MSc in Computer Science (Software Engineering) 2009/2010

Degree Objectives

The role of the software engineering stream, in the MSc in Computer Science is the development of quality software, coupled with the transfer of this knowledge to industry. Topics include requirements engineering, system design, testing strategies and software development primarily using Java, with an overall emphasis on the development of reliable software systems.

The primary emphasis in this stream is on the principles of good scientific software engineering practice, grounded in a hands-on understanding of the applicability of these practices, so that successful participants will be able to lead major software engineering projects. Consequently, this stream entails significant involvement of industry, including the opportunity of completing an industrial based project where the student will obtain experience of the software industry. (for more general information see our Postgraduate Prospectus)

Degree Structure

The degree is run as a series of two-week modules - with at least eight modules offered per year. In general each module consists of:

• one week of full-time lectures followed by
• one week for the completion of marked assignments (which may be done off-campus).

The module lectures run approximately every second week from mid September to December, and from the end of January to the end of April. Each module is run only once per year and the modules offered will vary from year to year. Some of these modules will be taught by staff of the Department of Computer Science, NUIM; and some will be taught by other Irish and International experts.

The degree can be taken full-time over a single year or part-time over two or on a modular basis over more that two years. Part time and modular student need to arrange their availability to attend lectures from 9.30- 5pm Monday-Friday during the lecture week of modules that they wish to attend.

Modules List 2009/2010

The course for 2009/2010 will consist of the following 9 modules. (Modules may be substituted or additional modules added from time to time at the discretion of the Department of Computer Science.)

Required Modules:

All required modules must be taken as part of this MSc course.

CS613 - Object-Oriented Programming
CS605 - The Mathematics and Theory of Computer Science
CS603 - Rigorous Software Development

Compulsory modules:

CS630 - Work Placement (during 2nd year)
CS640 – Dissertation (during 2nd year)

Elective Modules :

Student must choose five of the following modules.

CS607 - Requirements Engineering and System Design
CS608 - Testing and Benchmarking Strategies
CS610 - Human-Computer Interfaces
CS615 - Internet Solutions Engineering
CS616 - Practical Cryptography
CS619 - Program Comprehension (for reliable Systems)

CS621 - Spatial Databases (NEW)

 

Full Module Information is also available.

Some of the modules currently being offered have their own associated web pages. These will be indicated to you by individual lecturers. Further details, including prerequisite information may be found in the Computer Science Calendar .

Work Placement

There is a minimum requirement of six months work placement. Placements commence from May onwards. Students can apply for a placement position through the computer science Industrial Placement Office. Students may also arrange their own placement and in this instance a job description, company details, contact name of the line-manager and human resources manager must be supplied to the computer science department industrial placement office before the student can be allowed to take up their position.

The industrial placement office is available to students throughout the year, both before and during placement and will assist with visa renewal, interview preparation, CV preparation etc.

Assessment: A successful report is required to be submitted. Details will be circulated by the course director. In addition students are required to submit an engineer's log detailing at least 6 months industrial software engineering experience.

Dissertation

All participants will be required to contribute to the execution of a non-vial software engineering project. This project work will develop each student's ability to work effectively on a challenging topic: to research alternative solutions, develop a solution, and to evaluate both the usefulness of the solution and the process that lead to it.

The thesis topic may be proposed by either the student or a member of staff and should be approved by the course co-ordinator. The dissertation submitted may be either research or industrially based. It must be directly pertaining to the MSc specialisation that the student is undertaking. Thesis proposal forms should be completed by those intending to submit their thesis by January 30th 2009 and emailed upon commencement to the course co-ordinator by July 18th 2008.

There are 2 options with respect to the dissertation:

A work placement dissertation - The participant will be required to present a dissertation on the software engineering issues directly pertaining to the execution of their project work (over a period of at least 6 months).

A research dissertation - The participant can submit a research article of standard deemed suitable for international publication at a software engineering conference or in a software engineering journal.

