UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Master in Applied Computer Science

Program structure

Teaching and assessment

Refresher course:

In Week 33 a two-day refresher course in linear algebra is offered. In this course, central concepts and methods from previous linear algebra courses will be repeated. Experiences from previous years are that students who participate in this refresher course benefit greatly from this in SMN6190 Linear Algebra II.

All teaching on this program takes place in English.

The study program is structured with concentrated courses where students work on one subject at a time. This provides for a uniform workload throughout the program. The program is R&D-based, and the professors are often using their own research results in lecturing. Most courses are based on traditional lectures, theoretical exercises, laboratory exercises, excursions, and self-studies. Exercises can be either voluntary or mandatory and performed individually or in teams.

Mandatory project works are also often used in connection to the different subjects. The projects are normally executed by student teams. The teams are preparing project reports that are presented to the professors, examiners, and sometimes also to the fellow students. The projects may be based on laboratory experiments, business cases, or similar. Some subjects are entirely based on a project supervised by the actual professor.

The final thesis is characterized by a topic of scientific nature and can be performed in close cooperation with a relevant industry partner and/or based on an existing R&D-project. The work is divided into two phases where the first phase normally consists of a literature study in order to provide the students with a stronger theoretical basis to execute phase two. Phase two is the main part of the thesis and is a dedicated R&D task where the students will gain in-depth knowledge of the chosen topic. The result of the work is to be presented in the form of a scientific report in order to document all work that is performed in connection with the thesis. The work is normally performed individually, but in special cases by a group of two or three students. There will be milestone status meetings and presentations during the working period, and the final results are presented to faculty staff and fellow students.

Form of assessment

Throughout the program, various forms of evaluation methods are used in connection to the different subjects. In most cases, individual written examinations are used as the main form of subject grading. In addition, mandatory projects (individually or in groups) are used in order to set the final grade.

Some subject evaluations are based on a portfolio of performed assignments, while others are based on project works in which the grades are determined based on written reports, sometimes followed by oral presentations.

The grading of the final master thesis is based only on the written report with relevant attachments.

Further information about the evaluation method of each subject is defined in the respective course description, but the grading is normally based on the ECTS system with grades A, B, C, D, E, and F, where F is "not passed".

Mandatory safety training in health, security, and environment (HSE)

All students must complete mandatory safety training before they are allowed access and given permission to work in laboratories, workshops, and the like. This also goes for participation in fieldwork/research cruises and similar. Please contact your immediate supervisor for a list of mandatory courses.

Access to further studies

UIT Campus Narvik has a ph.d. education within the field of Engineering Science and Technology. Students may be qualified for admission to this Ph.D. program.

After successful completion of the degree program, depending on satisfactory grades in the Master's and Bachelor's degrees.

Learning outcomes

After completion of the program, the candidate is possessing the following learning outcome.

Knowledge

• the candidate will have the necessary basic knowledge as well as expert knowledge of challenging jobs in research, industrial development, and other areas. The knowledge is on a level such that the candidate can analyze problems and apply the knowledge in new areas.
• the candidate will have a thorough knowledge of the different theories and methodologies of software development and especially computer programming, including advanced object-oriented programming and meta-programming, based on knowledge of mathematics and technology applicable to both general-purpose programming and especially to technical applications on different platforms.
• the candidate will have special knowledge in the combined fields of geometric modeling and programming, geometry combined with artificial intelligence and programming, simulations/computations and programming, and geometry and computer graphics.

Skills

• the candidate will work independently with problems, by analyzing the problems and make plans for solving them.
• the candidate will be able to independently make large and/or complex computer programs that can run on different platforms.
• the candidate can carry out an independent research or development project within the field of computer science under the supervision and in accordance with applicable norms for research ethics.
• the candidate can find, analyze, and deal critically with various sources of information and use them in development and in argumentation.
• the candidate will be able to write a longer continuous report and present research clearly in written work and communicate knowledge in general orally and in writing.

General competence

• the candidate is influenced to maintain and develop curiosity and values such as openness, precision, and the importance of separating between knowledge and opinions.
• the candidate can communicate about academic issues, analysis, and conclusions in the field of computer science by using the relevant terminology to communicate with specialists and also with the general public.
• the candidate can contribute to new thinking and innovation processes in cooperation with experts from other fields.

Job prospectives

The Master's degree in Applied Computer Science qualifies for work internationally within a range of industries and disciplines, ranging from software engineering in general to the development of domain-specific special software. Some examples include:

• Software development in general
• Virtual reality and simulators
• Graphical visualization systems
• Development of domain-specific software solutions, e.g: oil and gas, CAD/CAM
• Computer games industry
• Machine learning and the development of artificial intelligence systems
• An academic career within research and development
• Ansatt I Forsvaret
• Gründer
• IT-administrator
• Prosjektleder
• Spillprogrammerer
• Stipendiat