About us

Welcome to the Department of Computer Science.

We do not only offer you excellent teaching by some of the best researchers in the field, but also the chance to study in an area of outstanding beauty, as part of the close community that exists between staff and students in Computer Science.

  • 92% student satisfaction for our G400 Computer Science degree scheme (NSS, 2017)
  • 90% student satisfaction for our G401 Computer Science (with Integrated Industrial and Professional Training) degree scheme (NSS, 2017)

Aberystwyth Computer Science are delighted with REF2014 success

Take the time to browse through our webpages and find out more about our courses on offer. If you have any questions, please do get in touch with us, our contact details are located on the Contact Us option.  If you have never visited Aberystwyth, come along to one of our Open Days so that you can see why we are UK University of the Year for Teaching Quality and the best in Wales for student satisfaction, and meet some of the staff who’ll be your mentors and guides during your time with us.

The Department of Computer Science

So why choose the Department of Computer Science at Aberystwyth University?

We are one of the longest established Departments of Computer Science in the UK and continue to lead in technological research and in delivering top quality graduates. We carry out research and development in areas including robotics, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, image processing, internet communications and software engineering, and have links with major international companies. In the Research Excellent Framework of 2014, our department was rated as 11th in the UK and 1st in Wales for Research Intensity by the Times Higher Education. This demonstrates that our degrees are constantly innovating your learning experience.

Most of our degrees are accredited by the BCS (The Chartered Institute for IT) on behalf of the Engineering Council, this will give you a head start when you enter the competitive job market.

Aberystwyth is a fantastic place to be a student. The town is set amongst some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK, and the University offers excellent sporting and social facilities.

Why Computer Science

Computer Science will only grow in relevancy, as the world becomes more and more reliant on technological advancements.Computer Science is now an important factor in engineering, science, travel, commerce and even the media, meaning the knowledge you gain as you study with us is widely applicable to a number of vastly different industries.

The Department of Computer Science places importance on the quality of teaching, learning environment and the cultural experience it offers its students. In the 2017 National Student Survey, our Computer Science degrees (G400, G401) obtained over 90% student satisfaction.

Our exciting and work place relevant degree schemes are highly regarded by both students and employers. Just this year an incredible 98% of our graduates were in employment or further study 6 months after graduation that is 8% higher than Computer Science graduates nationally (HESA, 2018). This demonstrates that our innovative teaching gives you a smooth transition from campus to career.

Our graduates are able to find interesting, well-paid work after graduation. Our degrees will prepare you for a variety of careers that include: Software design; Communications and Networking; Computer Applications; Web Development; IT consultancy and management; Systems Analysis and Development. 

Why Aberystwyth

 

Aberystwyth is  vibrant, cosmopolitan bilingual university town, between the rolling Cambrian mountains and the stunning coastline of Cardigan Bay. Aberystwyth home to 9,000 students.  You’ll be part of a campus university with its own sports centre, a busy Arts Centre; and you’ll be next door to the National Library of Wales, only one in five copyright libraries in the UK.

 

Equality and Diversity

The Department of Computer Science is committed to developing and promoting equality and diversity in all our practices and activities.

We aim to provide an inclusive culture for all of our staff and students, free from discrimination and upholding the values of respect, dignity and courtesy. Every person has the right to be treated in accordance with these values.

Activities and Events

We actively engage in outreach at schools and public engagement events across the country, giving everyone the chance to learn about computing. Our activities and events include:

Contacts

Your Employability

‌‌Enhancing your employability is one of our key priorities.

We offer a range of activities throughout your time in university to improve your employability.

The latest Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) survey shows that Aberystwyth Computer Science graduates exceed the national subject area average for employability. Below, are various ways we hope to improve your employability as a Computer Science student at Aberystwyth University.

Detailed information for students and employers may be found on the department's Industrial Year pages [click here].

Your Career Prospects

The Computer Science Department is proud of our graduate employment rate in recent HESA surveys. Here at Aberystwyth University, our obligations go far beyond that of pure academia, we also help you prepare for life after graduation and hope to help you gain employment after your degree.

Careers Fair and Visiting Employers

The most recent careers fair attracted relevant employers in the industry of Computer Science from across the country, all of which were delighted to talk to our students about their future. In addition to the Careers Fair, employers regularly visit us to talk to students about job and placement opportunities that they have on offer.

Careers Advisory Service

Throughout your time here you will be given lectures by the Careers Advisory Service on a range of topics including: writing a CV, giving effective presentations, psychometric tests, assessment centres etc. As well as these timetabled lectures, numerous additional workshops and ad-hoc drop-in sessions are offered throughout the year. All this will help you prepare for life after graduation.

