Welcome
to the
School of Computer Science
Norman Paton
PGT (Postgraduate Taught) Director
Who am I?
•
Career:
– Professor of Computer Science.
– At Manchester since 1995, but new to this role.
– Research: Databases, distributed information management,
bioinformatics.
– Teaching: none at Masters!
•
PGT Director:
– Overall responsibility for masters programmes.
– On the escalation route for problems or issues.
•
Contacts:
– Office: 2.20.
– Email: npaton@manchester.ac.uk
•
Please call me:
– Norman.
Welcome
•
I hope you are
– well
– excited
– eager to embark on your MSc & MRes programme
•
...but you might also be a bit
– lost
– confused
– bursting with questions
Welcome to our Welcome Week
•
… prepare you for the next year in Manchester
•
we explain
– the school
– the programme
– the course units, etc.
•
...so that you are ready to start on your programme next
week
– there is no ‘warming up’ period!
Welcome to our
School of Computer Science
•
•
•
•
•
One of the major research institutes in Computer Science
in the world
Possibly the oldest Computer Science university
department in the world
The home of the earliest stored-program electronic
computer (1948)
One of the largest departments in the UK
This is your opportunity to make use of the staff and
facilities for education and research!
Welcome to the
University of Manchester
•
One of the largest student campuses in Europe
...and all that goes with that
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Good university facilities - sports, support, etc:
see Student Union for a range of activities:
http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/
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Great ‘student life’
•
Student Charter
Welcome to Manchester
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Large, lively, and active city:
events, sports, nightlife, shopping...
• Long history - centre of the industrial revolution
• Football, Cricket, Cycling Centres
• Great location with
beautiful surroundings:
– Lake District
– Peak District
– Wales, Snowdonia
– Coastal areas...
Who does what?
•
Organisation:
– PGT Director:
• organisation and planning
– Programme Directors:
• advice and guidance on
academic and related
matters
– Student Support Office
• look after students
• help with most
organisational matters
• first point of contact for
questions that are not
specific to a taught
activity
•
Teaching:
– (Senior) Lecturers,
Readers, Professors
• teach courses, set
exams, …
• supervise projects
• check how to address
them: often by their first
name
– Lab demonstrators
• help with labs,
coursework, example
classes
Programmes & Directors
The following are our programmes and
their Programme Directors:
• MSc in Advanced Computer Science
• Joshua Knowles.
• MSc in ACS and IT Management
• Goran Nenadic
• MRes in ACS
• Konstantin Korovin
• Part-time & Foundation Route
• Alex Walker
• Continuing Professional
Development
• Andy Brass
Student Support Office
Relevant people include:
Chris
Susie
Calland
Hymas
Richard
Ward
Period 2
T1 C1
T1 C2
T2 C1
T2 C2
Period 3 Period 4
T3 C1
T3 C1
Exams
Period 1
Exams
Welcome Week
Your MSc Year
Project
COMP60990/Project
Terminology: Ti Cj = Theme i, Course Unit j
Assessment: • 50% Taught Course Units:
•
Coursework + Exams (end of semesters)
• 50% Project:
• COMP60990 Research Methods & Professional
Skills: Progress Report
• Dissertation.
By Friday you must have
•
Chosen which themes you wish to follow:
– Taking a theme involves taking two course units in the same
semester.
– You need to choose two themes in the first semester, and one
theme in the second semester (the latter taking account of
dependencies).
•
Chosen which pathway you wish to follow:
– Taking a pathway involves taking certain themes.
•
You may well have applied for a pathway, but in
general you can change pathways at any time:
– … but the security pathway is full.
Your MSc Project
•
Half of your MSc
• Normally involves both research and system
development.
• Preparation through COMP60990
–
Technical Reading and Writing
– Carrying out experiments, collecting evidence, ...
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Project allocation:
– at the end of the first semester: December
– Choose from a list of many suggested projects or talk to staff
about your ideas or areas of interest.
– Supervisor to help and guide you through the project.
Your MSc Project
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Assessment:
–
Project Progress Report: May, 30 credits
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•
•
–
must be passed to continue with project
background, first steps towards project, project plan
plus COMP60990 coursework
Dissertation: September, 60 credits
T1 C1
T2 C1
Period 2
Period 3 Period 4
SM1
Taster
T2 C2
SM2
Exams
Period 1
Res. Symposium
Welcome Week
Your MRes Year
SM3
Your Project
Terminology: SM = scientific methods
Assessment: • 1/3 Taught Course Units:
•
•
Coursework (ongoing)
Exams (end of semesters)
• 2/3 Project:
• Progress Report (April)
• Dissertation (September)
Your MRes Project
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2/3 of your MRes
• Normally involves both
research and system development.
• Preparation through Scientific Methods (SM) units
COMP80131, 80122, 80142:
–
Carrying out experiments, collecting evidence, ...
– Technical Reading and Writing
•
Project allocation:
–
Taster Project: around reading week
– MRes Project: at the end of the first semester: December
– Choose from a list of many suggested projects or talk to staff
about your ideas or areas of interest.
– Supervisor to help and guide you through the project.
Your MRes Project
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Assessment:
–
Taster Project: 10 credits, presentation
– Project Progress Report: April, 30 credits
•
•
–
must be passed to continue with project
background, first steps towards project, project plan
Dissertation: September, 80 credits
This Week
•
See timetable in your pack
• Content:
– Meeting your Programme Director
– Introductory talks for themes & course units
– Student Representatives Self Organisation
– Introductory Laboratory Session:
• getting to know the MSc Labs, tools, eLearning tools, ...
