Transcript Document

www.inf.ed.ac.uk
INSIDE INFORMATION
Welcome to the School of Informatics Student Visiting Day
Alex Simpson
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
What Makes Our Curriculum
Special?
Informatics@Edinburgh combines the
traditional fields of computer science,
software engineering, artificial intelligence
and cognitive science - united by
fundamental concepts of computation,
communication and information.
We are the largest and best rated computer
science department in the UK.
We offer a unique range of degrees, with
flexibility to move between them.
We also offer an unparalleled range of
specialist course options.
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
What Makes Our Curriculum
Special?
Our research standing means:
• You will be taught by world leaders
• The course content is up-to-date
• You may have the opportunity to
contribute to developments in the field
What our students say:
You often find yourself studying things
that have been invented by the
person lecturing it. If you do a Google
search you more often than not pull
up an Edinburgh page.
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RAE 2008 Results
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Teaching Quality
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Degrees accredited by the
British Computer Society (last
visit 2009)
“Students were highly satisfied
with their programmes and
appreciated the accessibility of
all staff and the excellent
resources”
“The panel was impressed by
the general enthusiasm of the
school”
2010 – voted Best Department
in Edinburgh in Students'
Association teaching award
scheme. Nominated again in
2012/2013.and 2013/14
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Degrees In 4 Main Areas
Four-year degree programmes in:
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Computer Science
Software Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
Cognitive Science
Combined degrees with:
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Mathematics
Physics
Management
Electronics…
Five-year integrated Master in
Informatics
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Degree Structure
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4-year honours degrees
5-year Masters in Informatics
5-year MEng degrees
It is possible to graduate after 3
years with an Ordinary degree
Second-year entry is also
possible, subject to higher entry
requirements
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Degree Structure
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Each year, you will take courses
totalling 120 credits, over two
semesters
In the first two years, you will
study a mixture of core, optional
and ‘outside’ subjects
In the last two years you will
focus on your chosen degree
subject, with a wide choice of
options
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The First Year
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You will be required to take a fixed number
courses in each semester
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You are encouraged to study an ‘outside’ subject
from the hundreds on offer e.g. archaeology,
criminology, music, etc.
Sample 1st year curriculum – BSc in CS, AI or SE
Informatics 1
Core
Mathematics
Courses of your
choice
40 points
40 points
40 points
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
Informatics 1
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Functional Programming:
describing pure computation
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Computation & Logic: thinking
about thinking about computing
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Object-oriented Programming:
Working with Java
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Data & Analysis: structured,
semi-structured and
unstructured data – how does
Amazon know your mind?
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
The Second Year
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As in the first year, you take a choice of
courses each semester
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For many degrees, you will still have the
option of following an ‘outside’ course
Sample 2nd year curriculum – BSc in CS, AI or SE
Informatics 2
Core
Mathematics
Courses of your
choice
60 points
40 points
20 points
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
Informatics 2
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Processing Formal and Natural
Languages - how does a computer
make sense of Java? of English?
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Algorithms, Data Structures and
Learning - problem solving
strategies
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Computer Systems – what lies
beneath?
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Software Engineering – how do
professionals work to build large
programs
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Reasoning and Agents - reacting
to real-world uncertainty - what
should the robot do next?
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The Third Year
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Your studies will focus on the discipline
forming your degree, with more depth and a
wider choice of subjects
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Combined degrees will balance choice
across each subject area
Sample 3rd year curriculum
BSc in Computer Science and Management Science
Computer Science
Honours Courses
100 points
Management
Honours Courses
Individual or Group
Project
20 points
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Examples of Courses
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Algorithms and Data Structures
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Computer Architecture
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Computer Security
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Database Systems
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Foundations of Natural Language
Processing
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Introduction to Vision and Robotics
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Software Engineering with Objects
and Components
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
Third Year Project Work
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Individual Large Practical: recent
examples include Peer-To-Peer
File Sharing, Android voting app,
biological simulation
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System Design Project: a team
project, recent examples include
Facial Recognition Door Entry
System, Robot Football, MarsLander, Web Controlled Robotic
Shopper
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The Fourth Year
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You will choose specialist modules that help
complement and develop your third year choice
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Greater emphasis on individual project work
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You will write a dissertation on your project.
Sample 4th year curriculum
BEng in Software Engineering
Taught courses in Software Engineering
and other subjects
Individual Project
Dissertation
80 points
40 points
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Examples of Courses
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Animation and Visualisation
Computational Complexity
Human-Computer Interaction
Automated Reasoning
Machine Learning and Pattern
Recognition
Machine Translation
Parallel Programming
Languages and Systems
Querying and Storing XML
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Examples of Recent 4th
Year Projects
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Evolutionary algorithms for a
cricket robot
Detection of emotion in email text
Artificial fog tornado (pictured)
Match Fixing for Amateurs
Greedy algorithms for graph
colouring
Cutting-edge web: building web
2.0 applications in Links
Scheduling Rural Dial-a-Bus
Services
3D model reconstruction from
multiple views
A web-based simulator for viral
infection
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
Student Successes
• 4 students (out of 15) selected to take part in
The Silicon Valley Internship Programme (SVIP)
which offers newly graduating Software
Engineering Students from the UK the unique
experience of working with hot start-ups in
Silicon Valley through a one-year internship.
• 9 out of the last 14 Young Software Engineer of
the Year Awards have gone to our students.
• 2 of our female undergraduate students won
prizes at the 2013 British Computing Society
Women Lovelace Colloquium. A conference
aimed at women in technology.
• Many of our students have successfully interned
in major companies including Skyscanner,
Google and Bloomberg following highly
competitive selection processes.
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Study Support
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Personal Tutor
Tutors and demonstrators
InfBASE drop-in helpdesk
Informatics Teaching Organisation
All materials available on the internet
What our students say:
“… access to facilities is easy and
available 24 hours a day. And of
course the pubs are open till 1am, if
you do happen to get your work
done in time.”
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
Summary
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Studying Informatics at
Edinburgh will be challenging
and rewarding
I hope you will choose to study
with us and we look forward to
welcoming you as freshers
If you have any further
questions, ask us now or contact
us via our website:
www.inf.ed.ac.uk
www.inf.ed.ac.uk