G603: Software Development for Business Undergraduate BSc 2016 Essentials UCAS code Degree Professional accreditation Mode of study Duration Location A-Level International Baccalaureate Department(s) Website Email G603 BSc Accredited by the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional. Accredited by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for Incorporated Engineer and partially meeting the academic requirement for a Chartered Engineer. Accredited by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT on behalf of the Science Council for the purposes of partially meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Scientist. Full Time 4 years Durham City (www.durham.ac.uk/study/location/durham.city) AAA 37 ecs.admissions@durham.ac.uk www.durham.ac.uk/ecs Telephone +44 (0)191 334 1751 Alternative qualifications www.durham.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/entry-reqs Page 1
Course Content Description Year 1 All students undertake five computer science modules, which cover programming, the characteristics of computers and computing systems, and the mathematical foundations of the subject. You are also introduced to the concept and philosophy of computer science and see how this applies in real-world computational development. All students undertake an elective module, which may be from elsewhere within the School, Faculty or University. Students completing the first year will have had a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of computer science and to the principles, practices and methodologies that make computer science unique as a scientific subject. You will also have had a glimpse of the challenges of developing modern computational systems and how these systems affect the world around us. Compulsory modules are: Year 2 Introduction to Programming Computational Development Algorithms and Data Structures Computer Systems Mathematics for Computer Science. Students study six modules covering a core set of topics. One module involves a team software development project and enables you to work with external not-for-profit or voluntary organisations within the region and gain practical software development experience. Other compulsory topics include, for example, computer networks, parallel and distributed computing, concurrency, data structures, algorithms, theory of computation, data compression, different programming paradigms, databases, systems programming, software engineering, human computer interaction, aspects of artificial intelligence, and computer graphics. The topics undertaken in the second year prepare students with an excellent grounding in a wide range of fundamental subjects within computer science, plus and understanding of how these ideas might be applied during their third year industrial placement. By the end of the second year all students are in a position to make informed judgements as to which areas of industry and business they might wish to focus on. Compulsory modules are: Networks and Systems Programming Paradigms Software Engineering Group Project Software Methodologies Theory and Practice of Software Development. Page 2
Year 3 Students undertake a forty week placement in a software development setting, usually within the UK. Both the University and Tech Partnership will support you in finding and successfully completing your placement, which will involve you working alongside other professionals, honing your technical skills and further developing your project skills. During this year you will also undertake PRINCE2 Foundation project management training. There is a reduced fee during the placement year, and most placements students are paid by their employer. Year 4 A key element of the final year is the individual project (which is a double module). This is undertaken under the direct supervision of a member of staff and gives you the opportunity to tackle a specific computing task in much greater depth than is possible for other modules. At the end of the project, you will write a technical paper describing your findings. Students are given a considerable amount of choice as to the subject of their projects; indeed, students can suggest specific projects themselves, which may be in the area that they worked in during placement. In another module students are encouraged to reflect on their placement activity and to plan how to introduce a new technology or working practice that they have learned about, combining legacy systems thinking, technology adoption and project planning. In addition, all students study embedded systems development and computer security. Students have a free elective choice for their final module, which can be from modules withing the school covering a variety of aspects of, for example, software and software systems, computing methodologies, applications and contemporary computer science (with the latter topic engaging with modern research within computer science that is highly relevant to current technological advances and applications). There is also the opportunity to follow specific modules offered elsewhere in the School and a module involving the teaching of computer science in schools, giving an early taste of teaching computer science to those interested in pursuing it as a career or on other career pathways where a public understanding of science is required. Alternatively you may choose an appropriate module from elsewhere in the university, e.g. to take up or extend a modern language or to look at entrepreneurship or globalization issues. Page 3
Admissions Process Subject requirements, level and grade In addition to satisfying the University s general entry requirements, please note: We welcome applications from those with other qualifications equivalent to our standard entry requirements and from mature students with non-standard qualifications or who may have had a break in their study. Grade A in Mathematics at A-level or equivalent is required for the MEng and all BSc courses offered. We accept two AS-levels in place of one A-level. We accept BTEC qualifications DDD but this must be accompanied by an A grade at A-level Mathematics. If you do not satisfy our general entry requirements, the Foundation Centre offers multidisciplinary degrees to prepare you for a range of specified degree courses. We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking as part of our offer. Please consult the University website for required evidence of English language proficiency. We are pleased to consider applications for deferred entry. English Language requirements Please check requirements for your subject and level of study (www.durham.ac.uk/learningandteaching.handbook/1/3/3/). How to apply www.durham.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply Information relevant to your country www.durham.ac.uk/international/country.information Page 4
Fees and Funding Full Time Fees EU Student 9,000.00 Home Student 9,000.00 Island Student 9,000.00 International non-eu Student 16,500.00 Note: Fees are subject to review and change in-line with inflation. Please also check costs for colleges and accommodation (www.durham.ac.uk/undergraduate/accommodation/costs/). Scholarships and funding www.durham.ac.uk/undergraduate/finance Page 5