The marks for the dissertation contribute to 33% of the final degree mark (counting as 4 modules). The marking scheme is as follows: dissertation and research article .

To graduate you must submit THREE HARD BOUND copies of your dissertation.

Sample MSc Dissertations: Research Paper (140kb) ; Work Placement Thesis (550kb) Another Work Placement thesis (1.731Mb)

Important : The deadline for submission of a draft dissertation for review is December 1st each year. Drafts submitted after this date can only be submitted on agreement with the supervisor and there will be no onus on the supervisor to review the thesis. This date allows the supervisor an adequate period to review the dissertation, to provide feedback and to allow the student to prepare a final draft by the submission date of January 31st.

Rules and Regulations

The course is worth a total of 90 credits; 60 credits are allocated to the taught modules, with each having the same credit value. 22.5 credits are allocated to the dissertation module and 7.5 credits are allocated to the work experience module.

Students will be required to pass (or compensate in) eight taught modules, a required dissertation module and a required work experience module. The taught modules must consist of three Required Modules (CS603, CS605 and CS613 in 2008/09) and five elective modules

The pass mark for all modules is 50%. In the case where the student does not obtain 50% in a module that is non-required, they may compensate with a mark greater than 39%, provided their overall average mark is 50% in the eight taught modules. No more than two non-required modules may be passed by compensation.

Students may only repeat failed modules with the permission of the course coordinator, provided there is availability of resources. There are no repeats in the Autumn examinations and students need to reapply in writing for the next academic year. Students who wish to repeat a failed module must repeat the entire module, including all course work and lectures. There is no guarantee that the same modules will be available in successive years.

On completion of the course work a dissertation must be submitted (see relevant section). It is weighted as 4 modules (33% of total) and must also be passed in order for the MSc to be awarded.

Any student failing to meet the pass requirements as stated above will be considered for a PostGraduate Diploma in Science (Software Engineering) where the requirements are an average of 40% in 8 modules. See the Postgraduate Diploma in Science (Software Engineering) page for further details. This postgraduate diploma was previously known as the "Higher Diploma in Science (Software Engineering)". Its new title reflects that this diploma builds on students previous undergraduate qualifications in computer science. 

Participants must complete -or have already completed- a period of between 6 and 12 months in an industrial setting. Our placement officer will assist you to find such an industrial placement, if required.

Copying or plagiarism as defined in the departmental handbook is completely forbidden and will result in disciplinary action, with potential expulsion from the course. Students are reminded to check the university calendar to ensure that prerequisite modules are taken prior to other modules.

The rules for students who registered prior to the academic year 2005/06 remain as in previous years (9 modules + dissertation weighted at 25%)

Part-Time Students

The taught component of each module is delivered during one week of intensive lectures, facilitating students from industry who wish to take this course part-time. In fact, this MSc course has been designed to accommodate students who are in full-time employment but who wish to take this course on a part-time modular basis. In fact, a significant portion of our students are in full-time employment 

Typically, students take the course over two or three years, gradually accumulating the required modules. This requires taking 4 weeks off work during each academic year, to attend the selected modules. Practical work for each module is normally completed off campus (during the evenings or at weekends) and does not necessitate additional time from work.

The work placement module (CS630) and report is normally based on their regular place of employment. The dissertation (CS640) often examines a particular aspect of their working environment. Occasionally students elect to pursue one of the research oriented projects.

Entry Requirements

Admission will normally be restricted to graduates who have achieved a 1st class honours degree, or better, in Computer Science or a closely-related discipline.

Very highly-qualified applicants from other disciplines may be considered. Ideally, applicants will be currently working in the software industry, either in Ireland or abroad. Participants may work in their own companies for the industrial placement module of the degree.

Applicants from Ireland's other universities and Institutes of Technology are welcomed.

Note that this degree requires students to have a very good initial knowledge of Computer Science.

Applications can be made through the online postgraduate application system – PAC here. Scholastic funding information is available at the Graduate Studies office website.

