Applied Computer Science

Applied computer science graduates are in short supply on the job market and therefore in great demand. Their job is first and foremost to develop software, which in this era of digitalisation is needed in virtually all sectors of the economy. It’s not only traditionally ‘scientific’ fields of work that are relying increasingly on IT, although that’s a crucial area for specialists in the field, who might work on centralised or distributed information systems, the Internet of things, genome analysis, machine learning or data science, to name but a few examples. Companies have come to value our graduates with their focused, real-world education and experience; we always make sure our teaching is relevant to application and bang up-to-date, and our students leave us able to hit the ground running on projects in industrial settings.

The discipline of applied computer science encompasses knowledge, skills and methodologies around the analysis and design of IT systems.

The degree course commences with foundational modules in mathematics, programming, databases, theoretical principles of computer science, structures of computers, and machine-oriented programming.

As the course progresses, students focus on software engineering, distributed systems, IT system architectures, IT security and smart systems. Alongside these foci, they have the opportunity to specialise via a diverse range of required elective modules and associated projects, including in computer graphics, data science, enterprise architecture management, the Internet of things, robot vision, learning agents (robot control), smart systems communication, autonomous driving, and human-computer interaction. Social science modules round off the spectrum of subjects on offer.

You’ll complete this six-semester degree course with your Bachelor thesis.

You’ll need a strong interest in how large-scale software systems and their underlying technologies work, as well as being keen to find out about the collaborative process of designing, developing and testing them via first-hand experience.

Mathematical skills, a logical mindset, an ablity to work well in small groups, and a flair for language will all help you progress well. It’s helpful, but not required, for you to have a good level of proficiency in English and some programming experience.