MSc Human Computer Interaction

A good 2.1 Honours undergraduate degree.

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The Human Computer Interaction (HCI) MSc modules have been developed by expert researchers who regularly publish in leading international conferences such as ACM CHI, UIST, InfoVis and MobileHCI.

Students who complete this MSc will be at the forefront of HCI and information visualisation and have access to a range of roles in industry such as UX designers, visual analysts, interaction designers and interaction architects.

Students must take the following compulsory modules: 

• Human Computer Interaction Principles and Methods: introduces the principles of human computer interaction in the context of evaluation paradigms.  
• User-Centred Interaction Design: studies methodologies in interaction design that are at the core of current practice for user interface engineering and application development. 

And one of: 

• Object-Oriented Modelling, Design and Programming: introduces and reinforces object-oriented modelling, design and implementation to provide a common basis of skills, allowing students to complete programming assignments within other MSc modules.The module assumes a substantial amount of prior programming experience equivalent to having completed an undergraduate degree in Computer Science.
• Alternatively, students with no programming experience can take Programming Principles and Practice: introduces computational thinking and problem-solving skills to students who have no or little previous programming experience.  

and one or both of: 

• Information Visualisation: explores how to utilise visual representations to make information accessible for exploration and analysis. 
• Interactive Software and Hardware: develops prototype-building skills for a wide range of interactive technologies. 

Optional

The following modules are optional for Computer Science programmes. Not all combinations of modules will be available for all programmes, and some modules are subject to pre-requisites being satisfied. 

Students choose two or three optional modules. In the 'Additional optional' lists below, students can only take up to two of the modules in each list. See the module catalogue for their descriptions. 

Here is a sample of optional modules that may be offered.  

• Artificial Intelligence Practice 
• Artificial Intelligence Principles 
• Critical Systems Engineering 
• Data-Intensive Systems 
• Knowledge Discovery and Datamining
• Language and Computation 
• Machine Learning
• Principles of Computer Communication Systems 
• Software Architecture and Design
• Software Engineering Practice 
• Software Engineering Principles 

Optional modules are subject to change each year and require a minimum number of participants to be offered; some may only allow limited numbers of students (see the University's position on curriculum development). 

Additional Optional 

Students may take up to two of the following: 

• Advanced Communication Networks and Systems 
• Computer Architecture 
• Computer Graphics 
• Computer Security 
• Concurrency and Multi-Core Architectures 
• Constraint Programming
• Distributed Systems 
• Logic and Software Verification
• Programming Language Design and Implementation 
• Signal Processing: Sound, Image, Video 
• Video Games 

Students may take up to two of the following: 

• Database Management Systems
• Information Security Management 
• Web Technologies 

Optional modules are subject to change each year and require a minimum number of participants to be offered; some may only allow limited numbers of students (see the University's position on curriculum development). 

Dissertation Project

During the second semester, students work with staff to define and agree upon a topic for the extended project, which they will work on during the final three months of the course. The project finishes in a 15,000-word dissertation. Dissertation projects may be group-based or completed individually (students are assessed individually in either case). 

The dissertation typically comprises: 

• a review of related work 
• the extension of existing or the development of new ideas 
• software implementation and testing 
• analysis and evaluation

Each project is supervised by one or two members of staff, typically through regular meetings and reviews of software and dissertation drafts. 

If students choose not to complete the dissertation requirement for the MSc, there is an exit award available that allows suitably qualified candidates to receive a Postgraduate Diploma instead, finishing the course at the end of the second semester of study.