Master of Science in Advanced Computer Science

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

Want to study event management in Birmingham? Our BA (Hons) Event, Venue and Experience Management degree allows you to take a year-long placement in industry.

Over the past decade there has been a surge of careers in the global leisure sector that require best-in-class event, venue and guest experience managers.

This innovative and on-trend course will give you the skills, experience and insights to develop a career in the growing area of event management alongside a qualification from the CMI.

What's covered in this course?

Combining theory and practical application the course will draw heavily from practicing event, venue and experience leaders to cover multiple aspects such as marketing, project management, design, operations, analytics, digitization, experiential and client management. Where appropriate to the individual topics covered during the course, implications for sustainability will be identified that relate to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Building upon the insights and close business connections that Birmingham City Business School has made through its Academy of Multi-Unit Leadership (with over 600 graduate managers from industry-leading event and leisure organisations) this undergraduate course will provide the academic expertise and contacts to help you develop an exciting professional future. President of Genting UK, Paul Willcock, describes the course as ‘an exciting and innovative degree that provides exceptionally strong pathways into our industry'.

Developed in partnership with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), our MMus in Orchestral Performance are for advanced level string players considering professional orchestral auditions and on the brink of a professional career.

In addition to one-to-one specialist tuition, you will spend a significant amount of rehearsal time in the CBSO alongside one or more dedicated host players who will act as mentors. You may also be offered opportunities to play at the back of the section to gain further experience. In addition to developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, you will expand your knowledge of orchestral repertoire, learn how to prepare for rehearsal in the most efficient way, develop strategies that will help you to integrate within your section, and build confidence in preparing for orchestral auditions.

You will also participate in additional performance activities within the Conservatoire’s String Department and the wider Conservatoire, including performance classes, masterclasses, orchestra and chamber music.You'll have full access to our superb £57 million facilities, including our Concert Hall, 150-seat Recital Hall, our black box performance space known as The Lab, and more than 70 practice rooms, ensemble rooms and workshops; all acoustically designed to provide a music-making environment that is world-class.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

Whether you're a recent graduate or returning to study after a break, our postgraduate programs in Vocal Performance provide you with advanced-level training in singing. You're encouraged and enabled to increase your experience as a performer and to broaden your repertoire, though you can also take the opportunity to specialise if you wish.

Alongside your vocal studies, our courses provide excellent opportunities for you to develop other skills relevant to a future career in the music profession. A separate postgraduate pathway is available for Jazz vocalists.

You'll receive specialist vocal tuition from leading UK and internationally renowned performers and teachers. In addition, you'll enjoy regular opportunities to sing in a variety of contexts, both as a soloist and in ensembles with other performers. Such opportunities include not only classes and masterclasses (these last being led by distinguished guest performers), but also in concerts and on the operatic stage.

If your ambition is to gain a senior site management role within the construction industry, our Construction Management BSc will set you on the right path.

In the UK, the construction industry employs over two million people and there’s never been a better time to gain exposure to every aspect of the built environment in Birmingham, as it is currently undergoing a huge and exciting regeneration period.

What's covered in this course?

Our Construction Management course matches the needs of the industry, preparing you to be able to manage a construction project from inception and design through to occupation by developing your skills in management to enable you to deliver projects safely, on time, on budget and to the highest possible quality.

The complexity of construction projects requires construction professionals who have expertise in construction management and can work effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds and construction disciplines.

You will learn about the immediate and long-lasting effect which construction activities have on the environment, and discover sustainable and environmentally sound construction methods and innovative management practices. This course has social innovation embedded in its core. You will learn through creative social problem solving, working with our industrial partners to develop your intellectual and practical competence, as required by professional bodies such as CIOB and RICS.

After completing this course, you will have a broad range of knowledge of the legal, technical, managerial, economic, social and environmental aspects of construction projects, and be able to confidently manage both commercial and civil engineering projects.

The BSc Cyber Security course is designed to equip you with state-of-the-art technical knowledge, intellectual know-how, management capabilities and practical skills that will enable you to succeed in meeting the cyber security challenges facing modern organisations. In the 21st century, data has become a necessary commodity, which has value in isolation and more so when viewed as a larger data set for trends and habits.

Data is key to the functioning of modern business and the protection of this data is key to the ongoing success of the digital economy. As systems, such as IoT, both generate and consume data grow in capability and complexity, the need to protect the data created, stored and transited across public and private networks intensifies. Due to this, the need for suitably qualified cyber security practitioners has never been greater.

This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills needed by the employers. Our strong links with industry enable us to teach the most demanding and up-to-date topics. You will learn state-of-the-art technical knowledge, intellectual know-how, management capabilities and hands-on practical skills to succeed in meeting the cyber security challenges faced by modern organizations.

This course is supported by a vibrant research environment within the centres for Cyber Security and Cloud Computing at BCU and by traditionally strong industrial links with CISCO, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, UK Fast, Linux Professional Institute and BT.

Placements

• You have the option undertake an assessed sandwich year between your second and third year, which will provide you with valuable work experience and give you the real-life skills you need.

The MSc User Experience Design course will provide you with in-depth theoretical knowledge and hands-on practical experience in designing, developing, and evaluating digital products across a range of platforms and state-of-the-art technologies. The course places a strong emphasis on the development of professional technical skills that are in high industry demand and will position you well for careers around the field of user experience (UX).