– Welcome Fair in Student Union & Events for Overseas Students
– Uni Sport & Library
even if
– eLearning/Blackboard intro:
• Plagiarism On-Line course
• English Language testing
• Health & Safety
– English is your mothertongue
– you are fluent
– you have an English degree
– ...
English Language Classes
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•
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Free.
Throughout semester 1.
In the School, targeted at CS students.
Mondays 17:00 - 19:00.
Wednesdays 16:00 - 18:00.
It would be foolish not to:
• time spent here will likely be saved later.
Attendance at lectures, labs, project...
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is compulsory
– slide hand-outs won’t give you the same insight
– full picture, details, important points, etc. only in lecture
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is monitored, through
– clickers, electronic coursework submission or
– signatures on roster
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if you have to miss classes, let lecturers know
• during your main project phase, June - September
– you are here in Manchester and
– work full time on your project and dissertation
Documents Online
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Masters Handbook
– general information about all MSc & MRes
– project, course units, rules, regulations, responsible people
– must be read!
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Timetable
– some last minute changes sometimes have to be made
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Per course unit:
– syllabus: what is learned?
– web-site: what is happening?
– eLearning (Blackboard or Moodle):
• coursework, assignments, hand-in, deadlines,...
• discussion, questions, announcements,…
• material, pointers,…
Some warnings…
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the year will be long & you will need to work hard
– you might struggle
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success is not guaranteed
– even if you work hard
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academic malpractice (collusion, plagiarism, …)
– is taken very seriously in this university
– … any offence
• will be prosecuted, normally by a jury in the school or at Faculty
• leads to loss of marks, resubmission of work, and sometimes worse.
•
… make sure you understand academic malpractice
– complete Plagiarism On-Line course
– ignorance is no excuse
Computer Science Facilities
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Senior Common Room, 1.23
– with hot and cold food, a good place to meet & work informally
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Resource Centre
– Room LF21 - all course textbooks and other resources.
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Student Support Office
– Room LF21 - For administrative and general support
– Ask Here First - after having looked in the MSc Handbook
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Your Master Labs:
– Room 2.25 a,b
Computer Accounts and Intro Labs
•
See the Welcome Sheet & Intro Labs
• If you experience any computer problems:
– submit details of problem via www.manchester.ac.uk/itservices
– phone the University's IT Service Desk on 0161 306 5544
– visit the Helpdesks in the John Rylands Library or the Joule Library
in person
•
Read your university email regularly
– especially regular “Masters News”
– sometimes used for formal communicatons
– use account forwarding for your convenience
Access the School’s website for documents & information
• Make sure that you are ready to start next Monday
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Java
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It is essential that you know Java and can program
confidently in it
– for coursework and perhaps for your project
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If you don’t know it or need further help,
– there is an on-line course for you to take.
– Go to
•
•
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http://moodle.cs.man.ac.uk/course/
Self-Study Courses
Introduction to Software Development in Java
and follow that class
School Seminars
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The School runs regular research seminars on
Wednesday, 2.15pm
• These are given by eminent speakers from around the
world
• A great opportunity to learn about many new topics
and the latest stage of research in an area.
Student Representatives
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Student reps from part of PGSSCC:
http://intranet.cs.man.ac.uk/csonly/committees/C_PG_SSCC.php
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Student reps are responsible for specific areas:
– one per programme (ACS, ACS&ITM, MRes)
– one for part timers
– MSc lab computers, emails, accounts
– social events
– eLearning environments
– taught course units
– common rooms, general infrastructure,
– etc.
•
You self-organise in Common Room
– tomorrow (Tuesday) during Lunch Break 13:00-14:00
Help
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Related to taught part or project
– you haven’t understood some stuff in lecture/meeting
– you miss some knowledge/skills that
• lecturer assumes
• project requires
– you don’t understand what you are supposed to be doing
 check course material
 ask
-
your co-students who probably have similar problems
either directly or through Blackboard/Moodle
your lab demonstrators
your lecturer
Help
•
Related to organisation of MSc programme
- when or where lectures/labs/… take place
- how course units are assessed
- how projects are allocated
- ...
 check out school’s PGT web site
 look at Masters Handbook
 ask the student support office
 ask your Programme Director
Help
•
Related to your personal & family life, health, etc.:
– finding your way in a new city/country/Uni/continent can be stressful
& difficult
– you might need help to find your way around
– you’ll probably have to work hard -- but that should be an enjoyable
experience
•
Help is available from numerous sources:
– Your Programme Director
– Student Support Office
– http://www.sos.eps.manchester.ac.uk/
– many many more, e.g., see MSc Handbook
Help: if
•
your circumstances
– health,
– family,
– personal, ...
•
prevent you from concentrating on your studies
• we need to know in time to help
 mitigating circumstances process and
 mitigating circumstances form
 ask SSO
 talk to your Programme Director
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...the process is confidential and there for you!
Thursday Excursion
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A great opportunity to
– make friends & meet people
– learn about Manchester United:
the team
the multi-national organization &
its information processing needs
•
Meet Thursday, 13:00
– for coach to Old Trafford
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Return (approximately) 17:00
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...it would be a pity not to!
Masters
Student Representatives
Self-Organisation
Please email your names to
sso@cs.man.ac.uk