Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Science Master of Artificial Intelligence Options: Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Speech and Language Technology (SLT) Cognitive Science (CS) K.U.Leuven Masters. From here to infinity.
Artificial Intelligence One of the most fascinating research issues today is the investigation of the true nature of intelligence: the study of cognitive processes and models, of natural language and perception, of human knowledge, representation, and reasoning. Related to these issues, one ultimate research objective in science is the development of an intelligent robot: a robot that can perceive and communicate through natural language as well as through vision, sensors, and movement. A robot that can represent its own knowledge and reason based upon it, that can plan and act, that can assimilate new knowledge from experience and interaction with its environment, and, in general, that can perform tasks that one considers to be typical for intelligent human beings. The Master of Artificial Intelligence programme at K.U.Leuven builds on these fascinating challenges. For many years, it has provided an internationally highly reputed, advanced study programme on artificial intelligence. The multidisciplinary programme trains students with a variety of backgrounds, including engineering, sciences, economics and management, psychology, and linguistics, in all areas of knowledge-based technology, cognitive science, and their applications. This one-year programme, entirely taught in English, is the result of a joint effort by a large number of internationally leading research units from seven different faculties of this university. Depending on their backgrounds, students are offered course selections with emphasis either on engineering and computer science, on cognitive science, or on speech and language technology.
Master AI: a bridge to your future Patrick Jeuniaux 'My interest in artificial intelligence (AI) emerged during the completion of my master's degree in psychology and statistics at the Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium) in 1999 and 2000, respectively. I was very glad to enter the Master in Artificial Intelligence (MAI) at the K.U.Leuven to satisfy this interest. I entered this programme in 2002 as a part-time student, and finished in 2004 (cognitive science). Since then, I have been a PhD student in psychology at the University of Memphis (TN, USA) working as a research assistant in the Institute for Intelligent Systems. Of all the educational programmes I have followed, the MAI is among the most challenging, diverse, and interesting. Not only did it satisfy my goals as a growing cognitive scientist (confronting me with various computer science frameworks and methodologies completely unknown to me, as well as with advanced theories in linguistics, logic, philosophy, and psychology), but it really went beyond what I expected. The MAI helped me to see the big picture and also to understand a tremendous amount of helpful details about the functioning of many state-of-the-art AI enterprises - all this delivered by a pool of highly competent researchers. Moreover, the MAI significantly helped make me comfortable interacting with people from various academic backgrounds and addressing issues outside my area of expertise (e.g., issues involving programming languages). Finally, Leuven is a beautiful city: an amazing environment for studying and living! You will love it. Nathalie Pochet 'With my background in engineering in computer science, the Master in Artificial Intelligence has greatly broadened my perspectives. Aside from robot and game AI, I was mainly fascinated by the ability of machine-learning techniques to learn prediction models and to extract relevant information from huge amounts of data. Although these techniques can be applied in a wide range of applications, I decided to specialize in bioinformatics. I pursued my PhD research at K.U.Leuven on using machine-learning techniques for biomedical data analysis in several cancer applications in collaboration with the U.Z.Leuven. Consequently, I got the opportunity to do postdoctoral research at Harvard University and MIT. In a biomedical project, we found for the first time distinct physiological states of the malaria parasite in malaria-infected patients using machine learning techniques.
Bart Hamers 'Hello, my name is Bart Hamers. I graduated as a master in physics from the University of Leuven. Today, it is well known that computers are perfectly suited for repetitive tasks and data storage. I strongly believe that computers should be used for tasks that are more intelligent. It should be our goal to program computers such that they are able to aid humans in as many tasks as possible. Therefore, in 1995 I registered in the Master of Artificial Intelligence programme. The AI programme gave us a very good overview of the all the different aspects of development intelligent program design by means of logic programming, statistical techniques, and computational intelligence. These techniques are currently being used in such applications as Internet search engines, predictive marketing tools, data mining, predictive analytics, speech recognition, medical diagnosis systems, robot design, financial trading, quantitative financial risk analysis, etc. After completing the AI programme, my interest in computational intelligence had only grown. Therefore, I continued my studies at the university and obtained a PhD in this domain four year later. Equipped with a whole arsenal of mathematical techniques, it was not difficult to find an interesting job in industry. I worked for two years as a data-mining consultant fulfilling different projects at telco companies, banks, and governmental institutions in Belgium. Currently I am working as a quantitative risk analyst at Dexia Holding. I still make use of the techniques and insights I learned in the AI programme on a daily basis. I can also assure you that the need for people with a quantitative background in industry is growing day by day.' Further testimonies: www.mai.kuleuven.be/testimonies
Admission requirements A submitted application for the Master of Artificial Intelligence should meet the following criteria: You should have successfully obtained a final university degree (or equivalent degree after four years of study). A good knowledge of the English language is required with a certificate from TOEFL (computer-based test 213 pt., internet-based test 79-80 pt., paper-based test 550 pt.) or IELTS (6.5-7 pt.). Admission is granted based on your application form, which should contain precise information on your academic results, motivation, language skills, and experience with computers and/or programming languages. Only highly qualified applicants are admitted. More information: www.mai.kuleuven.be/admission Profile As a student, you should be able to formulate research goals, determine trajectories that achieve such goals, collect and select information relevant to achieve research goals, and interpret collected information based on a critical research attitude. If you select the ECS option, you are expected to be familiar with basic undergraduate mathematics. Successful completion of the programme should enable you to understand the concepts, methods, and applicability of the fundamentals of artificial intelligence, the basics of neuroscience, neural computing, and cognitive science, and the philosophical aspects of artificial intelligence. You will become familiar with AI programming languages and several advanced areas in AI, including current research directions.
