Computing Science at Aberdeen encompasses both the theory as well as the practice of computing, with special emphasis given to Distributed Information Systems and Knowledge Technologies.
This 5 year MEng programme is an integrated Masters degree that emphasises additional academic rigour and depth on top of the already high standards of our BSc.
Helping doctors to treat a newborn baby, analysing the huge volume of data from the human genome, tracking jet engines in flight and ensuring that maintenance is planned accordingly, and making online shopping easier and more secure - these are just some of the challenges that computer scientists rise to every day by using their technical analysis, design and programming skills that they learn at university to create better and more intelligent tools.
The highly relevant curriculum, along with strong industry links, ensures that computing programme graduates have an advantage in a competitive market place. The British Computer Society (BCS) recognises our single Honours degrees for professional membership without additional examinations. The employment record of our graduates is excellent with the vast majority entering occupations of their choice within three months of graduation, in sectors as diverse as banking, pharmaceuticals and computer game development.
The MEng is an integrated Masters degree that emphasises additional academic rigour and depth on top of the already high standards of our BSc. It adds an additional year of study to the traditional BSc, but there is also a greater focus on the academic and theoretical skills that high-end employers and academic institutions particularly value.
The MEng provides the opportunity for students to acquire a distinctive edge. It does this through increased depth of study, but it also requires students to demonstrate their ability by having them take on the most challenging subjects.
NOTE: Honours programme may only be taken by full-time study.
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, takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.
Topics include orientation overview, equality and diversity, health, safety and cyber security and how to make the most of your time at university in relation to careers and employability.
Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’.
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.
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.
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.
15 Credit Points
This course provides an introduction to computer systems. It includes an introduction to computer architecture and organization, and an introduction to operating systems.
The course is taught without prerequisites; students are taught with plenty of exercises from lectures, tutorials, practical and tests every week.
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.
Select one of the following:
Plus 30 credit points from choices of course.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
15 Credit Points
This course provides an introduction to areas of Discrete Mathematics that are used extensively in Computing. The course covers three topics: (1) formal languages and machines; (2) formal logic; (3) probability and statistics. Applications of these in Computing are indicated throughout.
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.
Plus, select a further 45 credit points from courses of choice (if not Direct entry).
Direct Entry only
15 Credit Points
This course provides an introduction to computer systems. It includes an introduction to computer architecture and organization, and an introduction to operating systems.
The course is taught without prerequisites; students are taught with plenty of exercises from lectures, tutorials, practical and tests every week.
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.
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.
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.
15 Credit Points
This course discusses core concepts of distributed systems, such as programming with distributed objects, multiple threads of control, multi-tier client-server systems, transactions and concurrency control, distributed transactions and commit protocols, and fault-tolerant systems. 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.
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.
15 Credit Points
This course provides a basic-level introduction to formal languages, mathematical models of computation, and the theory of computation. Application areas include the design of programming languages, and the recognition of fundamental limits of computation in solving problems.
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.
Select 15 credit points from courses of choice.
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.
60 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.
Select 30 credits from level 4 Computing Science courses plus 15 credit points from courses of choice.
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.
Select 60 credit points from any four level 5 Computing Science courses, see list below:
15 Credit Points
This course presents the fundamental concepts of Cyber Security, including but not limited to cryptography, network protocols, access control, authentication, security management and web security. This course provides students with the Cyber Security principles for continuing learning and working in the area of Cyber Security.
15 Credit Points
This course will cover emerging technologies in cybersecurity such as Software-defined Networking (SDN), Internet of Things (IoT), and Blockchain. It will deliver the role of emerging technologies in cyberspace, what impact we will have on our legacy system and how we can remain agile and efficient. The course will provide a foundation for identifying the significance of technological advancements and cybersecurity issues, and challenges raised in adapting the 5G & beyond network.
