Introduction
The MEng Computing Science (Artificial Intelligence) is a five-year integrated Master's programme that combines our four-year BSc Computing Science with an additional year of postgraduate-level study. This extra year enhances your ability to solve real-world problems while deepening your expertise in the growing field of AI.
Study Information
At a Glance
- Learning Mode
- On Campus Learning
- Degree Qualification
- MEng
- Duration
- 60 months
- Study Mode
- Full Time
- Start Month
- September
- Location of Study
- Aberdeen
- UCAS Code
- I105
This programme is structured to provide a seamless transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study within a single degree. The additional year of study helps you gain a competitive edge in your career.
At the University of Aberdeen, Computing Science encompasses both the theoretical and practical aspects of the field, with a strong emphasis on developing technical analysis, design, and programming skills. You will explore subjects including software programming, databases and data management, computer systems, AI, and cybersecurity. These skills are applied to a variety of commercial, scientific, and socio-economic contexts.
Our teaching methodology reflects the ongoing advancements in computing, which are continually reshaping how we live, learn, work, and socialise. From detecting and treating diseases to analysing business, scientific, or social data, and making online shopping more secure, our curriculum is designed to prepare you for the future.
You will be taught by leading researchers whose work in multi-agent systems, natural language generation, machine learning, and blockchain technology informs the content of your lectures.
Our strong industry connections further enhance your learning experience through guest lectures, seminars, and industry-sponsored prizes from notable organisations like Amazon, CGI, and ScotlandIS. Additionally, you can undertake a placement during your studies, providing an excellent opportunity to gain practical professional experience.
The fifth year of this programme covers all aspects of AI, from fundamental theories to cutting-edge techniques, offering career opportunities in this rapidly evolving field including data and text mining, machine learning, reasoning, natural language generation, knowledge representation, and distributed AI systems. You will learn to engineer and evaluate AI systems and engage in discussions about the legal and ethical considerations of AI technology.
Aberdeen Global Scholarship
The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer eligible self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme.
View the Aberdeen Global ScholarshipWhat You'll Study
Honours programme may only be taken by full-time study.
- Year 1
-
Compulsory Courses
- Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD1002)
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This course, which is prescribed for level 1 undergraduate students and articulating students who are in their first year at the University, is studied entirely online, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.
Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.
- Programming 1 (CS1032)
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15 Credit Points
This course will be delivered in two halves. The first half will provide a self-contained introduction to computer programming. It will be accessible to all undergraduates. Students will be exposed to the basic principles of computer programming, e.g. fundamental programming techniques, concepts, algorithms and data structures. The course contains lectures where the principles are systematically developed. As the course does not presuppose knowledge of these principles, we start from basic intuitions. The second half will be particularly of use to those studying Science and Engineering subjects, broadly interpreted, as well as Computing and IT specialists. It will include a gentle introduction to professional issues and security concepts.
- Modelling and Problem Solving for Computing (CS1029)
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15 Credit Points
This course will introduce students to techniques that support problem solving and modelling with computers, and concepts and methods that are fundamental to computing science. The techniques and concepts will be illustrated with numerous computing examples.
- Web Development (CS1534)
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15 Credit Points
Students will learn to develop modern web applications using a variety of languages and frameworks as part of their degree, and prepare them for whatever they do after graduation. A key focus will be on the integration of HTML with CSS and Javascript with other backing frameworks to develop dynamic applications. The course is open to all undergraduates, and is accessible to those with no previous experience.
- Object - Oriented Programming (CS1527)
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15 Credit Points
This course will build on the basic programming skills acquired in the first half-session and equip the students with advanced object oriented programming knowledge, implementation of data structure and algorithms, and basic software engineering techniques. The students will be challenged with more complicated programming problems through a series of continuous assessments.
- Algebra (MA1006)
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15 Credit Points
This course introduces the concepts of complex numbers, matrices and other basic notions of linear algebra over the real and complex numbers. This provides the necessary mathematical background for further study in mathematics, physics, computing science, chemistry and engineering.
Optional Courses
Plus 30 credit points from courses of choice.
