MCOMP Computer Science with Integrated Masters with International or Placement Year

Computer systems are vital to business, government, science and society, and there is much demand for graduates with the professional understanding and practical skills to harness software and hardware technologies to tackle real-world problems.

Our Integrated Master's explores the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline and places an emphasis on developing advanced skills in research, practical computer programming and software development in your fourth year of study, to enable you to start your career in a sector in constant evolution.

In your first year you will explore the fundamental concepts and techniques for object-oriented programming. Our initial modules are designed to bring everyone up to speed, regardless of the starting level of coding experience, and to provide a gentle introduction to the skills required for effective academic study. You will then move on to learn advanced programming concepts that can be applied in areas such as games programming, mobile app and web development, artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber security.

You will also explore the human aspect of Computer Science, thanks to the focus on user interaction and user interface design, software engineering methodologies (SCRUM, Agile) and cutting edge research in AI and machine learning. In your third year of study, you will have the opportunity to further specialise in advanced topics such as games computing, AI and software engineering project management. You will also hone your research skills by working on a third year project - where you can unleash your creativity and apply the techniques you have acquired throughout your studies. In your final year, you will explore master's level, research-led topics such as Cloud computing, that will enable you to gain the specialist knowledge to pursue a career or research in your chosen field.

You will also complete a substantial research project. This will allow you to integrate and apply your theoretical knowledge and problem-solving skills to an identified design and implementation need and/or an advanced research problem within the discipline. To equip you with the skills needed for your final year project, you will learn how to develop a novel research idea and plan for a research proposal in addition to exploring advanced analytics and statistical modelling techniques - to enable you to make sense of the exponential growth of big data.