under the supervision of an academic member of staff. The client, which can be a company, charity, research group etc., but not the supervisor, provides a problem that requires a sufficiently challenging piece of software to be developed. The client and project idea could be provided by the students or the supervisor. However, projects must have aspects that are relevant to each student's programme of study; eg, there needs to be an artificial intelligence (AI) aspect if any AI students are involved.

The main assessed outputs are the developed software, including any end-user documentation, along with a 5,000-word document that outlines the development, design and implementation of the software, highlighting the most interesting aspects. The software must be developed in a professional and systematic manner appropriate for the problem domain. The assessment is informed by a statement from the external client on how well the developed software addresses the problem. Additionally, each student submits an individual 5,000-word report explaining his or her own contributions and giving a critical appraisal of how the project went, including group dynamics and the contributions of others.

Students undertake a research project in computer science supervised by an academic member of staff. The topic should fall within the supervisor's research interests and must further be relevant to the student's programme of study; in particular, projects undertaken by artificial intelligence (AI) students must have a strong AI focus. The project may be proposed by either the supervisor or the student, and may be theoretical, empirical, or even of survey type depending on what is appropriate and feasible for the area and topic. Projects, however, must ultimately be agreed with the supervisor concerned.

The results from the project are to be distilled into a conference-format research paper, authored by the student and constituting the main assessed output. There may, however, be further deliverables as dictated by the nature of the project. Any such deliverables are to be submitted (electronically) as supplementary material. A revised version of the paper, possibly co-authored with the supervisor, may subsequently be submitted for publication to an external venue, such as a conference or journal, if the work is judged to be of sufficiently high standard. 

You will undertake a programming project relevant for AI for an External Client under the supervision of an academic member of staff.

The client, which can be a company, charity, research group etc., provides a problem that requires a sufficiently challenging piece of software to be developed. The client and project idea could be provided by the students or the supervisor. Each project must ultimately be agreed with the concerned Supervisor.

The main assessed outputs are the developed software, including any end-user documentation, along with a 15,000-word document that outlines the development, design and implementation of the software, highlighting the most interesting aspects.

The software must be developed in a professional and systematic manner appropriate for the problem domain.

The assessment is informed by a statement from the External Client on how well the developed software addresses the problem.

You'll study the theory used in the design and analysis of advanced algorithms and data structures. Topics covered include string algorithms (such as for string matching, longest common subsequence), graph algorithms (such as for minimum cuts and maximum flows, and Google's pagerank algorithm), advanced data structures (such as Fibonacci heaps and Bloom filters), and randomised search heuristics (evolutionary algorithms). You'll learn all the necessary probability theory will be introduced, including random variables and concentration inequalities.

The theory is practiced in weekly labs where we learn how to implement the algorithms and data structures as functional and imperative programs (using the languages Haskell and C), and apply these to solve large instances of real-world problems. 

This module will provide you with an advanced knowledge of computer communications networks, using examples from all-IP core telecommunications networks to illustrate aspects of transmission coding, error control, media access, internet protocols, routing, presentation coding, services and security.

The module will describe Software Defined Networks (SDNs) and provide examples of using them to enable very large scale complex network control. It will also provide advanced knowledge of various routing and query protocols in:

• Ad Hoc Networks
• Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs)
• Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs)
• Disconnection/Disruption/Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs)
• impact of new networking developments, such as security risks, ethics, interception and data protection will be reflected and discussed systematically

In this module, you’ll learn how to handle uncertainty, particularly focusing on the vagueness associated with using fuzzy sets and similar approaches. You will gain a thorough understanding of a range of key topics, including:

• the nature of uncertainty captured by fuzzy sets and associated links to human reasoning
• inference using fuzzy sets
• the similarity of fuzzy sets
• design and modelling of information via fuzzy sets
• type-1 fuzzy sets
• type-2 fuzzy sets
• fuzzy logic systems
• fuzzy set-based applications.

You’ll also be exposed to some of the cutting-edge research topics in uncertain data and decision-making, e.g., capturing uncertainty in real-world scenarios, modelling it, and aggregating (uncertain) information from multiple sources.

This module introduces you to the computer science of robotics, giving you an understanding of the hardware and software principles appropriate for control and localisation of autonomous mobile robots. A significant part of the module is laboratory-based, utilising physical robotic hardware to reinforce the theoretical principles covered. You will cover a range of topics including basic behavioural control architectures, multi-source data aggregation, programming of multiple behaviours, capabilities and limitations of sensors and actuators, and filtering techniques.

This module provides an entry point to computational optimisation techniques, in particular for modelling and solving linear and discrete optimisation problems like diet optimisation, network flows, task assignment, scheduling, bin-packing, travelling salesmen, facility location, vehicle routing and related problems.

In this module, you will learn to interpret and develop algebraic models for a variety of real-world linear and discrete optimisation problems to then use powerful optimization software (linear, integer and mixed-integer solvers) to produce a solution.

The module covers topics such as:

• linear programming
• integer programming
• combinatorial optimisation
• modelling and optimisation software
• multi-objective optimisation 

Optimisation technology is ubiquitous in today's world, for applications in logistics, finance, manufacturing, workforce planning, product selection, healthcare, and any other area where the limited resources must be used efficiently. Optimisation enables prescriptive analytics in order to support and automate decision-making.

This module covers the history, development and state-of-the-art in computer games and technological entertainment.

You will gain an appreciation of the range of gaming applications available and be able to chart their emergence as a prevalent form of entertainment. You will study the fundamental principles of theoretical game design and how these can be applied to a variety of modern computer games.

In addition, you will study the development of games as complex software systems. Specific software design issues to be considered will include the software architecture of games, and the technical issues associated with networked and multiplayer games.

Finally, you will use appropriate software environments to individually develop a number of games to explore relevant theoretical design and practical implementation concepts.

This module focuses on the possibilities and challenges of interaction beyond the desktop. Exploring the 'mixed reality continuum' - a spectrum of emerging computing applications that runs from virtual reality (in which a user is immersed into a computer-generated virtual world) at one extreme, to ubiquitous computing (in which digital materials appear embedded into the everyday physical world - often referred to as the 'Internet of Things') at the other. In the middle of this continuum lie augmented reality and locative media in which the digital appears to be overlaid upon the physical world in different ways.

You will gain knowledge and hands-on experience of design and development with key technologies along this continuum, including working with both ubiquitous computing based sensor systems and locative media. You will learn about the Human-Computer Interaction challenges that need to be considered when creating mixed reality applications along with strategies for addressing them, so as to create compelling and reliable user experiences.

This module offers insight into the applications of selected methods of decision support.

The foundations for applying these methods are derived from:

• Operations Research Simulation
• Social Simulation
• Data Science
• Automated Scheduling
• Decision Analysis

Throughout the module, you will become more competent in choosing and implementing the appropriate method for the particular problem at hand. You will spend five hours per week in lectures, workshops, and computer classes for this module.

This project involves a self-guided study of a selected advanced algorithm or data structure. The outcome of the project is an analysis and implementation of the algorithm or data structure, as well as an empirical evaluation, preferably on a real-world data set of significant size.

This module looks at the practice of malware analysis, looking at how to analyse malicious software to understand how it works, how to identify it, and how to defeat or eliminate it.  

You will look at how to set up a safe environment in which to analyse malware, as well as exploring both static and dynamic malware analysis. Although malware takes many forms, the focus of this module will primarily be on executable binaries. This will cover object file formats and the use of tools such as debuggers, virtual machines, and disassemblers to explore them. Obfuscation and packing schemes will be discussed, along with various issues related to Windows internals.

The module is practical with encouragement to safely practice the skills you're taught.