CS19010 - HOT TOPICS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

Module Identifier

CS19010

Module Title

HOT TOPICS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

Academic Year

2004/2005

Co-ordinator

Dr Mark J Neal

Semester

Semester 1

Other staff

Dr Mark J Neal

Pre-Requisite

None

Co-Requisite

None

Mutually Exclusive

None

Course delivery

Lecture

19 x 50 minutes

Seminars / Tutorials

2 x 50 minute seminars

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	1.5 Hours SEMESTER EXAMINATION	100%
Supplementary Assessment	1.5 Hours SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATION	100%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
describe how research questions and experiments to test them might be formulated.

describe a number of particular areas of research in which the department performs research.

demonstrate understanding of a number of common features of some of these areas of research.

Aims

The module is intended to introduce a wide range of topics which are the subject of ongoing research in the discipline. This is intended to give the students a view of the way in which various parts of the discipline relate to each other as well as to identify common challenges and aspects of computer science between research areas. This is intended to motivate the students by providing a strong link in our taught course to the cutting edge research that is happening in the department.

Brief description

The module will present a basic description of how and why research in computer science is performed and then focus on a selection of topics and projects that are active areas of research within the department. Finally common aspects of the various areas will be identified, discussed and considered in the wider context of computer science as a whole.

Content

Introduction to research in computer science (2 lectures)

A non-technical and non-philosophical description of the general scientific method and principles such as Occam's razor will be given. This will move on to ways in which research questions (hypotheses) can be expressed and subsequently to how they can be tested. General issues of experimental design and gathering of results will also be discussed.

Topics in artificial intelligence (3 lectures)

An overview of the current state of the art and hard problems in AI research will be given, with a bias towards the topics which form the basis of research currently underway in the department. This will be followed by more focussed description and discussion of particular research projects currently being undertaken in the department in AI.

Topics in robotics (3 lectures)

An overview of the current state of the art and hard problems in robotics research will be given, with a bias towards the topics which form the basis of research currently underway in the department. This will be followed by more focussed description and discussion of particular research projects currently being undertaken in the department in robotics.

Topics in vision and graphics (3 lectures)

An overview of the current state of the art and hard problems in vision and graphics research will be given, with a bias towards the topics which form the basis of research currently underway in the department. This will be followed by more focussed description and discussion of particular research projects currently being undertaken in the department in vision and graphics.

Topics in qualitative reasoning (2 lectures)

An overview of the current state of the art and hard problems in QR research will be given, with a bias towards the topics which form the basis of research currently underway in the department. This will be followed by more focussed description and discussion of particular research projects currently being undertaken in the department in QR.

Topics in bioinformatics (3 lectures)

An overview of the current state of the art and hard problems in bioinformatics research will be given, with a bias towards the topics which form the basis of research currently underway in the department. This will be followed by more focussed description and discussion of particular research projects currently being undertaken in the department in bioinformatics.

Topics in computer science education (2 lectures)

An overview of the current state of the art and hard problems in computer science education research will be given, with a bias towards the topics which form the basis of research currently underway in the department. This will be followed by more focussed description and discussion of particular research projects currently being undertaken in the department in computer science education research.

Wrap-up and analysis (1 lectures)

Common themes, problems, sub-problems and strategies will be identified in each of the areas described above. These will be related to and discussed within the context of computer science as a whole and related to modules and topics available to the students later in their studies.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4