EITHER
MA 1510 Combinatorics
OR
MA1511 Set Theory
- Combinatorics (MA1510)
-
15 Credit Points
Combinatorics is the branch of mathematics concerned with counting. This includes counting structures of a given kind (enumerative combinatorics), deciding when certain criteria can be met, finding "largest", "smallest", or "optimal" objects (external combinatorics and combinatorial optimization), and applying algebraic techniques to combinatorial problems (algebraic combinatorics). The course is recommended to students of mathematics and computing science.
- Set Theory (MA1511)
-
15 Credit Points
Set theory was introduced by Cantor in 1872, who was attempting to understand the concept of "infinity" which defied the mathematical world since the Greeks. Set Theory is fundamental to modern mathematics - any mathematical theory must be formulated within the framework of set theory, or else it is deemed invalid. It is the alphabet of mathematics.
In this course we will study naive set theory. Fundamental object such as the natural numbers and the real numbers will be constructed. Structures such as partial orders and functions will be studied. And of course, we will explore infinite sets.
- Year 2
-
Compulsory Courses
- Software Programming (CS2020)
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15 Credit Points
This course is concerned with tools and techniques for scalable and dependable software programming. It focusses primarily on the Java programming language and related technologies. The course gives extensive programming practice in Java. It covers in depth features of the language and how best to use them, the execution model of the language, memory management, design principles underpinning the language, and comparisons with other languages. Tools for collaboration, productivity, and versioning will also be discussed.
- Databases and Data Management (CS2019)
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15 Credit Points
Databases are an important part of traditional information systems (offline /online) as well as modern data science pipelines. This course will be of interest to anyone who wishes to learn to design and query databases using major database technologies. The course aims to teach the material using case studies from real-world applications, both in lectures and lab classes.
In addition, the course covers topics including management of different kinds of data such as spatial data and data warehousing. The course provides more hands-on training that develops skills useful in practice.
- Human - Computer Interaction (CS2506)
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15 Credit Points
This course looks at why a computer system that interacts with human beings needs to be usable. It covers a set of techniques that allow usability to be taken into account when a system is designed and implemented, and also a set of techniques to assess whether usability has been achieved. Weekly practical sessions allow students to practice these techniques. The assessed coursework (which is normally carried out by groups of students) gives an opportunity to go through the design process for a concrete computer system, with a particular focus on ensuring usability.
- Algorithms and Data Structures (CS2522)
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15 Credit Points
This course provides the knowledge needed to understand, design and compare algorithms. By the end of the course, a student should be able to create or adapt algorithms to solve problems, determine an algorithm's efficiency, and be able to implement it. The course also introduces the student to a variety of widely used algorithms and algorithm creation techniques, applicable to a range of domains. The course will introduce students to concepts such as pseudo-code and computational complexity, and make use of proof techniques. The practical component of the course will build on and enhance students' programming skills.
Optional Courses
Plus, select a further 60 credit points from courses of choice.
CS1534 Web Development (for Direct entry) Plus Plus 30 credit points from courses of choice.
- Year 3
-
Compulsory Courses
- Artificial Intelligence (CS3033)
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15 Credit Points
The course provides an introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI). It discusses fundamental problems of AI and their computational solution via key concepts.
- Operating Systems (CS3026)
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15 Credit Points
This course discusses core concepts and architectures of operating systems, in particular the management of processes, memory and storage structures. Students will learn about the scheduling and operation of processes and threads, problems of concurrency and means to avoid race conditions and deadlock situations. The course will discuss virtual memory management, file systems and issues of security and recovery. In weekly practical session, students will gain a deeper understanding of operating system concepts with various programming exercises.
- Principles of Software Engineering (CS3028)
-
15 Credit Points
Students will develop large commercial and industrial software systems as a team-based effort that puts technical quality at centre stage. The module will focus on the early stage of software development, encompassing team building, requirements specification, architectural and detailed design, and software construction. Group work (where each team of students will develop a system selected using a business planning exercise) will guide the software engineering learning process. Teams will be encouraged to have an active, agile approach to problem solving through the guided study, evaluation and integration of practically relevant software engineering concepts, methods, and tools.