AberGrad

AberGrad is another element of your time here Aberystwyth University that helps to prepare you for your future life. Alongside your academic studies, personal interests, part-time work and any other extra-curricular activities in which you engage, the Careers Service provides you with a host of opportunities that encourage you to develop your skills and abilities. It is our aim that by graduation, you will be well placed to confidently demonstrate the wide transferability of your subject knowledge, skills and experiences recorded and developed throughout your time as an Aberystwyth student.

Year 1

A fine balanceIn your first year you will participate in an activity weekend. This weekend will help you develop your interpersonal, problem solving and team building skills. All our first years take  a Professional and Personal Development module, covering issues such CV writing, presentation, time management and team working skills essential to improving employability.

Year 2

‌If you are intending to take a year in employment in year 3 you will participate in a careers event in Gregynog Hall which focuses on improving your employability. You will get guidance on your CV, how to give a presentation and you will get an opportunity to have mock interviews with real life industrialists. All this will improve your confidence and make you ready for the world of work.

All students take part in a major group project in year 2, with team members taking on roles found in industry such as Team Leader or Quality assurance manager. This further develops team working skills, communication and time management, and also exposes you to industry standard documentation, testing and tools such as version control systems.

Industrial Year

All of our students are encouraged to spend a year working in the computing industry between the second and third taught years of their degree scheme. Help is available from the department and the University's Careers Service to find suitable placements and to develop your CV and interview skills. Our Industrial Year students are in demand with prestigious employers such as IBM, HP, Walt Disney and Amadeus. 

Final Year

In your final year you will be preparing for employability as you near the end of your course. We provide talks about writing job applications, talks from previous alumni about their jobs, and talks from visiting employers. You can also book one to one sessions with the careers advisory service.

A significant part of your final year is your major project; this is your opportunity to complete a substantial individual project that is a showcase of your abilities, which is of great interest to employers. All of our single honours students also take a module on Professional Issues in the Computing Industry, covering issues such as managerial, ethical, legal and financial topics relating to the IT industry, and discusses the opportunities and challenges of different career options.

Postgraduates

The advanced specialised skills and knowledge that students acquire on our taught postgraduate courses are eagerly sought by employers in the industry. Many of the students on the courses are already experienced professionals and know from their own experience how much up-to-date expertise in these areas is in demand.

Highly Employable

98% of our graduates are in employment or further study (HESA, 2018)

The annual Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Survey demonstrates that Aberystwyth Computer Science undergraduates are highly employable. This government survey reveals that 98% of our undergraduate students who graduated in 2017 are in employment or further study, just six months after graduation. This is 8% higher than the national average for computer science.

We take employability very seriously. Alongside the theory of computer science, we provide practical and transferable skills throughout our degree schemes. We offer industrial year placements, a subject-specific careers fair, a weekend away with employers at Gregynog Hall to advise on CV and interview skills, jobs notice boards (electronic and paper) and frequent talks by visiting employers.

Jon Shire

After several years working in the media industry I decided to move towards software design in the hope to enhance my skillsets regarding graphics design and visual effects, both of which are becoming heavily reliant on programming ability. Preferring a more personal touch to my work environment, Aberystwyth was a natural fit. The department is somewhat rigid in its learning, but is happy to support any personal student projects, be it through simple advice or the use of facilities and tools. This can be worked into your learning as the studies advance, which leads to great flexibility and an invitation to be creative. For instance, for my final year dissertation, I worked on a virtual reality game in part as a personal project. I was one of the first students to use the new VR room to demonstrate the work and achieved a high grade, due to no small part that it was a project of my own making. Taking this further, since leaving Aberystwyth I have started to set up my own company once again, to deliver interactive VR experiences. My main focus right now is in disability access for VR games. It’s not all dreams, though. The optional industrial placement year can be incredibly beneficial as well. I interned for a leading software company developing CAD tools for electrical engineering. My internship lead to not only a great addition to the CV, but also a full-time job once I graduated. I currently work for the same company! I didn’t expect that I would fall in love with Aberystwyth and the CS department itself. The staff are some of the most supportive people I’ve have the pleasure of meeting and learning both for, and with. I simply wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the departments facilities and those there who guided me.

Picture of Adam RobertsAdam Jones

I decided to study at Aberystwyth University a few years before I was even eligible to! I fell in love with the area having been on many family holidays to Ceredigion and was excited to take up the Computer Science course after secondary school. Now, as a teacher of Electronics and Computer Science, I am thrilled to see a young group of computer scientists-to-be engaging in and enjoying the marvellous technological advancements that are available to them! More and more primary schools in the UK are equipping children with various programming languages and techniques, and it's our responsibility as graduates to fuel the academic field by supporting and educating the next generation of young people! Each student I have the privilege to teach has the potential to think of an idea, develop a piece of software or be part of a team of engineers who come up with new and exciting technologies. I find that very exciting! In a country with young people craving computer science lessons, an ever expanding national curriculum and a shortage of graduates willing to go into education, now is an exciting time to take up a teaching role! I'm just starting off in my job, and I'm excited to continue. I'm grateful for Aberystwyth University and the opportunities that I had there to develop, work and grow. It will forever be the place that shaped my academic understanding and ultimately made me into the teacher that I am.