Career Opportunities School of Engineering and Computing Sciences The School of Engineering and Computing Sciences runs degree programmes that produce talented graduates with strong academic and scientific competences, aligned to the needs of industry on a local, national and global level. Durham Computer Science graduates have excellent career prospects with our Graduate Prospect score for 2016 being 100%. Our graduates have a high average starting salary which has significantly increased in recent years which highlights the need from industry for well qualified graduates from Computer Science. Of students that left in 2014: 100% were in employment or further study within six months of leaving Of those students employed: 100% are in graduate level employment Median salary 34,000 (These statistics are based on the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey of 2013/14 graduates. The DLHE survey asks leavers from higher education what they are doing six months after graduation. Full definitions for the DLHE Record can be found here: http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/2889) Examples of areas in which Durham graduates have recently gone on to work for include: - Amazon.com - Software Engineer - BAE Systems Applied Intelligence - Software Engineer - Bank of America Meryl Lynch - Analyst - CGI Group - Consultant - Data Interchange - Software Engineer - Facepunch Studios - Programmer - ANDigital - Associate Product Analyst - Cisco Systems - IT Engineer Further Study examples: - PhD Computer Science - Durham University - Medical conversion course - Newcastle University - PhD Software Designers and Engineers - The University of Southampton - MEng Electrical Engineering - Bristol University - MSc Research - Imperial College London Page 6
Professional accreditation The BSc Computer Science programmes have had BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT (www.bcs.org/) accreditation for many years. This is the first step to becoming a Chartered Engineer or Scientist. Our degrees have very recently been re-accredited and the BSc Computer Science programmes (G400 and G401) and BSc Software Development for Business (G603) satisfies the educational requirement for Chartered IT Professional (CITP) and Incorporated Engineer registration and in partial fulfilment of the educational requirement for the Chartered Scientist (CSci) and Chartered Engineer (CEng) registration. Accreditation for the MEng programme satisfies the educational requirement for Chartered IT Professional (CITP) and in partial fulfilment of the educational requirement for the Chartered Scientist (CSci) registration. Work experience & placements There are numerous work placement opportunities available to students. These placements normally take place over the summer vacation between second and third year. We are constantly being approached by organisations requesting our students. We also have a number of organisations, such as IBM (www.ibm.com/uk/en/), Morgan Stanley (www.morganstanley.com) and Waterstons (www.waterstons.com), who regularly recruit one, two or three students for these placements. Some students stay with us over the summer and become part of a research team. Nuffield awards as well as college scholarships are available for summer placements in the university. They provide the student with a 'taste' of research, an excellent preparation for their final year research project. Employment development opportunities The University's Careers, Employability and Enterprise Centre (CEEC) (www.durham.ac.uk/careers/) works extremely closely with the School to ensure that current students receive information and vacancies relevant to their needs. CEEC provide innovative talks to ensure that the students receive the most relevant and up to date advice about professions that Computer Science students are attracted to. The School also has an active Industrial Partnership Committee (IPC) (community.dur.ac.uk/ecs.ipc/) with approximately 20 industrial partners from organisations with local, national and international footprints. This committee forms a direct link between the School and employers. The Committee's objectives include ensuring that: up to date industrial perspectives are reflected in courses, students are given the best possible opportunities for industrial placements and graduate employment, industrial members are provided with strong recruitment opportunities, and industrial members are provided with collaborative opportunities ranging from final year projects to long term research partnerships. As part of the course Students are exposed to a wide variety of professions through the 'Business & Professional' talks with visiting speakers are from companies ranging from British Telecom and Amazon to independent games developers Waterstons, a software consultancy company provide two of their experienced consultants to run a tutorial based exercise simulating consultancy services to a fictitious company. They also make available their HR Manager who carries out mock interviews in order to help to prepare students for entering the job market.. Students undertake team projects. One of the projects involves the teams providing consultancy services Page 7
to external 'not for profit' organisations. This develops project management skills and customer communication skills, and also frequently provides suitable experiences to discuss in job interviews! Page 8
Open days and visits Pre-application open day Pre-application open days are the best way to discover all you need to know about Durham University. With representatives from all relevant academic and support service departments, and opportunities to explore college options, the open days provide our prospective undergraduates with the full experience of Durham University. Please see the following page for further details and information on how to book a place: www.durham.ac.uk/opendays Campus Tours www.durham.ac.uk/undergraduate/visit/campus.tours Overseas Visit Schedule www.durham.ac.uk/international/office/meetus Page 9
Department Information School of Engineering and Computing Sciences Overview The most significant developments in our society over recent decades have come through amazing innovations in technology and the intelligent algorithms that run those technologies. Our graduates are empowered to lead this process of change in the decades to come. Durham University offers Computer Science courses that are exciting, challenging and technologically relevant, covering topics from the foundations of how computers work and how to efficiently manipulate data, up to the state-of-the-art such as systems for image analysis, object tracking and DNA analysis or the mathematical exploration of the limits of computing. There is continuing demand for high-quality Computer Science graduates and our graduates embark on careers across a wide spectrum of companies and around the world. We have strong links with industrial partners and our Software Development for Business degree offers you the opportunity to spend a year on placement in industry, applying the skills you have learned and gaining the kind of experience that will make you stand out from the crowd. Recent graduates from our degrees have gone on to work as entrepreneurs, founding their own start-ups, or working in leading software companies, high technology consultancies, the civil service, GCHQ, banking and finance, retail, engineering, the communications and IT industry, and postgraduate research. Rankings 89% of our Computer Science students said they found their course intellectually stimulating in the National Student Survey 2014 (sector-wide average 82%). 92.7% of our Computer Science graduates secured employment within six months of graduating (The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2015). 7th in The Complete University Guide 2016. Facilities The School has recently undergone a multi- million pound refurbishment of offices and PC labs which provide students with modern state-of-the-art computing facilities. There are study areas within the School where students can use their own laptops or lab-based machines; both here and also within colleges, a laptop can be used to access the School and University resources through the University-wide computing network. Website www.durham.ac.uk/ecs Page 10
This document was downloaded on Wednesday, 22nd June 2016 at 12:20am from www.durham.ac.uk/courses/info/?id=11494&title=software%20development%20for%20business&pdf. The information relating to this course was last updated on Saturday, 23rd April 2016 at 3:45am Page 11