Useful Contacts

MSc in Artificial Intelligence Coordinator
Dr Rob Craven
robert.craven@imperial.ac.uk
Room 306

Senior Tutor for Postgraduate Taught Degrees
Dr Thomas Lancaster
t.lancaster@imperial.ac.uk
Room 305

Director of Postgraduate Studies
Dr Anandha Gopalan
a.gopalan@imperial.ac.uk
Room 306

Student Wellbeing Advisor
Caroline Gilchrist
c.gilchrist@imperial.ac.uk
Room 304a

 

Welcome to the Department of Computing at Imperial College London, and to the MSc in AI.  We hope that you will have an enjoyable year with us and that you will find your studies interesting and stimulating.  On this page, you can find links to all the relevant information you will need throughout the year.

Department computing laboratories

Your timetable has scheduled laboratory sessions—for instance for the Python Programming module.  For these, you may go to any of the timetabled rooms at the time indicated, and use any available space.  The module organisers will provide full details of how scheduled lab sessions will be organised.

You can also work in a laboratory when there is no timetabled session, but do bear in mind that if other degrees or modules have a session booked in the relevant lab, then you might be asked to cede your place, and work somewhere else.

The laboratories are open from 8am to 12am, every day.

Student year representatives

To be confirmed.

Induction and introductory materials

Degree regulations

Information on the requirements for different degree classifications is available in the Degree regulations.‌

Course structure and timetables

For information on the structure of the MSc in AI, and which modules are available, see the page for current students; clicking on the name of a module will take you to a detailed description of the module contents.

Your personal timetable is available on CELCAT.  See also the Imperial College term dates.

Modules

There are five compulsory modules (with the addition of the individual project), to which you are subscribed automatically.  To take non-compulsory modules, and thus to satisfy the degree requirements, students must subscribe using the department's module registration system.  To see a description of what is taught on each module, and the form assessment takes, click on the modules name, on the page for current students.

Access to the materials for each module is controlled by the module registration system.  Students must subscribe to a module before they can access these resources.  Lecture slides and notes are on Scientia; recordings of lectures and other live sessions are on Panopto.

Each module has a discussion forum on EdStem for students to ask and answer questions. 

Coursework

Coursework publication and submission

Coursework, both assessed and unassessed exercises, is issued on Scientia.  Students must enrol on a module using the module registration system before they will be able to access the exercises.  The module subscription must be at least Level 2 in order to submit work.

Assessed coursework contribution

The assessed coursework component of each taught module contributes between 20% and 50% of the final mark.  (The default is 20%; exceptions are listed in the Coursework contribution document.) 

Coursework deadlines and late submission

Coursework deadlines are strict.  Work submitted late without mitigating circumstances will be subject to mark capping, according to the Department's Late Submission Policy.  Work submitted more than 24 hours after the deadline will be marked 0.

Mitigating circumstances and extensions

If your ability to submit by the deadline has been affected by mitigating circumstances, you should complete a Mitigating Circumstances Form and submit it to your programme coordinator, Dr Robert Craven (robert.craven@imperial.ac.uk).  If your application is accepted you can be given a deadline extension, have the mark cap removed from a late submission, or be awarded some other form of mitigation.  See Extensions and Mitigating Circumstances for further information.  Module lecturers are not able to approve late submissions, grant deadline extensions etc.

Plagiarism

The college and the department take the issue of plagiarism very seriously. Please do not engage in this practice. The college has policies on plagiarism and exam offences.  There is also a departmental FAQ on plagiarism.

Please complete the compulsory plagiarism awareness course.

Projects

Group project

Group Projects for the MSc in Artificial Intelligence are selected at the end of the autumn term, and run throughout the spring term and over the spring break.  There are also associated lectures on software engineering.  For more information, please see MSc AI group projects.

Individual project

The MSc in Artificial Intelligence individual projects begin in the summer term and continue to the end of the academic year. The MSc Individual Project Wiki has more information.

Results

Provisional results: July

The department's Board of Examiners meets to approve taught module results in July, after all examinations have taken place and been marked.  Following the meeting you will be able to see a provisional overall result in your personal examination results page.  The result will give one of the following outcomes:

  1. Distinction
  2. Merit
  3. Pass
  4. Fail
  5. Borderline
  6. Decision Deferred

If your result is 1, 2 or 3 this indicates the final MSc degree for which you are being considered.  If your result is one of 4, 5 or 6 you will be given further information at the time.

Overall results: November

The Board of Examiners meets again in October to approve the marks for the individual projects.  Your final degree result will be the minimum of your July provisional result and your project result.  So, for example, if you have a provisional Merit result and then achieve a Pass on the project your degree will be a Pass.  Project marks and overall degree results are issued by the college Registry department following approval by the college.  This happens in early November.

Transcripts and degree certificates

All transcripts and degree certificates are issued by the college Registry department, not the Department of Computing.  Transcripts are issued after the completion of the degree and final approval by the Board of Examiners and the College in early November.

Student welfare

Studying should be fun, but it can also be stressful and you will undoubtedly have to deal with non-academic challenges during your time at Imperial.  The College offers a range of services to support the welfare and well-being of its students, ranging from healthcare to financial advice and support.  Your personal tutor can be a first point-of-call for any difficulties that arise during your studies.  See also the Department of Computing's page on Postgraduate student welfare.

The department has its own Student Wellbeing Advisor, Caroline Gilchrist, who can be reached by email at c.gilchrist@imperial.ac.uk, or in Huxley 304a.

MSc AI parenting scheme

We run a 'parenting' scheme which pairs current students with recent graduates from the MSc in AI; the latter can offer informal advice and are available to chat about the degree or life at Imperial.  If you are interested in having a parent, please email Dr Rob Craven at robert.craven@imperial.ac.uk.

Seminar series

Several seminar and talk series at Imperial which have a specific focus on artificial intelligence may be of interest to you.

Also, see:

Careers service

The college careers service is here.