Computing Science (5 years) | Undergraduate Degrees | Study Here | The University of Aberdeen Skip to content About Accessibility on our website Study Undergraduate Undergraduate Degrees Subject Areas Go Abroad Finance and Funding How to Apply Postgraduate Taught Postgraduate Degrees Online Degrees Part-time Study Finance and Funding How to Apply Postgraduate Research Research Areas PhD Opportunities Finance and Funding How to Apply Online Learning Online Degrees Short Courses Study Subjects How Online Learning Works Fees and Funding Close About Campus Maps and Directions Staff Directory Contact Information News Events History Facts & Figures Schools and Institutes Strategy and Governance Management Coronavirus (Covid-19) Close Research Explore our Research Impact Find a Centre or Institute Facilities Postgraduate Research Study Research Jobs Research Support Close Alumni & Giving Alumni Stay in Touch Get Involved Benefits and Services Alumni Hub Events and Reunions Our Alumni Development Trust Make a Difference Apply for Funding Giving Close Business Close Development and Training Facilities and Expertise Working with Students Collaboration Funding Business Contacts Close Quick Links Student Resources MyTimetable MyCurriculum MyAberdeen Student Hub Student Email Student Channel Infohub Opening Hours Mon - Thu 09:00 - 17:00 Fri 10:00 - 17:00 Sat - Sun Closed Email: infohub@abdn.ac.uk StaffNet Working Here Management Information Systems Teaching & Learning Policy & Governance Staff Email Our Website Study About Research Alumni & Giving Business Popular For Students For Staff Online Store ePayments Jobs Library Staff Directory IT Services A to Z Close Search Menu Search Our Website Search In University Website Staff Directory Library Collections Keywords Search Or Browse: Contacts A to Z Staff Directory Study Here Enquire Now Undergraduate Postgraduate Taught Postgraduate Research Online Learning International Student Life Open Days, Events and Visits Computing Science (5 years), MEng University Home Study Here Undergraduate Our Degrees Computing Science (5 years) Computing Science (5 years), MEng Enquire Now How to Apply Degree Navigation Overview What You'll Study Entry Requirements Fees Careers Our Experts Contact Us Introduction 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. Study Information At a Glance Learning Mode On Campus Learning Degree Qualification MEng Duration 60 months Study Mode Full Time Start Month September UCAS Code I101 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. What You'll Study Year 1 Year 1 Compulsory Courses Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD1002) 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’. View detailed information about this course Algebra (MA1006) 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. View detailed information about this course Object - Oriented Programming (CS1527) 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. View detailed information about this course Modelling and Problem Solving for Computing (CS1029) 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. View detailed information about this course Programming 1 (CS1032) 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. View detailed information about this course Computer Systems and Architecture (CS1533) 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. View detailed information about this course Optional Courses Select one of the following: Combinatorics (MA1510) Set Theory (MA1511) Plus 30 credit points from choices of course. 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. View detailed information about this course 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. View detailed information about this course Year 2 Year 2 Compulsory Courses Databases and Data Management (CS2019) 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. View detailed information about this course Algorithms and Data Structures (CS2522) 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. View detailed information about this course Mathematics for Computing Science (CS2513) 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. View detailed information about this course Human - Computer Interaction (CS2506) 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. View detailed information about this course Software Programming (CS2020) 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. View detailed information about this course Optional Courses Plus, select a further 45 credit points from courses of choice. Direct Entrant choose the following: CS1533 Computer Systems and Architecture Select a further 30 credit points from courses of choice. Computer Systems and Architecture (CS1533) 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. View detailed information about this course Year 3 Year 3 Compulsory Courses Operating Systems (CS3026) 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. View detailed information about this course 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. View detailed information about this course Artificial Intelligence (CS3033) 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. View detailed information about this course 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. View detailed information about this course Distributed Systems (CS3534) 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. View detailed information about this course Languages and Computability (CS3518) 15 Credit Points This course provides a basic-level introduction to computability via the notion of a Turing Machine. Some familiarity with imperative programming (e.g., in JAVA) and with the basics of set theory (e.g., the notion of a bijection) is assumed. The Functional language Haskell (familiar from earlier courses, including CS2013) is used to explore the concepts of infinity, recognisability and decidability, which are crucial to computability. View detailed information about this course Enterprise Computing and Business (CS3525) 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. View detailed information about this course Optional Courses Select 15 credit points from courses of choice. Year 4 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. View detailed information about this course Single Honours Computing Project (CS4529) 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. View detailed information about this course Optional Courses Select 30 credits from level 4 Computing Science courses plus 15 credit points from courses of choice. Year 5 Year 5 Compulsory Courses Informatics Project (CS551M) 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. View detailed information about this course Optional Courses Select 60 credit points from any four level 5 Computing Science courses. 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. Within Subject Area Computing Related Information Undergraduate Prospectus Find Funding Find Accommodation Chat to our students and staff 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 learnt on the course; and written examinations at the end of each course. 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. Why Study Computing Science? Computing graduates develop an ability to understand new and complex computer systems. At the University of Aberdeen, we give you every opportunity to broaden your horizons and develop the professional and personal skills and attributes you will need to build a successful career. The high quality of our degrees combined with our strong focus on employability opens up a wide range of career options. Students benefit from the international reputation of the University’s Business School and Computing Science Department, and strong links with industry. Flexible degree programmes available and options to suit your needs. Broad range of study abroad partner universities available so you can spend a period of time experiencing another culture and country during your studies - including universities in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Sweden and Switzerland. Interested in this programme? Call +44 (0)1224 272090 Email study@abdn.ac.uk Enquire Now Using an online form Next Steps Find out how to apply Entry Requirements Qualifications The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen. General Entry Requirements 2021 Entry 2022 Entry 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. * 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. 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. 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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. International Applicants Information about visa and immigration requirements Fees and Funding You will be classified as one of the fee categories below. Fee information Fee category Cost RUK £9,250 Students Admitted in 2021/22 EU / International students £20,700 Tuition Fees for 2021/22 Academic Year Home Students £1,820 Students Admitted in 2021/22 Scholarships and Funding 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. International Applicants Further Information about tuition fees and the cost of living in Aberdeen Additional Fees In exceptional circumstances there may be additional fees associated with specialist courses, for example field trips. Any additional fees for a course can be found in our Catalogue of Courses. For more information about tuition fees for this programme, including payment plans and our refund policy, please visit our InfoHub Tuition Fees page. Our Funding Database View all funding options in our Funding Database. Careers 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. Career Opportunities Graduate Programmer Graduate Support Engineer Software Developer Accreditation This degree holds accreditation from British Computer Society (BCS) Our Experts Find out about the experts you will be taught by. Information About Staff Changes 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. Features Aberdeen Software Factory Aberdeen Software Factory 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 Computing Placements Computing Placements Placements are encouraged and available within a range of computing firms - summer months, between second and third year, or between third and fourth year. Related Undergraduate Degrees BSc Business Management and Information Systems MA Computing BSc Computing Science BSc Computing Science and Mathematics BSc Computing Science and Physics MSci Computing Science with Industrial Placement MA Computing and Music Discover Uni Discover Uni draws together comparable information in areas students have identified as important in making decisions about what and where to study. You can compare these and other data for different degree programmes in which you are interested. 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