15 Credit Points
A major contributing factor to cyber risk is the lack of well-designed cybersecurity architecture that protects against ever-evolving cyber-attacks. A well-designed architecture provides a streamlined workflow for security and non-security practitioners, along with increasing the robustness of an organisation’s cybersecurity. In this course you will gain the advance knowledge to develop, design and analyse security solution architectures to meet your organisation's cybersecurity objectives.
15 Credit Points
This course will provide an introduction to Artificial Intelligence, and how it relates to Cybersecurity and Privacy. It will discuss how AI can be used for both defensive and offensive purposes in Cybersecurity. The course will also discuss the security and privacy issues arising from the use of AI systems in software systems.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We will endeavour to make all course options available; however, these may be subject to timetabling and other constraints. Please see our InfoHub pages for further information.
Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods:
The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, year of study and individual courses.
Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.
The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.
SQA Highers
Standard: AABB (Mathematics and Physics or Engineering Science required*)
Applicants who achieve the Standard entry requirements over S4 and S5 will be made either an unconditional or conditional offer of admission.
A Levels
Standard: ABB (AB required in Mathematics, plus at least one from Physics, Design & Technology, Engineering or Chemistry). Applicants who are predicted to achieve the Standard entry requirements are encouraged to apply and may be made a conditional offer of admission.
* FOR CHEMICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERING PROGRAMMES: Please note: For entry to Chemical and Petroleum Engineering an SQA Higher or GCE A Level or equivalent qualification in Chemistry is required for entry to year 1, in addition to the general Engineering requirements.
SQA Highers
Standard: AABB (Mathematics and Physics or Engineering Science required*)
Applicants who achieve the Standard entry requirements over S4 and S5 will be made either an unconditional or conditional offer of admission.
A Levels
Standard: ABB (AB required in Mathematics, plus at least one from Physics, Design & Technology, Engineering or Chemistry). Applicants who are predicted to achieve the Standard entry requirements are encouraged to apply and may be made a conditional offer of admission.
International Baccalaureate:
Minimum of 34 points including Mathematics and Physics at HL (6 or above)
Irish Leaving Certificate:
Five subjects at Higher, with 4 at H2 and 1 at H3. H2 or above in Mathematics and H3 or above in Physics required.
* FOR CHEMICAL OR PETROLEUM ENGINEERING: Please note: For entry to Chemical or Petroleum Engineering an SQA Higher or GCE A Level or equivalent qualification in Chemistry is required for entry to year 1, in addition to the general Engineering requirements.
The information displayed in this section shows a shortened summary of our entry requirements. For more information, or for full entry requirements for Engineering degrees, see our detailed entry requirements section.
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.
You will be classified as one of the fee categories below.
| Fee category | Cost |
|---|---|
| RUK | £9,250 |
| Tuition Fees for 2023/24 Academic Year | |
| EU / International students | £24,800 |
| Tuition Fees for 2023/24 Academic Year | |
| Home Students | £1,820 |
| Tuition Fees for 2023/24 Academic Year |
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.
Further Information about tuition fees and the cost of living in Aberdeen
View all funding options in our Funding Database.
The employment record of our graduates is excellent, with the vast majority entering occupations of their choice within three months of graduation. Our graduates have taken up posts in sectors as diverse as banking, pharmaceuticals and computer game development. Recent employers include IBM, Amazon, BP, ConocoPhillips, Hewlett Packard, EDS, CGI, Wipro, Scottish Hydro Electric, Scottish & Newcastle Breweries, British Telecom, QinetiQ and the National Health Service.
Find out about the experts you will be taught by.
You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. Staff changes will occur from time to time; please see our InfoHub pages for further information.
The Aberdeen Software Factory is a student-run software house. Students can gain experience working on larger software projects and benefit from work experience, while clients will benefit from a flexible, cost effective solution to suit their needs.
Find out more
Placements are encouraged and available within a range of computing firms - summer months, between second and third year, or between third and fourth year.
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