Computing, artificial intelligence and ITThe Department of Informatics’ constituent groups all achieved grade 5 in the most recent UK Research Assessment Exercise, reflecting the international and national excellence of their research. Informatics has received additional external recognition in the form of many large grants from government and industry. With wellequipped labs and thriving seminar series, the Department provides an intellectually stimulating and supportive environment. We have many links with industry, as well as a number of CASE studentships. We have an Industrial Board that advises on our Masters programmes, as well as being involved in setting up and advising on dissertation projects, guest lectures and recruitment events. The Board includes representatives from Searchspace, Infermed, Btexact Technologies, Motorola, Logica CMG and Worth Media. There are excellent facilities for research, including a speech laboratory, robotics laboratory, networks laboratory, interactive multimedia laboratory, multimedia technology laboratory, computer vision equipment, access to parallel supercomputers and many other specialist facilities and laboratories associated with the various research groups. For general computing, there is a network of over 160 Windows PCs and Macs. Research students have full access to this network, as well as the University computing centre’s central facilities. Our computers are linked to national and international computer networks. A wide range of specialist software is managed by a dedicated departmental systems support team. For more information, visit the Informatics website Taught programmesPlease refer to the list of taught programmes on the left. Students taking taught programmes are based in the School of Science and Technology. Part-time programmesThe part-time structure for each programme is as follows: Year 1 Year 2 Research programmesResearch students studying for MPhil or DPhil degrees are associated with one or more research groups in the Department and are housed in wellequipped shared offices. They have full access to their research group’s specialist facilities and laboratories. The Department of Informatics is engaged in a wide range of highly rated research covering many areas of artificial intelligence, computer science and cognitive science. We can supervise research students in all areas in which departmental faculty specialise. Admission requirementsApplicants for research degrees in computer science and artificial intelligence should normally have at least the equivalent of an upper secondclass honours degree in computer science or artificial intelligence, or an appropriate conversion MSc degree. Strong candidates from other relevant areas such as mathematics, engineering, linguistics, logic or psychology are also encouraged to apply. For further information on admission and IELTS/TOEFL requirements, please refer to Applications and selection. Each application is considered on its own merits, and the acceptance of suitable candidates depends on the availability of a member of faculty to offer effective supervision. Applicants wishing to pursue interdisciplinary research involving artificial intelligence (including computational philosophy of mind or of biology) may apply to do research degrees in cognitive science. Such applicants should normally have at least the equivalent of an upper second-class honours degree in an appropriate subject such as psychology, mathematics, computer science, linguistics or philosophy. Students wishing to do research that does not relate to computational concepts should normally apply to one of the psychology, linguistics or philosophy programmes. Students admitted to research degrees will normally be required to do some coursework in their first two terms, although an appropriate MSc often provides an alternative way of gaining the necessary training. See also Applications and selection. It is also possible to undertake a research degree in cognitive science via the New Route DPhil (refer to Postgraduate study at Sussex), offering an integrated four-year programme of taught coursework in research methods and professional skills, and supervised doctoral research. FundingA limited amount of funding from the EPSRC and the University is available for outstanding research students. Recent thesis titlesTo err is human: a discussion of intentionality, error and misrepresentation Evolutionary search of fitness landscapes with neutral networks Unsupervised language acquisition: theory and practice Active group communication Hardware evolution: on the nature of artificially evolved electronic circuits Proxy compilation of dynamically loaded Java classes Interactivity in graphical representations: assessing its benefits for learning Categorical and graphical models of programming languages On the relations between behaviour, mechanism and environment: explorations in artificial evolution Reverse engineering an active eye Implementation of an optimising objectoriented programming language compiler for embedded applications 3D graphics hardware prototyping and implementation A multimedia CAL system for objectoriented methodology Algorithm design for 3D computer graphics rendering Computer graphics hardware using ASICs, FPGAs and embedded logic Texture mapping acceleration using cache memories Academic activitiesResearch students make a substantial contribution to the research output of the Department of Informatics, and frequently present their work at conferences and in journals. Graduate students are also encouraged to attend and give talks in the various specialised seminar series in the Department:
The regular seminars held in life sciences and by the Philosophy Society may also be of relevance to graduate studies. FacultyFor a list of members of faculty and their research interests go to the faculty and research information page. |
Research
MPhil
DPhil
Please note: A DPhil is the term given by the University of Sussex to the award of Doctor of Philosophy by research, often referred to by other universities as a PhD. Research informationDetails of faculty and research information. Essentials
FeesRefer to Fees and finance for information on fees. Admissions and further informationPostgraduate Admissions, Refer to Applying to Sussex for further information on admissions and English language requirements. American Express
The University of Sussex and American Express have joined forces to offer an exciting new way to study and gain work experience. You will work for two years part-time in the Technologies division of American Express, based in the Sussex Innovation Centre on the University of Sussex campus, while also studying for an MSc in either Information Technology for E-Commerce or Human-Centred Computer Systems in the Department of Informatics.* Your tuition fees for the course will be paid by American Express and you will receive a competitive salary based on a working week of 30 hours. At the end of the two years, the highest performing students will have an opportunity to gain a full-time job with American Express. This opportunity is available to EU students only
and you must be entitled to study part-time and
work 30 hours per week in the UK to be eligible
for consideration.
For more information contact: * Please note that it is possible to study for the MSc in Information Technology for E-Commerce and the MSc in Human- Centred Computer Systems full-time or part-time, without undertaking the work experience component with American Express. |
| Contact details and term dates | ||
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For pre-application enquiries:Student Recruitment Services |
For post-application enquiries:Postgraduate Admissions |
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Teaching term dates 2008-2009 | ||
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Autumn term |
Spring term |
Summer term |
| Postgraduate students will normally be registered from 1 October 2008 to 30 September 2009 | ||
