Postgraduate Taught (MSc) Degree Structure
The MSc has four distinct phases:
In the full-time programme, the taught course units take approximately half of the year with the remainder assigned to the Research Project.
For full details of programme structures for the individual programmes,
see the MSc handbook.
Induction
The first week is "induction week" and introduces you to the programme, the School, the Faculty, and the University. During this time, we provide introductory lectures for the taught course units, and you will also have a chance to meet your programme directors and fellow postgraduate students in the School. Other activities are arranged by partner Schools, as well as the Library, the Careers Service and the Students' Union.
Taught Course Units
After the induction week, the taught course units begin. Course units are grouped by subject into themes, and each student choses two themes. Each theme contains around four course units, of which you chose normally three. For example, the Learning from Data theme starts with the "Machine Learning and Data Mining" course unit, which is then followed by the "Modelling and visualization of high-dimensional data" and "Optimization for learning, planning and problem-solving" course units.
A course unit typically consists of a combination of teaching, practical work, individual work and other activies. For many programmes, you will take four course units before Christmas, and these will be examined in mid-January. You will then take two further course units in semester two, which are examined at the end of the semester.
For full details of each of the course units, see the Advanced Course Units section.
Research Skills and Professional Issues
Research Skills and Professional Issues is a course unit followed by all our Taught MSc students. It covers a wide range of topics, including ethical issues, how to set up and carry out experiments, academic malpractice, and general advice on technical writing. It also serves as a general introduction to your project work and your Project Background Report.
Project
The project is a substantial piece of research and development work which is presented in a dissertation. You can select one of many topics proposed by members of staff, or suggest your own, or take a project in an industrial setting if this can be arranged. The project allows you to develop a significant piece of work independently, under supervision by a member of the academic staff. Many projects involve a considerable amount of system development, giving you the opportunity to practise and extend your programming skills. They will also have a scientific content in which research is involved. You will normally choose your project before the second semester, and work on it throughout the whole second semester. Its core phase begins after the second semester’s taught course units.
Assessment
In order to be allowed to submit a dissertation, you must pass the assessment for the taught course units and the Research Skills and Professional Issues course unit. Most course units are assessed by both coursework and examination. Provisional results for the first semester are published in February. Formal examiners' meetings take place after the second semester and an official pass list is published.
The project should be completed, and a dissertation submitted, by the the University deadline which is usually in the second week of September. Dissertations are assessed by internal examiners, and moderated by an external examiner. A second formal examiners' meeting is convened in November to consider the results. Recommendations for award or otherwise are made to the MSc panel of the Faculty, who make the final decision in time for December graduation.s