The International Office has further details for international students. International students should supply evidence of their ability for the English Language (e.g. IELTS) and may obtain information regarding visas etc from the International Office at NUIM.

Availability of Places

The number of places on the degree is limited and consequently admission is on a competitive basis. Thus, we cannot guarantee admission even if you meet the entry requirements. Try to solve some of the problems on this webpage to determine the minimum programming ability expected: here.

Fees (academic year 2009/2010 expected)

Fees are set by the fees office (fees website) around mid July each year. There is the option to be registered on a full time, part time or on a modular basis. In 2009/10 full time EU nationals will pay €2,000 euros (expected) as a result of support from the New Graduate Skills Conversion Programme. Otherwise, when this support is not available, the full time tuition fee was €9,790 euro for EU nationals (expected).

Part-time EU nationals pay €2,000 euros (expected) per year as a result of support from the New Graduate Skills Conversion Programme. Otherwise, when this support is not available, the part-time tuition fee was €5,780 euro for EU nationals (in 2007).

The full time/part time tuition fee for Non-EU nationals was €13,500 euro per year (expected). Students on work placements usually receive a salary.

Per-Module fee has not been announced yet. Please feel free to email smsc-cd@cs.nuim.ie for further information.

Scholarship Information

Applications for John and Pat Hume tuition bursary (value up to €10,000) which will cover fees for that course. Applicants must be in receipt of a First Class Honours Undergraduate Degree. Applications close at the end of July 2009.

Students from Northern Ireland institutions are recommended to check out the North-South Masters Bursaries site for funding opportunities.

Timetable 2009-10 (Provisional):

Lectures for CS613 Object Oriented Programming commence as follows:
Time: Monday 28th September at 9:30am.

Location: North Campus, Callan Building Extension, (#22 on the map below), Ground floor - Room 1.39a.

Map: http://www.nuim.ie/location/maps/north.shtml
Attendance at lectures is compulsory and most lecture days run from 9.30am to 5pm. Attendance for practical work is at the discretion of the lecturers; many of them do not require the students to attend the University on these dates if they are able to complete their work away from the University.

CS613 is a pre-requisite for all modules - under exceptional circumstances (where a student already has significant experience in an OO programming language) it is possible not to have to take CS613 as the first module, but this has to be pre-arranged with the program director. Individual module requirements may be found at:

http://www.nuim.ie/calendar/coursepdf/computer_science.pdf

Please note that the timetable may be subject to change, but every effort will be made to maintain the schedule given here.

Term officially begins on September 21, 2009. However, a Java workshop will be held on during the week of September 14 for students who do not have a background in Java (but who are familiar with other OO programming languages). This workshop shall be held at 9:30am in Room 2.17 the Callan Building. Further term dates are also available. All lectures and workshops will be held in the Computer Science extension to the Callan Building.

MSc in C.S. (Software Engineering) Provisional Timetable (2009/2010) Semester 2

(as of 1st January 2010)

Module	Lecturer	Lectures	Practical Work
CS608 Testing and benchmarking strategies	sb	1 Feb 10 to 5 Feb 10	8 Feb 10 to 12 Feb 10
CS615 Internet Solutions Engineering	sber	15 Feb 10 to 19 Feb 10	22 Feb 10 to 26 Feb 10
CS619 Program Comprehension	jp	1 Mar 10 to 5 Mar 10	8 Mar 10 to 12 Mar 10
Study Week from 15th March 2010 to 19th March 2010
CS616 Practical Cryptography	td	22 Mar 10 to 26 Mar 10	29 Mar 10 to 1 April 10
Easter Vacation - April 2nd - April 9th
CS610 Human Computer Interaction	rr	12 April 10 to 16 April 10	19 April 10 to 23 April  10

Semester 1 Concludes on Friday 18th December 2009.

Registration for "Taught Postgraduate" students is on 2009 Monday 22nd Sept. 2-4pm - details are available here. International students see here also.

