Computing with Professional Placement MSc



Combine a course that best suits your needs and career direction with a professional placement

Overview

This programme is aimed at international students who have an interest in computing studies with the added benefit of professional work experience.

By taking this Masters degree in Computing with Professional Placement you will be able to further your undergraduate computing studies and professional experience in the areas of your particular interest. 

As well as building on your existing computing skills and taking them to the next level, you will learn to develop a critical understanding and an analytical approach to your choice of specialist areas.

The programme provides a unique opportunity to undertake work, entrepreneurship, or research training in a professional setting.

This allows you to implement your theoretical knowledge and gain valuable professional experiences as you collaborate with enterprises and research projects across Scotland.

Typical entry points to this course are in January and September. Please enquire for more information.

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Mode of Study:

Full-time

Duration:

2 years

Start date:

Jan

Placement:

Yes

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Course details

In consultation with your tutor, you select from the full portfolio of modules offered by the School of Computing, taking into account your interests and past experience. 

For example, you may choose software development, user experience or information systems and focus on the skills involved, while a theme around security and forensics would comprise different areas of study.

Whichever direction you choose, you will end the course equipped with the expertise needed to take you further in your career.

You can select three modules in the first taught trimester 1, and three in the second, with some restrictions dictated by availability, timetabling, module prerequisites and the subjects you have already studied (as evidenced by your transcript and possibly a short test). The available modules are subject to change.

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    How you’ll be taught

    This is a five-trimester programme lasting two years in total. Of this, two trimesters will comprise taught classes and projects. 

    As a full-time student you will undertake six modules. This requires an intensive period of study, involving lectures, tutorials, laboratory sessions and independent study. While classes for each module may account for only three or four hours a week, you'll be expected to commit at least 13 hours per week per module.

    There is a one-trimester break when you will be attending workshops and events preparing you for the work placement. The placement, which may be either a collaboration with a company, business incubator, or a research project based at Edinburgh Napier University, will take place in trimester 4.

    Trimesters 4 and 5 also comprise of the MSc dissertation. The MSc dissertation offers you the opportunity to specialise further and investigate very recent research, software and development techniques; to successfully conclude this module, you will be expected to produce a dissertation as well as take part in a viva.
  • note and pen

    Assessments

     Assessments are a mixture of written coursework allowing you to develop your academic and business reporting skills. The more technical modules include demonstration or evaluation your work.
  • briefcase

    Work placement

     The placement, which may be either a collaboration with a company, business incubator, or a research project based at Edinburgh Napier University, will take place in trimester 4.
  • library

    Facilities

    Depending on chosen modules, our specialist labs may include:

    The Sensorium - A forward-looking User Experience (UX) Evaluation Lab utilising the next generation of real time human behaviour insight technology

    SOCLAB - Virtual Security Operations Centre

    Swarm Robotics - A custom-designed robot arena and laboratory

    Lions Gate - A locus of interdisciplinary research focusing on sustainability, digital interaction, health and well-being.

Modules

Modules that you will study* as part of this course

Information Systems Engineering ( SET11106 )

Approach: Lectures will present both theory and practical examples. Tutorial exercises will support the development of modelling skills and practical, computer-based sessions will develop both modelling and development skills
Theory:
Project overview, life cycles and methodologies, with emphasis on Agile Application Development Requirements elicitation, modelling and specification, including functional and non-functional requirements, and using techniques such as CRC modelling, and functionality prioritisation technique
The Unified Modelling Language (UML), such as Use Case Modelling, Activity Diagrams, Object Modelling, Class Diagrams, Sequence Diagrams, State Charts,
Test Driven Design and Development
Security by Design, and Misuse case Modelling Issues of Computer Ethics, Professionalism, and Legislation relating to Information Systems Development
Practical:
Developing and assessing simple applications using system construction tools such as Visual Studio C# .Net

Further information

Masters Dissertation ( SOC11101 )

The work for this module comprises the completion of an individual research project. Each student is assigned a personal Supervisor, and an Internal Examiner who monitors progress and feedback, inputs advice, examines the dissertation and takes the lead at the viva.

There are two preliminary deliverables prior to the submission of the final dissertation:

(1) Project proposal
(2) Initial Report including time plan and dissertation outline

Further information

Professional Placement ( SOC11110 )

The module provides an opportunity to undertake work or research training in real world settings.

You will undertake a minimum of 180 hours placement within an appropriate organisation, where you will have the opportunity to apply your skills in order to reinforce the organisation’s existing practices.
This will allow you to implement your theoretical knowledge and gain valuable professional experiences as you collaborate with an enterprise, attempt to start own business, or undertake research projects.

You will negotiate, with your line manager, mentor, or a research supervisor, a learning agreement, which will identify relevant objectives. These, once agreed, will form the basis of a written piece of work, which will be based on a live placement issues.

This module is designed to develop critical reflective practice, specialist skills, and act as a focus for your continuous professional development.