Programme The Master of Artificial Intelligence is an advanced academic programme of sixty credits. You can complete the programme on a one-year, full-time basis or a two-year, part-time basis. A basic introductory part of the programme consists of the fundamentals of artificial intelligence, neural computing, cognitive science, philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence, and linguistic theories and artificial intelligence. Within the programme, students have the choice between three options: Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Speech and Language Technology (SLT) Cognitive Science (CS) Each option contains a number of mandatory and optional courses, a computer programming component, and a master's thesis.
The ECS option is intended for students with a background in engineering or exact sciences. After an introduction to the basic AI concepts, tools, and areas of application, topics of focus include advanced programming languages, knowledge-based systems, artificial neural networks, robotics, computer vision, machine learning, data mining, support vector machines, bioinformatics, genetic algorithms and evolutionary computation, multi-agent systems, and others. The central focus of the SLT option is the processing of natural language, both in its written and spoken form. The programme offers a solid linguistic basis, covering the fields of syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, and lexicography, and continues with advanced courses in natural-language processing, speech recognition, speech synthesis, and language engineering. For the CS option, main themes of interest include computational approaches to cognitive science, psychology of perception and memory, knowledge representation, cognitive aspects of human-computer interaction, knowledge acquisition, cognitive ergonomic aspects, and computational and modular approaches in cognitive science. The students have to complete a thesis. The SLT students follow a traineeship of three months in a research lab or company with R&D activities in language and/or speech technology. More information: www.kuleuven.be/onderwijs/aanbod/opleidingen/e Career perspectives With a Master of Artificial Intelligence degree, you will be welcomed by companies working in information technology, data mining, speech and language technology, intelligent systems, diagnosis and quality control, fraud detection, and biometric systems. You can also work in banking, or provide support for the process industry, biomedicine and bioinformatics, robotics, or traffic systems. Furthermore, this degree offers opportunities to start a PhD programme.
Dienst Communicatie Oude Markt 13 bus 5005 BE-3000 Leuven tel. + 32 16 32 40 10 fax + 32 16 32 40 14 onderwijscommunicatie@kuleuven.be www.kuleuven.be More information Master AI Secretariat Ms. K.U.Leuven, Anouck Department Brouwers of Computer science, MAI K.U.Leuven, Celestijnenlaan Faculty 200Aof Engineering, MAI Kasteelpark B-3001 Heverlee, Arenberg Belgium 1 bus 2200, BE-3001 Phone: +3216327817 Heverlee, Belgium phone: Fax: +3216327996 + 12 02 fax: Email: + 32 MoAI@cs.kuleuven.be 16 32 19 82 e-mail: anouck.brouwers@eng.kuleuven.be Programme Director Prof. Daniel Johan De Suykens Schreye Teaching Commission Secretary Prof. Dirk Vandermeulen Programme Web site www.mai.kuleuven.be General information K.U.Leuven - International Office www.kuleuven.be/english Overview of K.U.Leuven master's programmes www.kuleuven.be/studiewegwijs/eng Admission of international master's students www.kuleuven.be/english/admission/masters Application instructions www.kuleuven.be/applicationform/?js=1 www.kuleuven.be/english/teaching/masters You can also order the brochure 'International Programmes at K.U.Leuven' from onderwijscommunicatie@kuleuven.be This folder offers the most complete picture available of a master's programme offered by K.U.Leuven during the 2008-2009 academic year. However, during the academic year small changes to the composition of programmes can still be approved. The information in this folder can in no way legally bind the university. You can find the most recent information on our offer of educational programmes at www.kuleuven.be/onderwijs/aanbod/opleidingen/e. Wettelijk depot: D/2007/1082/33