The course consists of:
- 5 taught modules;
- a research project report of no more than 15,000 words (excluding appendices and bibliography) on a subject approved by the Degree Committee;
- 12 units from the mandatory Research Skills Programme including compulsory units in written English and presentation skills.
The project can be research or application oriented and industrial collaboration is possible. Project selection and planning occurs in the first term and the project is undertaken in the following two terms. The final report is submitted at the end of the project in the second week of June.
The taught modules are delivered in a range of styles. For example:
- there are traditional lecture-based modules which have the prefix 'L' such as 'L15 Topics in Logic and Complexity';
- modules with a large proportion of practical classes have the prefix 'P' such as 'P51 High performance networking';
- reading clubs or seminar style modules have the prefix 'R' such as 'R254 Cybercrime'.
Course registration is on the first Monday following 1 October and the course finishes on 30 June the following year.