Didi Gradinarska

I studied Internet Computing and Systems Administration with a one-year industrial placement at Aberystwyth University and graduated in 2016. My passion for the course I chose started while I was still in high school and this is what drove me to the decision to pursue my education beyond my country’s borders, which brought me to Aberystwyth. In this course I worked with multiple program languages and learned a lot about System Administration, while also having the chance to gain experience with business related topics. In every university a person could be taught on multiple topics related to their degree, but in Aberystwyth I found something more. As an international student I managed to overcome language barriers in a short amount of time due to the care and attention of the staff to a student’s personal growth. This university gave me not only my education but the start of my career, with multiple opportunities to train for interviews and assessment centres. The first step in finding your dream job is having someone believe in you and that is exactly how the staff made me feel. It started with teaching and placement staff helping me find my internship, which was in GE Corporate. There my passion for technology only grew and resulted in me getting a graduate job in GE Healthcare in the Digital Technology Leadership Program. Now I am on a path of constant learning and professional improvement, working on diverse projects with real business impact and it all started with Aberystwyth’s supportive community, to which I am thankful every day.

David Adejumo

David is graduating this summer from Computer Science with a degree in AI and Robotics, including an integrated Industrial Year. He is now going to work at GE in Cheltenham based in Aviation. David will be joining GE's Edison Engineering Development Program for graduates. This intensive program includes the opportunity to study for a Masters in Engineering. David learned about this position after taking his Industrial Year at GE Oil and Gas in Newcastle. He chose this industrial year position because it offered the chance for him to use his software skills on projects involving hardware, including the measurement of pipeline inspection data. During this year he worked with international teams in India and America, and is looking forward to doing more international team work in his graduate position. David said "Aberystwyth helped me plan and setup my career and provided me with opportunities to learn technical, professional and soft skills."

Craig Heptinstall

During my 5 years at Aberystwyth, both my course and the university have allow me to increase my knowledge of my course subject immensely, and more importantly, get me ready for the outside world. From starting my time here, I've made friends with brilliant groups of people, completed an industrial year that saw me live and work in Germany, become president of a sports club (badminton), take part in many department and local events (charity raft races with fellow course mates), and most importantly undertaken numerous projects that have tested and pushed my abilities out of my comfort zone. Not only have I now graduated with a Masters degree that is accredited by the BCS, it has given me the confidence to secure a graduate job in the software field. Working with a previous graduate from Aberystwyth, I will be responsible for writing and maintaining a range of financial software. I plan to visit Aber as much as possible in the future, for instance careers fairs where I plan to give advice to current students with career choices, or even with recruitment into my graduate employer. Not only has Aberystwyth given me a highly valuable degree, the support and interaction with everyone from teaching staff to other students has been hugely satisfying, and I hold this place in the highest of regards.

Keiron O'Shea

I graduated from Aberystwyth University in July 2015 with a BSc in Computer Science. After University, I embarked on a four month research visit to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia - where I worked on a number of research projects including extending Aber-OWL and using deep learning methods to automatically associate phenotypes to images. I returned to Aberystwyth University to join up with my undergraduate final year project supervisor for a three-year PhD project in conjunction with the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Studies. My undergraduate degree in Computer Science gave me the opportunity to explore a wide variety of scientific areas. The Department of Computer Science prides itself on its excellent research and industry links of which ensures that all undergraduate courses are up to date, teaching all of the new and emerging technologies so that all students leave with the best inclination of what to expect in the real world. The part of the degree of which I found most useful was the Introduction to Programming module in the first year. Like many, I arrived at Aberystwyth with little or no programming experience - but the module eased me into the world of functions, variables and loops fairly quickly and provided me the basis of which I could develop as a software developer throughout both my academic and professional career. Aberystwyth as a town is incredibly unique. Spotting the University at a distance, you begin to feel encased in the wonders of the town and the people. The sheer excitement of the seeing the seafront for the first time, or trying your first Marcos kebab after a messy Friday night out stays with you far beyond your first year. The top of Constitution Hill provides you with a view of the colourful, diverse, bustling university town of which for many freshers provides the first freedom of proper adult independence - beyond the midst of your family or constrains of your secondary school education. On a personal level, I owe the department and its staff a great debt. I have not only grown academically, but as a person since my arrival here in 2012. The department was and still is a place of solace and support during the most tumultuous of periods, and I for one found it really difficult to leave behind. So much so I came back!