Artificial Intelligence

Overview
In the last decade the advances in Artificial Intelligence have made it at the forefront of technology, with many advances improving our daily lives.

Such is its importance that AI has become a national priority in many countries, including the UK, US, China, and India.

As a result, there is a huge demand for specialist graduates with advanced AI knowledge and skills.

Studying MSc Artificial Intelligence at Queen's provides you with the building blocks required for a career in the AI sector, as a researcher or an engineer.

Through a combination of lectures, tutorials, and practical learning you will investigate the fundamentals of AI and the latest AI technologies. By familiarising yourself with the main areas of AI that are already being used in industry you will be primed to push this learning even further. With each module acting as a building block that allows you to work towards a themed research project.

Course Structure
Students may enrol on a full-time (1 year) or part-time (3 years) basis. Individual modules may be studied as a short course. Full-time students typically complete three modules per semester. Part-time students typically complete one or two modules per semester.

The MSc is awarded to students who successfully complete six taught modules (120 CATS points) and a 15,000 - 20,000 word research dissertation (60 CATS points).

Exit qualifications are available: students may exit with a Postgraduate Diploma by successfully completing 120 CATS points from taught modules or a Postgraduate Certificate by successfully completing 60 CATS points from taught modules.

We've made it easy to study for a master's module as a short course. If you would like to apply for a short course, please contact the Education Secretary (ssesw@qub.ac.uk) for advice.

About You
An analytical, curious, technical, and ambitious individual. You are ready to expand the horizons of what is possible.

You will appreciate the growing demand for AI in the world and would seek to use these skills to further your career in this exciting and expanding area.

Ideally, you will be a Computing graduate with strong programming skills and a solid background in mathematics.

Artificial Intelligence Highlights
Industry Links
• Developed in direct response to industry need this course will provide the building blocks required for you to step into a career in AI.
• Employers who are interested in people like you: BT, BBC, PwC, Kainos, Datactics, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Oosto (formerly Anyvision), etc.

Career Development
• Where would you like to be in five years time? A thought leader in AI, showcasing technological advancements through research. Working for some of the largest companies on the planet. Or even advising government policy. The future is an exciting place, full of opportunity.

Learning and Teaching
Learning opportunities associated with this course are outlined below:
Academic Team
You will be taught by a teaching team who are specialists in each subject area and bring a wealth of up-to-date knowledge to the course. This extensive research experience combined with group projects in small teams offers you the perfect environment to study AI.

English Language Support
The school is offering support on the use of English in academic writing. This will help you not only during your studies at Queen's, but also in your future career.

Modules
Each of the six taught modules in the Course is designed to help you incrementally build your knowledge, understanding, and skills of AI. Starting with learning core AI principles with Foundations of AI, Machine Learning, and Knowledge Engineering, the course then progresses to focus on Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing. The final taught module will expose you to real-world applications of AI with our AI for Health module, an area of world-renowned research excellence at Queen's University, allowing you to put theory into practice in an applied setting.

The taught modules will also prepare you for a final, large-scale research project which will provide you with an opportunity to showcase your knowledge and skills in a thematic area.

Transferrable Skills
This course is designed to deliver qualified and sought-after graduates ready for the future of AI technology.

Virtual Learning Environment
All modules have a virtual learning environment (using Canvas) where the students can find all relevant material (lecture notes, handouts, video lectures) as well as online quizzes and assignments. Without a doubt, having all learning resources in one place is very useful.

AI for Health
This module will serve as a case study of AI applications. It will cover contemporary digital health topics such as precision medicine, diagnostics, medical imaging and drug discovery. It will develop the ability to utilise AI principles and techniques to solve some health challenges, the ability to obtain relevant data from recognised repositories, the ability to utilise existing libraries and packages for analysing and visualising health data, and the transferable skills to apply AI to solve practical challenges.

Computer Vision
This module will cover deep neural networks (DNNs) and modern approaches to computer vision including DNN models for various computer vision tasks and current topics of computer vision. It will develop the ability to utilise DNN models to solve real-world computer vision challenges, the ability to obtain image/video data from recognised repositories, the ability to utilise existing libraries and packages for implementing appropriate DNN models for a given computer vision task.

Course Details
The MSc in Artificial Intelligence is available in a full-time or a part-time option.

Full-time (1-year)
Part-time (2+ years): Part-time students are normally enrolled for two years.

