Undergraduate 2020 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Answers correct as at 17 June 2020. Please note that things can often change in response to the Covid situation. These answers are provided as a rough guide.

Department of Computer Science

Content
Accommodation | Admissions | Careers | Disability Support | Equipment | Fees | Hackathon | Induction | Industry | Personal Tutoring | Research | Scholarships | Social | Student Experience | Teaching | UCL generally | Visas

Accommodation

Topic

Answer

Halls

For offer holders who have accepted UCL as their firm offer UCL operates a guarantee scheme all first year UG and first year overseas PG students that meet the eligibility criteria and accept the accommodation that is offered within agreed timescale (18 June) Eligibility criteria: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/accommodation/ For other offer holders, please contact the accommodation office https://www.ucl.ac.uk/accommodation/

Admissions

Topic	Answer
Covid leniency	Our programmes are very competitive.  We would love to take more students but the reality is we are not scaled up for this.
Defer	Yes for 2021 entry.
Transfer	Yes. It is possible to switch between BSc Computer Science and MEng Computer Science.  This would be after the second year is completed (because Year 3 differs in these programmes).  To move from BSc to MEng, students must achieve a minimum of a weighted average of 60% across Years 1 and 2.  To move from MEng to BSc, there is no academic requirement, but there may be visa implications for students who hold them. All transfer requests are subject to approval. The department solely manages this for transfers within the department, but for transfers out of, or into, the  department, the request will also be subject to approval from the other department.
MEng programme: does it give you an edge?	The four-year MEng degree requires higher academic performance. Offers more specialist Master level modules in the 4th year (particularly Advanced Machine Learning). Companies know this. But we have BSc students that have chosen to do the 3-year degree (or they are only funded for 3 years) and a number of these students also have excellent academic ability and skills.  Also 3 year BSc students often decide to do a specialist MSc programme which then makes them equal in terms of education.  It is not always the case, but often technical employers like to see relevant Masters-level specialist subjects in the 4th year.
Withdraw	We want to avoid this scenario so please speak to us before deciding to do this. You can withdraw right up until start of term. See link below for dates after which fee liability kicks in. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/student-status/changes-your-studies/inter...

Careers

Topic	Answer
Bioinformatics	A successful route might include a first degree in either Computer Science or Biology. Then MSc in Bioinformatics.  Machine Learning vital: modules in third year and specialist modules in fourth year. Many students progress to MSc degrees or PhD research after completing their final year project in this area.
Companies who recruit UCL graduates	Technology is fundamental globally to 21st century life. A degree in CS makes you highly employable.  UCL has a fantastic reputation.  Employers include: Finance (e.g. banks) Technical (e.g. Google, DeepMind, Facebook) Environment Health Academia Recent examples from our graduate survey:  Goldman Sachs Amazon Bloomberg Cisco Systems JP Morgan  Chase and Co Adaptive American Express Bank of America  Merrill Lynch Barclays Bank.
Employability	From our most recent results of surveys on graduate careers:  90% of our graduates are in employment or went on to further academic study. Average annual salary for full time working graduates is £44,984.

Student Experience

Topic

Answer

MEng programme: does it give you an edge?

The four-year MEng degree requires higher academic performance. Offers more specialist Master level modules in the 4th year (particularly Advanced Machine Learning). Companies know this. But we have BSc students that have chosen to do the 3-year degree (or they are only funded for 3 years) and a number of these students also have excellent academic ability and skills.  Also 3 year BSc students often decide to do a specialist MSc programme which then makes them equal in terms of education.  It is not always the case, but often technical employers like to see relevant Masters-level specialist subjects in the 4th year.

Disability support

Answer
College can support you if you require adjustments or support in some way. For example, Dyslexia. See https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/student-support-and-wellbeing

Equipment

Topic	Answer
Laptop	Depending on your budget, we recommend: Modern PC or Mac (8 or 16GB RAM / 0.5 or 1 TB SSD storage  Some students run Linux on their PCs while others run Window’s with Linux Virtual Machines installed.  A proper laptop is preferred over tablet-only based computers which are limited for programming.

Fees

Topic	Answer
Year Abroad	Information on fee liability for students who secure a place on the Study Abroad Programme can be found here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/go-abroad/study-abroad-and-erasmus/prepar...
Funding: international scholarships	You can find information on scholarships here:  https://www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships/

Hackathons

Topic

Answer

Hackathons, events where you are given a challenge, often over a weekend, will be a great opportunity for networking and learning.  You will form a group and build an application, in competition with other teams.  They’re great social events, with prizes, pizza and a great way to hone your skills. Some organised by the Department, others by UCL TechSoc.  Learn more about the Paris Hackathon - AI for Common Good https://www.ucl.ac.uk/computer-science/news/2019/dec/ucl-hosts-fair-ai-common-good-hackathon-2019

Induction

Answer

In the first week of term 1 we will provide you with a comprehensive induction to the Department, UCL and Faculty.  It will be online and includes talks from academics about your programme, assessment, labs, etc Some of the speakers will include: Students’ Union, UCL Library Services and CS’s Technical Support Group. We’re proud that our Welcome Week content is student-led. That means that current CS students lead sessions for new students on a multitude of subjects, to help you get settled and to set up your online environment, and be ready to start your studies the following week.

UCL IXN (Industry Exchange Network)

Note being in London helps with industry connections

Topic	Answer
UCL IXN	The UCL Industry Exchange Network supports student software development projects in partnership with a wide range of organisations including tech companies, the health sector/NHS, charities, and research centres.  Project specifications are provided by the organisations allowing students to work on real-world problems and deliver deployable working solutions. Examples of companies our IXN students work with:  IBM Avanade Microsoft Research Cisco NTT Data Ocado ARM Arthur Murray Studios Evolv Algoraise UNESCO NHS/GOSH See https://www.ucl.ac.uk/computer-science/collaborate/ucl-industry-exchange...)
Year in Industry: optional, additional year	Students receive information in their second year on how to apply to take up a year in industry as part of their degree. Students self source their placements and the department will guide the student through a process of verifying that the placement meets the learning outcomes for the degree, and lots of other things we need to check before approving the application.  If approved, students add an additional year to their degree programme and take the placement over one academic year, before they return to UCL to resume their studies.
Year 2: Systems Engineering Group Project in industry	All second year BSc/MEng CS students take part in Systems Engineering Group Project an IXN group project worth one quarter of the year’s effort.  As well as the computer science aspects of the project students develop a wide range of skills including an understanding of the ethical and legal issues, group working, giving presentations, report writing, project management, and working with the project partners.
Final Year Project: with industry	All final year students undertake a substantial six month long individual project worth one quarter of their final year.  A student may opt to take an IXN project, to working on a challenging problem specified by an IXN partner.  Typically this requires close collaboration with the partner and the need to development a deep understanding of the problem area.
Effect of COVID on our relationship with partners in industry	Computer Science has been less affected by Covid-19 than many other industries.  In many ways, Covid-19 has emphasized the importance of computer science in our society to keep business working and people connected.  We are hopeful that Covid-19 will not still be affecting industrial internships that you would be taking – since these would be in your 2nd or 3rd year.
Internships	Students can secure these either in their second year (BSc degree) or third year (MEng degree). There is a wealth of support provided to students to help them secure internships, by UCL Engineering Careers: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/engineering/study/careers-support

Personal tutoring

Answer
An academic will be assigned randomly as personal tutor for duration of degree. We will have timetabled sessions. Might meet as 1:1, or groups of students together. You can use office hours. This is a useful relationship for you.

Research

Topic	Answer
Summer internship	Approximately 8 students each year within the Department.  An example is one first year that took part in a competition using machine learning to recognise cancer from microscope slides. This was a very successful research experience for that student.

Scholarships

Answer
You can find information on scholarships here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships/

Social

Topic	Answer
Activities in this environment	Something the whole College is working on now to give you a great student experience. Student Union are seated in top meetings at the College so student perspective is constantly fed in to plans. Clubs and societies will be working on this too. Sports and other interests. Many CS students belong to UCL Tech Soc headed by one of our undergrad students, Chris Tan. A short video of Chris speaking about Tech Soc working with industry is available on the right hand side of this page.    Department level Set up group activities Hackathon which has a social element We want to hear your ideas.
Faculty activities at pre-enrolment	Once you have accepted your offer, you will be invited to participate in Ocean Health Challenge. This is an exciting opportunity to work with other offer holders from our Faculty on how we can address the poor health of our oceans.  This means you can network and make friends with offer holders from subjects as diverse as Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEAPP), and Security and Crime Science. More information about this, and an invitation will be sent in due course.

Student Experience

Topic	Answer
Department	Major focus for the Department.  We encourage dialogue through feedback systems such as online platform Unitu, and the Student Staff Consultative Committee. There are always things we can do better and we are striving to do that. Particular focus on personal tutoring and feedback at present.  Watch videos from two of our current undergraduate students speak about their experience working with industry and being a student at UCL CS (videos are available on the right hand side of this page).
UCL	Major focus for the university.

Teaching

Topic	Answer
Assessment: Coursework and exam ratio	Pre covid: Assessment has predominantly been exam in Computer Science.  A handful of modules are all coursework but most modules have a weighting higher than 50% of exam.  For 2020: We are currently determining how we will deliver assessments that would have been in person, and urgently reviewing any changes we might need to make, to ensure fairness and academic rigour.
Assessment:  types of	Coursework: Reports / essay Group work Presentations Lab tests Mid-year class tests Exams: Traditional exam hall style (this year replaced by coursework style)
Enrichment	Our academics are optimising their teaching delivery for next year.  Some will be interactive lectures with experts in the area – others will involve quality video lectures supported by lab classes.
Hours teaching / contact hours	Most modules have 30 hours of lectures across a term. Some have additional things like labs, or tutorials.  Across all modules in any one week, you might expect: 4 modules of 3 hours work of lectures Some labs, number of hours depends on module Some tutorials, number of hours depends on module Average class sizes: Lecture: several hundred Labs: 25 or so depending on what the activity is Tutorials: Depends what it is For term 1 large lectures will be online. For term 1, other teaching activities are still being considered. However, our student and staff’s heathy, safety and wellbeing is of paramount importance. Teams in UCL are still working out what can be delivered given the requirement for social distancing.
Labs	Right now we are testing optimal way to deliver our labs when not on campus.  We have a dedicated team of academics and IT specialists to identify this for our modules. In particular, we have a team working closely with Microsoft, and other technology providers, to support programming labs which allow lecturers and teaching assistants to look virtually at the code being developed and feedback comments both via video, writing on the code and directly modifying it as everyone is watching virtually.  We will ensure we provide quality labs given the regulations in force. Learn more about our VR cave and immersive environments: https://vr.cs.ucl.ac.uk/
Programming	Do I need programming skills in advance?  Our students start with varying experience. We have dedicated extra support for this so that everyone has a solid foundation by the end of the first year. You could spend some time programming over the summer, however, do not be concerned as there will be support for learning this. Programming languages we teach: Python Java C  Haskell Assembly
Quality	We are working hard to improve a number of areas, and bring an approach to continuous improvement for the benefit of students.  Frequent opportunities for students to provide feedback on modules and programmes to shape own educational experience. Student Reps and SSCC (Student Staff Consultative Committee). Unitu Module Questionnaires ASER (Annual student experience review). All for enhancement of student experience
Technology / tools	UCL uses the following: Moodle (this is the main virtual learning environment that has been used at UCL for a number of years). Blackboard Collaborate Zoom (tbc) MS Teams In addition the Department is looking at the best technology for delivering labs, including investigating use of simulators.
Term 1	Large lectures will be online for term 1. Some of this will be synchronous – all together at the same time.  Some will be asynchronous – you can watch it when it suits you. Smaller group and individual activities are being planned at the moment.  All material needed to be able to satisfy the learning outcomes of a given module will be delivered online.  If you cannot make it in person for some reason, you will still be able to engage with content, delivered to a high standard.
Term 2	The flexible approach in place for Term 1 will allow us to respond to the latest developments and official guidance. We will review our plans as the academic year progresses to ensure you receive the best education and university experience.
Time zone	Some teaching will be synchronous and some will be asynchronous. Timezones will be taken into account.

UCL (general)

Topic	Answer
Being safe on campus	Extensive work and planning are underway to ensure we offer the very highest standards of safety for staff and students. Your safety is paramount. We look forward to welcoming you to London if you are able to travel here. We continue to follow UK Government guidance, as well as drawing on the expertise of our researchers. These include specialists in health, education, human behaviour and infection prevention to make sure UCL is as safe as possible.  We are introducing a range of measures to protect everyone on campus, including: asking people to use face coverings deep cleaning our buildings  implementing a one-way system onsite.  making more soap and hand sanitiser available  encouraging people to check their temperature at least once a day.  As the pandemic progresses, social distancing requirements will guide how much teaching we can deliver in person at any given time
IT general	The College has an excellent IT department that underpin all activities, which is particularly important for a Department of CS  Department has dedicated and specialist team to support all our activities in teaching, and research.

Visas

Topic	Answer
General	Some visa offices overseas are closed.  Some gradually re-opening but not many and not quickly.  Students can apply for visas online… but part face-to-face engagement at a visa office will depend on the ability of students to access an open office. Students needing advice should contact https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/immigration-and-visas/student-immigration....