Further information

Programming for the Web ( SET11105 )

In this module you will learn how do design and implement dynamic web sites, from the basics to modern frameworks and current professional practice.
Covered topics are:
* General client-side technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
* Client-side frameworks: Bootstrap, jQuery, jQuery-Mobile
* A general overview of server-side development frameworks (such as PHP and ASP.NET) as well as how HTTP connects everything together
* Data handling/persistence mechanisms: Databases, Entity Framework, Sessions, JSON
* In-depth knowledge of ASP.NET MVC and related technologies (e.g. Razor, Linq). We will be using the framework with C#
In doing so you will gain a good understanding of and ability to critically evaluate and select an appropriate framework for various kinds of web applications.

Further information

Scripting for Data Science ( SET11123 )

The aim of the module is to deepen the students' understanding of fundamental programming concepts, introduce more advanced concepts pertaining to script development, and develop an ability to utilise publicly available software libraries to solve data science-related problems.
The module provides a fundamental introduction to the chosen scripting language and makes no assumptions about student’s prior exposure to it. The latter parts of the module will focus on applying these concepts to data processing, such that students will develop insight into automating common statistical analyses on imported datasets.

The syllabus includes topics such as:
• An introduction to building scripts using a popular scripting language widely used in Data Science
• Core programming and language concepts, such as data types, control structures, functions, importing libraries, and re-usable design
• Techniques for creating robust scripts, including exception handling, testing and debugging
• Importing and working with externally sourced data (e.g. text and CSV files)
• The use of open-source libraries for automating basic data processing (e.g. calculating point statistics, plotting histograms)
Indicative case studies:
• How to download, format, and import open source datasets using the scripting language.
• Answering basic questions relating to open datasets, such as what the median, mode and mean values, interquartile ranges, and why these values are important.
• Basic plotting to understand the distribution of the underlying data, with examples of how point statistics may be misleading.

Further information

Web Design & Development ( SET11112 )

Current ideas on web page design; Document Object Model (DOM); Document Type Definitions (DTD); web page construction using appropriate IDE tools such as Eclipse; HTML coding; client and server side scripting; database connectivity using PHP & MySQL; Cascading Style Sheets

Further information

* These are indicative only and reflect the course structure in the current academic year. Some changes may occur between now and the time that you study.

Disclaimer

Study modules mentioned above are indicative only. Some changes may occur between now and the time that you study.

Full information is available in our disclaimer.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

The entry requirement for this course is a Bachelor (Honours) Degree at a 2:1 equivalent or above in any discipline. However, 30% of the modules studied in the degree must be Computing related.

We may also consider lesser qualifications if you have sufficient professional work experience within the industry.



English language requirements

If your first language isn't English, you'll normally need to undertake an approved English language test and our minimum English language requirements will apply.

This may not apply if you have completed all your school qualifications in English, or your undergraduate degree was taught and examined in English (within two years of starting your postgraduate course). Check our country pages to find out if this applies to you.

We welcome applications from students studying a wide range of international qualifications.
Entry requirements by country

Please note that international students are unable to enrol onto the following courses:
  • BN Nursing/MSc Nursing (Pre-registration) (Adult, Mental Health, Child, Learning Disabilities)
  • BM Midwifery/MM Midwifery
  • All Graduate Apprenticeship courses.

See who can apply for more information on Graduate Apprenticeship courses.

We’re committed to admitting students who have the potential to succeed and benefit from our programmes of study. 

Our admissions policies will help you understand our admissions procedures, and how we use the information you provide us in your application to inform the decisions we make.

Undergraduate admissions policies
Postgraduate admissions policies

Fees & funding

The course fees you'll pay and the funding available to you will depend on a number of factors including your nationality, location, personal circumstances and the course you are studying. We also have a number of bursaries and scholarships available to our students.

Tuition fees
Students from 2023/24 2024/25
All students £10,980 tba
You study this course over two academic years, fees listed are per annum.
Please note tuition fees are subject to an annual review and may increase from one year to the next. For more information on this and other Tuition Fee matters please see Frequently Asked Questions about Fees Click this link for Information of Bursaries and Scholarships
Please note that the tuition fees liable to be paid by EU nationals commencing their studies from 1 August 2021 will be the Overseas fee rate. The University offers a range of attractive Tuition Fee bursaries to students resident in specific countries. More information on these can be found here.


Please note:

The discount for Edinburgh Napier alumni can only be applied to year one of a full-time Postgraduate degree, any additional years are exempt from the discount.

For part time Postgraduate degrees the discount will apply to years one, two and three only and any additional years will be exempt from the discount.

Please read our full T&C here

Careers

With the new skills and work experience provided as part of this course, you can take advantage of the increased opportunities for advancement.

You could pursue a new role in your specialist area, take on a research, education, or start up a new business. Example career routes include:

  • Business analyst
  • Data analysist
  • Java developers
  • System administration or network administration
  • UX design
  • Web developer
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