This is an optional choice for students enrolled in the PGDip programme, also available - under special permissions - for the GradDip and MSci programmes.
A successful project may change the impact of your CV, or prepare you better for further postgraduate studies, which tend to focus much more on individual work.
Briefly, each student taking this course will be expected to do an individual practical project under the supervision of a member of staff. Only students with excellent academic records will be allowed to take this course, and only after a supervisor and topic have been agreed upon by the Head of Department.
To enroll in this course, students must have exceptional academic grades, normally at or above A-. However, this is not enough, as this course entails individual projects.
Then, the student must find a supervisor and a topic of common interests, which should require an amount of quality work comparable to a regular graduate course. Some students make preliminary contacts during their regular courses, or get ideas by browsing the staff research pages.
Next, the enrollment application must be further approved by the HoS or one of their nominees (typically the PGDip, GradDip, or MSci coordinator). The approved and signed application is sent to enrollments, who make the final decision.
The projects typically end with project reports and usually these are the main or even sole items used for assigning a grade. Thus, students must have or develop very good writing skills, for research oriented (i.e. non commercial) technical reports.
To justify an individual project, the topic should be quite challenging, but there are no other restrictions on the topics, that can range over all areas of compsci, theory and/or practice.
Each supervisor may require additional assessments (such as interim reports, presentations, demonstrations) and may add or refine other specific details (such as learning outcomes, learning resources, special requirements, workload expectations).