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Postgraduate Research Course

MSc (by Dissertation) Computer Science

MSc (by Dissertation) Computer Science
The details
Computer Science
October 2025
Full-time
1 year - 2 years
Colchester Campus

Our research activity and supervision for our standard one year MSD Computer Science is concentrated in the following principal research areas: artificial intelligence, biologically inspired architectures, educational technology, e-learning, natural and evolutionary computation, natural language engineering, software agents and software engineering. Our cross-disciplinary projects draw on the expertise of our electronic engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, physicists and psychologists.

We are one of the largest and best resourced schools in the UK. Our work is supported by extensive networked computer facilities and software aids, together with a wide range of test and instrumentation equipment. Our research covers a range of topics, from the theory of computation and the philosophy of computer science, computational intelligence and computer games, to artificial intelligence and robotics, with most of our research groups based around laboratories offering world-class facilities. Our impressive external research funding stands at multi-million pounds per year and we participate in a number of EU initiatives and undertake projects under contract to many outside bodies, including government and industrial organisations.

Studying within our School provides both the recent graduate and the practising engineer with an opportunity to gain new skills or enhance existing ones. Our graduates have progressed to a variety of senior positions in industry and academia. Some of the companies and organisations where our former graduates are now employed include: Alcatel Submarine, BT Group, QinetiQ, Dolby Laboratories, Fujitsu, Royal Air Forces, and within our University and Imperial College, London.

Why we're great.
  • Our research covers a range of topics, from materials science and semiconductor device physics, to the theory of computation and the philosophy of computer science, with most of our research groups based around laboratories offering world-class facilities.
  • We are one of the largest and best resourced schools in the UK. Our work is supported by extensive networked computer facilities and software aids, together with a wide range of test and instrumentation equipment.
  • We provide an active and stimulating environment to carry out your research.

Our expert staff

Studying for your MSD involves person-to-person interaction with your supervisor, who will guide you in developing your chosen research topic, refine your research skills, and advise you in capitalising on the technical knowledge you already have from your taught degree. Supervisors often keep in touch with their MSD graduates throughout their careers, and may work on scientific collaborations with them after they finish their doctorate.

Specialist facilities

Our School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering provides six laboratories exclusively for computer science and electronic engineering students. Three of our software labs are open for 24 hours a day including weekends and you have free access to the labs except when there is a scheduled practical class in progress. Our labs are managed by an experienced and dedicated team of technical support staff who can assist you with most practical aspects of the curriculum - for example, advising on how to overcome programming problems.

Our BCI Lab comprises 70m² within our School. It is divided in four experimental areas, one of them being shielded against EM interference, and is one of the best equipped facilities for non-invasive BCI research in Europe. Our equipment includes: five EEG systems (two Biosemi ActiveTwo systems, 64 and 128 channels, respectively; two 32-channel gTec systems, and a 24-channel Mindset system), a 24-channel near infra-red system, a 16-channel Nexus EMG system (plus 8-channels for other physiological signals), a Jazz eye tracker, a Magstim BiStim transcranial magnetic stimulation system, many Biometrics Ltd electrogoniometers and accelerometers, two Edubot robotic manipulators, three Lego NXT robots, three virtual reality systems, and four Bionics electrically-controlled medical chairs, aside from the necessary computer equipment to interface with the above devices. We also have a 182-processor Viglen/Rocks cluster dedicated to our research.

Our Brooker Robotics Lab (a PC environment with 30 dual boot PCs) is equipped with about 25 mobile robots (of three different types) and ten miniature 'intelligent' rooms, and is used for intelligent embedded systems and robotics work. A range of specialist software is used, most notably a cross-development system called Tornado (the latest version of VxWorks: the software used in the recent Pathfinder project for the Mars Explorer vehicle) for developing embedded systems.

Our Robot Arena is a 100m² laboratory with a six metre ceiling height for flying robots. It has one of the world largest powered lab floors for long duration experiments of mobile robots. Our Robot Arena features a range of dedicated robotic equipment including a state-of-the-art 3D motion tracking system.

Our Embedded Systems Laboratory provides software and hardware facilities for the design, construction and prototyping of a variety of embedded system solutions. The primary focus is to provide an environment where ARM based embedded systems can be prototyped and tested as part of a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Sixteen dedicated, dual screen, workstations are provided together with a range of state of the art test equipment to support the development process. In addition a number of soldering stations are provided to enable the construction of custom designed hardware. Such hardware will be designed by you as part of the courses you undertake.

Your future

Studying within our School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering provides both the recent graduate and the practising engineer with the opportunity to gain new skills or enhance existing ones.

Our graduates have progressed to a variety of senior positions in industry and academia. Some of the companies and organisations where our former graduates are now employed include: Electronic Data Systems, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Bank of Mexico, Visa International, Hyperknowledge (Cambridge), Hellenic Air Force, ICSS (Beijing), United Microelectronic Corporation (Taiwan) and within our University.

Read more about computer science and electronic engineering career destinations.

At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.

Find out more

The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.

The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.

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