Course summary

AI is transforming industry – and the world we live in. Experts are applying their skills to improve care in hospitals, control robots in space, help companies understand buying habits, and more. By 2035, it’s predicted that AI activity could be worth an impressive £630 billion in the UK. A degree in this field will help give you the skills and knowledge you need to help play your part in shaping the future. Explore AI from its history to philosophy and what it can and can’t do. You'll study machine learning, artificial neural networks, and data analysis and use industry tools including MATLAB and Jason. Consider ethics of AI and debate the benefits and challenges posed by AI developments. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme. Why study at Buckinghamshire New University? BNU is invested in you and your future. We ensure that our courses are designed with you and industry in mind, so that you can graduate confident that you can make competitive job applications post-university. We know that the industry is constantly changing and rapidly evolving, which is why we are committed to implementing new and improved technologies in our topics, teaching and facilities. We’ve created our Computer Science degree to help you design and programme systems capable of solving real-world challenges. Our course is a part of our strong Computing school, and you’ll be taught by a team of expert lecturers who have vast experience of working in their respective fields. To further enhance your education, we invite in guest lectures to share their experience and expertise. Opportunity modules are a key part of the BNU curriculum. You’ll choose modules in both your first and second year from a broad selection in areas such as sustainability, entrepreneurship, creativity, digital skills, personal growth, civic engagement, health & wellbeing and employment. Opportunity modules are designed to enable you to develop outside the traditional boundaries of your discipline and help you to further stand out from the crowd to future employers. What will I study ? Take a deep dive into the world of AI and understand how machines search, reason and problem solve. At the same time, we’ll also explain the role of classical logic in machine intelligence, algorithms to search state spaces, and natural language processing systems. Then we’ll put your knowledge to the test. In workshops, you’ll work as part of a team to build AI machines – whether these are in the form of Expert Systems, Intelligent Agents or robots. You'll acquire a broad range of skills covering computation theory, fundamentals of computer science, compliers and operating systems, basic programming, software development and testing, web applications and databases, algorithms and data structures, whilst building secure web and mobile applications, alongside analysing life-critical systems. From your first day and onwards, you are with us, you will be studying topics ranging from, Computer Architecture, Discrete Mathematics, User Experience (UX) and Data Science. We aim to provide a balance of theory and practice and opportunities to apply knowledge into real projects where possible. You will acquire a wide range of skills and competences such as the ability to think critically about real-world problems. You will be exposed to a variety of computing discipline areas, so that you will then be able to select and apply appropriate principles, theories, best practices and appropriate technologies to address the needs of different business contexts, users, customers and stakeholders.