Modules are regularly updated to reflect new developments in the dynamic field of Artificial Intelligence. Modules offered may be subject to change.

Foundations of AI
This module will cover the fundamental mathematics underlying AI including probability and statistics, calculus, algebra and optimisation. It will provide you with a sound understanding of the fundamentals; develop the ability to utilise them to understand and explain various AI techniques, and the ability to identify the most suitable modelling, optimisation, factorisation, and transformation approach for a given problem.

Knowledge Engineering
This module will cover classical and modern knowledge engineering techniques including logic, ontology, knowledge graph, and uncertainty reasoning. It will provide you with a systematic understanding of knowledge, principles and procedures of knowledge engineering, develop your ability to utilise suitable knowledge-based methods to solve real-world problems, and ability to evaluate and compare the performance of knowledge-based solutions for a given problem.

Machine Learning
This module will cover different types of machine learning and various algorithms of each type. It will provide you with a systematic understanding of machine learning as a subject area, develop your ability to identify problems that can be solved using machine learning methods, to apply suitable machine learning algorithms and software packages to solve real-world problems, to evaluate and compare the performance of machine learning methods for a given problem, and to present and discuss the results of machine learning methods and propose appropriate improvements to methods.

Natural Language Processing
This module will mainly cover modern approaches to natural language processing (NLP), including various deep neural networks (DNNs) for NLP, current topics of NLP.
It will develop the ability to utilise DNN models to solve real-world NLP challenges, the ability to obtain text/speech data from recognised repositories, the ability to utilise existing libraries and packages for developing NLP models, and an awareness of current developments, methods and applications of NLP.

Themed Project
A themed project is a research project in an approved theme. Each theme may run for a number of years, which is related to a strong area of research in the School. The topic of each project should be drawn from the following thematic areas of artificial intelligence (AI) covered by the Programme: machine learning (e.g., detection learning), knowledge engineering (e.g., clinical decision support systems, AI for education), computer vision (e.g., video search), natural language processing (e.g., question answering), and AI for health (e.g., medical image processing, biomarker discovery). Subject to approval by the Programme Committee, other themes not covered by the Programme may be included. These additional themes may be sponsored by a third party (e.g., a company) and sponsorship may be in the form of paying for the Levelling-Up Programme at the start of the Project. In exceptional cases, a project may have a topic outside these thematic areas.

Graduate
Normally a 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical and/or Electronic Engineering, Mathematics with Computer Science, Physics with Computer Science or a related discipline. Applicants must normally have achieved 2:1 standard or above in relevant modules.

Applicants who hold a 2.2 Honours degree and a Master's degree (or equivalent qualifications acceptable to the University) in one of the above disciplines will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

All applicants will be expected to have mathematical ability and significant programming experience as evidenced either through the content of their primary degree or through another appropriate formal qualification.

Applications may be considered from those who do not meet the above requirements but can provide evidence of recent relevant technical experience in industry, for example, in programming.

The University's Recognition of Prior Learning Policy provides guidance on the assessment of experiential learning (RPEL). Please visit http://go.qub.ac.uk/RPLpolicy for more information.

International Students
For information on international qualification equivalents, please check the specific information for your country.

English Language Requirements
Evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.0, with not less than 5.5 in any component, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University is required. *Taken within the last 2 years

International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.

For more information on English Language requirements for EEA and non-EEA nationals see: www.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs.

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.

• Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level

• Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.

Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible and ideally no later than 31st July 2023 for courses which commence in late September. In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal. Notifications to this effect will appear on the Direct Application Portal against the programme application page.

How to Apply
Applications should be submitted online via the Postgraduate Applications Portal for admission to the vast majority of postgraduate programmes.

New applicants will need to register via the Portal to create an application account. If you are already a Queen's student with an active Qsis account, you can log in using your student number and Qsis password. Guidance on how to complete an application is provided within the Portal and it is possible to save application data and return to complete it at a later date, if you wish. After core details about yourself and your academic background have been provided, you can submit an application, or multiple applications, if required.

If you applied in a previous cycle through the Portal and are re-applying, you should use your previous log in details. Please review and update your personal and contact details, academic and professional qualifications before submitting a new application.

Important – please ensure that the email address you provide is correct and active, as this will be used by us to communicate the progress of your application to you.

2 years (Part Time)
1 year (Full Time)

Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.