- Enterprise Computing and Business (CS3525)
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15 Credit Points
This course provides insight into the business reasons for large software systems such as loyalty card systems, backend systems integrating firms and their suppliers and larges systems that integrate payroll, finance and operational parts of a business. You also learn the entrepreneurial aspects of business during the practical sessions where you explore and develop your own business application idea using service design and lean startup approaches centred around customer development, which you will find useful in any future work. This course is open to anyone across the university and requires no programming experience.
- Software Engineering and Professional Practice (CS3528)
-
15 Credit Points
In this module, which is the follow-up of CS3028, students will focus on the team-based development of a previously specified, designed, and concept-proofed software system. Each team will build their product to industrial-strength quality standards following an agile process and applying the software engineering concepts, methods, and tools introduced in CS3028. The course includes a series of mandatory participatory seminars on professional and management issues in IT and IT projects. Students will be expected to relate their engineering work to these issues.
- Distributed Systems and Security (CS3524)
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15 Credit Points
This course discusses core concepts of distributed systems, such as programming with distributed objects, multiple threads of control, multi-tire client-server systems, transactions and concurrency control, distributed transactions and commit protocols, and fault-tolerant systems. The course also discusses aspects of security, such as cryptography, authentication, digital signatures and certificates, SSL etc. Weekly practical sessions cover a set of techniques for the implementation of distributed system concepts such as programming with remote object invocation, thread management and socket communication.
Optional Courses
Plus 30 credit points from courses of choice.
- Year 4
-
Compulsory Courses
- Research Methods (CS4040)
-
15 Credit Points
In this course, you will conduct an individual research project into the behaviour of a computing system. You will develop knowledge and understanding of rigorous methods to: explore computing system behaviour; identify questions about behaviour; design experiments to answer those questions; analyse experimental results; and report on the outcomes of your research. You will develop your understanding of research ethics and how this relates to professional behaviour.
- Security (CS4028)
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15 Credit Points
The course provides a solid foundation in computer and information security. It will cover topics of Information and Risk, Threats and Attacks, Cybersecurity Architecture and Operations, Secure Systems and Products, Cybersecurity Management and Trustworthy Software.
- Single Honours Computing Project (CS4527)
-
45 Credit Points
Consists of a supervised project which provides experience of investigating a real problem in computing science, or a computing application/technology. Learners will apply knowledge and skills gained earlier in their degree programme, and seek to go even further. Managing the project and presenting the results obtained are an integral part of the investigation.
Optional Courses
Plus 45 credit points from courses of choice to gain 120 credit points.
A graduating curriculum from the Honours programme must include 90 credit points from Level 4 Computing Science courses.- Natural Language Processing (CS4051)
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15 Credit Points
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is an influential interdisciplinary topic that relates to the disciplines of Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Psychology and Human Computer Interaction, amongst others.
NLP engineers are in high demand both in big tech companies, as well as smaller companies, as contemporary tools encourage businesses to make better use of their textual data or inspire, design and create new language technologies.
This course covers a range of theoretical and applied topics related to computational linguistics: how to analyse text data, how to model it, how to generate it and how to evaluate NLP projects. Key topics include text analytics, text classification, language modelling, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and evaluation.
- Year 5
-
Compulsory Courses
- Symbolic AI (CS502K)
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15 Credit Points
This course presents the fundamental techniques of Artificial Intelligence, used in system such as Google Maps, Siri, IBM Watson, as well as industrial automation systems, and which are core to emerging products such as self-driving vehicles. This course will equip the student to understand how such AI technologies operate, their implementation details, and how to use them effectively. This course therefore provides the building blocks necessary for understanding and using AI techniques and methodologies.
- Machine Learning (CS5062)
-
15 Credit Points
This course will deliver the most sophisticated Machine Learning methodologies and algorithms which would be illustrated across a wide range of applications including but not limited to images, videos, health, time series data, language processing, etc. This course provides students with the Machine Learning principles for continuing learning and working in the area of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
- Evaluation of AI Systems (CS5063)
-
15 Credit Points
One of the biggest challenges in Artificial Intelligence is evaluating how well AI systems work. This course will provide students of our MSc in AI with knowledge of core evaluation concepts, approaches, tools, techniques and technologies; we will also look at software testing of AI systems.