Semester 2 begins on Monday 2nd February 2009. Semester 2 exams will not begin before 17 May 2010.

Exams - Timetable

All exams are 3 hours and will be held in January/ May each year. Semester 1 exams will not begin before Friday 8th January 2009. Semester 2 are usually held in May (2010). The official timetables will be published by the examinations office.

Course Feedback

Course feedback may be sought using the standard course feedback form. Forms should be returned to the course director. Some course lecturers may have their own course-specific feedback forms.

Policies Relating To Examination Results

The following policies are currently in place:
(1) Module practical exam marks from week 1 can be given to students prior to the module examination.
(2) Project exam marks will be given to students following an examination board meeting.
(3) Previous exam papers will be made available
(4) Copies of examination papers and scripts for the current year can only be given to students after the university exam board meeting, usually held in June.
(5) There are no repeat exams at the moment- consult the course co-ordinator for further information.

Important Dates (2009/2010) (provisional)

The Java programming workshop is expected to being for MSc(SE) and H Dip(SE) students on September 14th, 2009. 
Term will officially commence on September 21st, 2009 at 9.30am. in Lab 1.39a
The first module is expected to being on Monday September 28  at 09:30am.
Information regarding Registration is available here. Registration of incoming MSc in C.S. (Software Engineering) is expected to be held in late September, 2009.

2nd year students - Submission of draft thesis for review and feedback: December 1st each year.
Submission of thesis without having to re-register: January 31st each year.

Application

Applications are accepted throughout the year through the online Postgraduate Application Centre - www.PAC.ie.
Priority will be given to early applicants.
Please provide a full CV including a full Transcript Of Results for all university subjects you have taken. Please include all other relevant information that might assist in your application.

Contact Information (2009/2010)

Course Co-ordinator: Dr. Diarmuid 0’Donoghue
Application is via http://www.pac.ie/

The course co-ordinator can be contacted by:
Email --- smsc-cd@cs.nuim.ie
Phone --- +353 (0)1 708 3847
FAX --- +353 (0)1 708 3848

 

About NUI Maynooth – Location and Information

NUIM a constituent University of the National University of Ireland. NUIM is located in Maynooth town which is a University town with a population of around 10,000 people - though this varies considerably during term time. Maynooth is also a commuter town for Dublin, enjoying excellent public and private bus operators, regular rail connection, and the M4 motorway.

See the NUIM location and transport information for details. Check out the variety of daily and weekly bus connections to various destination across Ireland.

See also our interactive map. Lectures will take place in the Computer Science Department, Callan Building (building 22 on the map of the North campus). Also, check out the image gallery created by some of our undergraduate students.

History of the National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM)

In 1795 Grattan's Parliament passed an Act which created an academy "for the better education of persons professing the popish or Roman Catholic religion". The new College, under the influence of the Duke of Leinster was to be founded in Maynooth and in time it became not only Ireland's national seminary, but also the largest seminary in the world.

In 1896 St Patrick's College Maynooth attained the status of a Pontifical University for its courses in Theology, Philosophy and Canon Law. Following the foundation of The National University of Ireland, Maynooth became a Recognised College of that federal structure in 1910. In 1966 St Patrick's College opened its doors to lay students and its population grew rapidly over the next three decades. In 1997 the Faculties of Arts, Science, Celtic Studies and Philosophy were united in a newly established constituent university of the National University of Ireland (NUI).

NUI Maynooth is today a rapidly developing non-denominational university centre of some 8,400 students. Its traditional core strengths have been augmented by new developments in Finance, Computer Science, Software Engineering and Electronic Engineering, Business and Law. It sees itself as an institution which links a rich history with a distinct mission in a rapidly developing modern Ireland.

Maynooth Town

See NUI Maynooth local area information, the Wikipedia entry on Maynooth town  or the International Office's also lists useful links about Maynooth.

 

Computer Science Department , NUI Maynooth
Tel: +353-1-708 3847 | Fax: +353-1-708 3848| Email: admin@cs.nuim.ie