What's covered in this course?

The course has been designed to support graduates from a wide range of disciplines (including those with technical and non-technical backgrounds) who wish to specialise in the area of user experience (UX) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The key topics taught on the course include interaction design (techniques for user-centered design), front-end development (using industry-standard development environments), visual design (creating interfaces with strong aesthetics), accessibility (methods for supporting inclusive design), and usability testing (collecting and analyzing data via user evaluations). You will also have the opportunity to consider and create user experiences for technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, eye gaze tracking, speech interfaces, mid-air gesturing, haptic systems, and brain-computer interfaces.

The course philosophy is focused around industry and research-led activities, supported with assignments that are closely aligned to the development of essential knowledge and technical skills used in practice. You will therefore have the opportunity to work closely with academics, researchers, and industry partners on real-world project briefs thus supporting you in developing a strong portfolio of work (which is essential for gaining employment in this field). The course will also provide opportunities to collaborate with academics based in the School of Computing and Digital Technology’s Mixed Reality and Human-Computer Interaction research group to work on cutting-edge research projects.

Graduates from the User Experience Design course will be well placed for industry roles that are in high demand including front-end developers, user experience designers/developers, information architects, usability consultants and UX researchers, web designers/developers, and interaction designers.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement option will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

Want to become a Civil Engineer? Study our Civil Engineering BEng (Hons) degree course at Birmingham City University. This course is designed to meet the requirements of relevant professional bodies to give your career in civil engineering a head start.

Much of your learning activity will be hands-on, with access to our strong industry links. You’ll also be provided with the latest CAD software, meaning you’ll be well equipped to make an impact in an important industry.

You will study in a unique simulated workplace environment. This experience, and our outstanding industry links, will give you a competitive edge, enabling you to progress to a successful career when you graduate.

What's covered in this course?

You’ll be provided with knowledge of the scientific, technical, environmental, economic, and managerial aspects of civil engineering so that you will be able to apply yourself to both the design and management of civil engineering projects.

You will also develop the key transferable skills that modern employers require, such as problem-solving, project planning, presentation and communication. Our strong links to industry enable you to apply your learning to problem-based scenarios, ensuring your intellectual and practical competencies are fully developed.

Civil Engineers design and construct anything from buildings and bridges, to dams, power stations, and motorways. This course will prepare you to work on these projects. You will focus on structures, materials, geotechnics, and hydraulics, and your studies will be enhanced with site visits, field trips, and guest lectures.

Our postgraduate Fashion Promotion course is highly vocational and an ideal choice if you want to work in fashion communication and the promotion of fashion companies, goods, events and brands.

The course attracts students from all disciplines from around the world, and we urge you to enrich your perspective as a global citizen, through expanding your cultural horizons in a stimulating multi-cultural environment and helping you to become a global graduate equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world.

Your learning environment will encourage you to become an adaptable, flexible and knowledgeable graduate, equipped to pursue a career in the fashion industry. Many of our graduates go on to start up their own, or even develop existing family businesses.

The program acknowledges and contributes towards Birmingham’s vast industrial heritage and geographical position, maximising professional links, trade fairs and its transportation network.

What's covered in this course?

• MA Product and Furniture Design challenges perceptions around 'alternative living', exploring what else might be possible in a world already full of things.
• You’ll be prepared for a successful career in a wide range of product design-related roles.
• You will also benefit from studying in a large, diverse and dynamic postgraduate community brought together through a well-equipped workspace at our City Centre Campus.

The BA (Hons) English and Drama degree course will support you in developing your critical and analytical abilities, and deepen your appreciation for literature and theatre.

You will develop your writing, close-reading and research skills, and learn to present arguments coherently and creatively. In the School of English, you will be taught by respected academics and practitioners offering a diverse range of modules. You will study literature and drama from various major periods, movements and genres.

You will also have the opportunity to stage a play, and study film, art, and philosophies of relevance to drama and literature. Your degree will allow you to tailor your studies to your individual interests and career aspirations with both a local and global outlook.

What's covered in this course?

English as a discipline continues to be relevant to the lives we lead and is central to a wide range of contemporary and social contexts. It is this fact on which the School has built its philosophy and approach to English and Drama: subjects with interdisciplinary reach beyond their own boundaries.

Understanding how literature can be interpreted, engaging with multiple forms of communication, examining how literature and theatre engage with societies and cultures past and present, and the place of English in a global context, are all vital aspects in understanding how the discipline connects with the wider world, enabling you to focus on the production, interpretation and negotiation of meaning and to understand the world from a variety of perspectives.

You will benefit from student-focused and research-informed teaching in a friendly and supportive learning environment where you will be taught by respected academics and expert practitioners who foster a community of experimentation, innovation and inclusivity.

Our graduates are characterised by their extensive subject knowledge, critical thinking and intellectual curiosity, reflected in the skills and abilities that enables them to adapt to a wide range of career paths and employment opportunities.

The School is committed to contributing to the cultural life of Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. We do this through working closely with partner colleges and schools, by maintaining close links with cultural institutions such as the Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI) and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG), and by working with agencies such as Writing West Midlands. In all of this we seek to widen participation and provide opportunities for the community to engage with the discipline and the University.