- Applied Artificial Intelligence (CS5079)
-
15 Credit Points
This course will allow students to use cutting-edge AI technologies to investigate the creation and application of AI systems. Such tools include deep learning libraries and simulation environments.
- Informatics Project (CS551M)
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60 Credit Points
Consists of a supervised project that provides experience of investigating a real problem in computing science, or a computing application/technology. Presenting the results obtained is an integral part of the investigation.
We will endeavour to make all course options available. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page. In exceptional circumstances there may be additional fees associated with specialist courses, for example field trips.
How You'll Study
Learning Methods
- Group Projects
- Individual Projects
- Lectures
- Research
- Seminars
- Tutorials
- Workshops
Assessment Methods
Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods:
- coursework such as essays and reports completed throughout the course;
- practical assessments of the skills and competencies they learn on the course; and
- written examinations at the end of each course.
The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, years of study and individual courses.
Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.
Why Study Computing Science (Artificial Intelligence)?
- The MEng Computing Science (Artificial Intelligence) covers both the theoretical underpinning of AI as well as the technology, techniques, tools, software and methodologies used to apply these underlying theories to real-world problems.
- You will learn the key skills in the use of Symbolic AI, Machine Learning, Data Mining and Natural Language Processing in order to be able to engineer, develop and evaluate AI systems
- Your research project gives you the opportunity to further enhance your problem-solving and communication skills and apply the skills and knowledge you obtain throughout the programme.
- There has been a huge increase in demand for AI specialists across almost every industry, from energy and manufacturing to healthcare and cybercrime. This recent LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise report listed Machine Learning Engineer as one of the fastest-growing jobs in the UK.
- The University of Aberdeen has a strong history and worldwide reputation in computing science, in particular around Data Science, Natural Language Generation and Artificial Intelligence and is home to the research success of ARRIA NLG - the global leader in the field of natural language generation (NLG).
Entry Requirements
Qualifications
The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.
The information displayed in this section shows a shortened summary of our entry requirements. For more information, or for full entry requirements for Sciences degrees, see our detailed entry requirements section.
English Language Requirements
To study for an Undergraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write English fluently. The minimum requirements for this degree are as follows:
IELTS Academic:
OVERALL - 6.0 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 5.5; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0
TOEFL iBT:
OVERALL - 78 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21
PTE Academic:
OVERALL - 59 with: Listening - 59; Reading - 59; Speaking - 59; Writing - 59
Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency:
OVERALL - 169 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 162; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169
Read more about specific English Language requirements here.
Fees and Funding
You will be classified as one of the fee categories below.
| Fee category | Cost |
|---|---|
| EU / International students | £24,800 |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | |
| Self-funded international students commencing eligible undergraduate programmes in 2025/26 will receive a £6,000 tuition waiver for every year of their programme - See full terms and conditions | |
| Home Students | £1,820 |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | |
| RUK | £9,535 |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | |
Scholarships and Funding
UK Scholarship
Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who pay tuition fees may be eligible for specific scholarships allowing them to receive additional funding. These are designed to provide assistance to help students support themselves during their time at Aberdeen.
Aberdeen Global Scholarship
The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer eligible self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme. More about this funding opportunity.Funding Database
View all funding options in our Funding Database.
Careers
There are many opportunities at the University of Aberdeen to develop your knowledge, gain experience and build a competitive set of skills to enhance your employability. This is essential for your future career success. The Careers and Employability Service can help you to plan your career and support your choices throughout your time with us, from first to final year – and beyond.
- More information on employability at the University of Aberdeen
- More information on the Careers and Employability Service
Our Experts
Information About Staff Changes
You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.
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Get in Touch
Contact Details
- Address
-
Student Recruitment & Admissions
University of Aberdeen
University Office
Regent Walk
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX