Module COMP51915: Professional Skills

Department: Computer Science

COMP51915: Professional Skills

Tied To

• G5T109: Scientific Computing and Data Analysis (Earth and Environmental Sciences) (see Postgraduate Handbook 2025-2026 for details)
• G5T209: Scientific Computing and Data Analysis (Financial Technology)
• G5T309: Scientific Computing and Data Analysis (Astrophysics)
• G5T509: Scientific Computing and Data Analysis (Computer Vision and Robotics)
• G5T809: Scientific Computing and Data Analysis (Artificial Intelligence for Engineering)

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• Provide training in collaborative large-scale code development.
• Provide training in essential subject-specific project management, collaboration techniques and version control.
• Provide training in essential wider professional skills: entrepreneurship, intellectual property, etc.
• Provide transferable skills training: communicating novel ideas in science, and reflecting on ethical issues around data as well as research in a broader sense.

Content

• Training on common tools for agile, collaborative code development including build systems and CI.
• Software development and usage workshops.
• Entrepreneuership, Research Ethics (Intellectual Property, e.g.), Academic Writing, Basic Project Planning and Timetabling.
• Communicating Science, Philosophy and Ethics of Data Sciences.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of this module, students should have:
• an understanding and critical reflection of legal and ethical principles underpinning the application of computational methods and data science in economical and societal context
• fundamental entrepreneurial/project management and implementation skills

• By the end of this module, students should have:
• technical skills in using build systems, CI and common tools for collaborative code development
• competent management of software projects, understanding of versioning and techniques for quality control

• Mature research on industrial scale
• Responsible research
• Productive research

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Workshop 1 (Week 5, Term 1): Agile and Responsible Code Development, Collaborative Working
• Workshop 2 (Week 10, Term 1): Project Management
• Workshop 3 (Week 5, Term 2): Communicating Science and Research Ethics
• Workshop 4 (Week 10, Term 2): Structured Innovation
• The assignment element of the coursework component consists of a coding exercise with accompanying report.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

The successful participation in professional and transferable skills training as well as the entrepeneurial training will be assessed formatively through individual and/or group presentations. Alternatively, the lecturer may ask for a short essay. They are indirectly assessed (project planning, presentation and communication skills, source code handling) with formative feedback by each individual coursework.