Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) with a Year-in-Industry

Our year in industry programme with a specialism in Artificial Intelligence (AI) will give you a strong foundation of knowledge, skills and practical experience to kickstart your computing career. Your work placement will give you skills and awareness that can only be acquired in a real work environment, and will help to set you apart from other candidates when you apply for a job. AI is one of the most exciting and rapidly evolving aspects of 21st century technology. It already pervades our everyday lives, in image and voice recognition software, data security, intelligent web searching, drones, driverless vehicles, computer games, space exploration and cutting-edge medical advances, and its potential is vast. This four-year programme will prepare you for a successful career at the cutting edge of AI.

In years 1, 2 and 4 we cover the essentials of application development, from programming to software engineering, databases to web development, computer graphics to robotics, and the latest in information security, whilst focusing on web and AI related topics such as machine learning, intelligent agents, bioinformatics, information security and computational finance. The modular structure of the programme gives you the flexibility to choose between optional modules in years 2 and 4. You will also benefit from access to our internationally renowned Computer Learning Research Centre. From the outset you be experimenting with programming games, robots, Gadgeteer kits, Subversion, JUnit testing, Scrum-based Agile software and more, in our well-equipped laboratories. Your year in industry will start at the end of year 2. We are ideally located in the famous M4 corridor, known as 'England's Silicon Valley', and we enjoy close links with many of its leading technology companies. If you are unable to go ahead with your placement for any reason, you will have the option of transferring onto our equivalent three-year BSc programme.

We are a highly respected, research-focused department with a friendly approach and award-winning teaching. You will have a dedicated personal adviser to guide you through your studies. You will also be welcome to join our Computing Society, a thriving community of more than 400 computer enthusiasts from across the College. We are one of only seven departments in the UK to hold the Athena SWAN bronze award for our commitment to increasing female participation in computer science. You will graduate with a wide range of technical skills as well as valuable transferrable skills such as team working, communication, time management and self-motivation.

A state-of-the-art Big Data cluster comprising 32 processors, 32 Terabytes of disk storage, GPU and RDMA networking allows you to work on real case studies.

We develop both fundamental theory and practical algorithms that feed into the analytics methods and techniques that are in use today.

Our research involves cognitive and autonomous agents, automated planning, scheduling and domain-independent search control, and applications in surveillance operations, disaster response missions, and space operations.

We collaborate with Microsoft Research, IBM Research, NEC Labs Europe, Facebook, Google, and NASA, which informs our teaching.

Course Modules

Core Modules

Year 1

• Object Oriented Programming I

• Object Oriented Programming II

• Programming laboratory

• Internet Services

• Mathematical Structures

• Machine Fundamentals

• Mathematical Methods for Computer Science

• Software Design

• Academic Integrity

Year 2

• Software Engineering

• Team Project

• Operating Systems

• Databases

• Algorithms and Complexity

• Introduction to Information Security

Year 3

• Year in Industry

Year 4

• Full Unit Project

Optional Modules

Below is a taster of some of the exciting optional modules that students on the course could choose from during this academic year. Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.

Year 1

• All modules are core

Year 2

• All modules are core

Year 4

• Computational Finance

• Intelligent Agents and Multi-agent Systems

• Machine Learning

• Semantic Web

• Data Visualisation and Exploratory Analysis

• Advanced Data Communications

• Concurrent and Parallel Programming

• Interconnected Devices

• Applications of Cryptography

• Critical Infrastructure Security

• Digital Forensics

• Malicious Software

• Smart Cards, RFIDs and Embedded Systems Security

• Human-computer Interaction

• IT Project Management

• Software Language Engineering

• Bioinformatics

• Compilers and Code Generation

• Computational Optimisation

• Digital Audio and Applications

• Functional Programming and Applications

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/computer-science/computer-science-artificial-intelligence-with-a-year-in-industry/

We firmly believe that how we teach is at least as important as what we teach, and we know the importance of giving you the time and space to experiment and put theory into practice. We encourage you to use your creativity, both in project teams and independently, and to have fun while you learn. We use a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, small-group tutorials, supervised computer lab classes and problem-solving sessions. You will also be expected to complete guided independent study and group work. Our teaching is very hands on, allowing you to learn at your own pace, whatever your previous level of experience. In year 1 you will attend laboratory classes on games and robotics, giving you the chance to develop real applications with imagination and creativity. During your year in industry, our careers tutor will visit you twice and keep in touch with your host to monitor your progression.

Assessment is through a mixture of examinations and coursework. Most course units have a two or three-hour written examination taken at the end of the year in which they are taught, but around half of your final award will come from assessed coursework, which could include project reports (including your full unit project), essays, oral presentations or software submissions. Your year in industry forms an integral part of the degree course and you will be asked to complete assessed work that will count towards your final degree.