Human Computer Interaction (MSc)

Program Overview

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Human Computer Interaction (MSc) 2025 entry

Overview

Gain the skills to enhance the interaction between people and computers and develop your career in business or research.

Key Details

• Application deadline: Thursday 7 August 2025
• Starts: September 2025
• Duration: One year full time
• School: School of Computer Science

Fees

• UK: £12,030
• Rest of the world: £29,990

Why Study This Course?

This programme gives students from a variety of backgrounds the tools, knowledge and skills to become practitioners in the areas of user experience, usability, information visualisation, human factors in computing systems, and human-computer interaction research.

Teaching

• Lectures, seminars, tutorials and practical classes.
• Class sizes: Typically from 20 to 110 students.

Dissertation Project

A three-month project leading to a 15,000-word dissertation.

Assessment

Practical coursework exercises and exams.

Modules

The St Andrews degree structure is designed to be flexible. You study compulsory modules delivering core learning together with optional modules you choose from the list available that year.

Compulsory Modules

• Human Computer Interaction Principles and Methods: introduces the principles of human computer interaction in the context of evaluation paradigms.
• User-Centred Interaction Design: studies methodologies in interaction design that are at the core of current practice for user interface engineering and application development.

And one of:

• Object-Oriented Modelling, Design and Programming: introduces and reinforces object-oriented modelling, design and implementation to provide a common basis of skills, allowing students to complete programming assignments within other MSc modules.
• Alternatively, students with no programming experience can take Programming Principles and Practice: introduces computational thinking and problem-solving skills to students who have no or little previous programming experience.

And one or both of:

• Information Visualisation: explores how to utilise visual representations to make information accessible for exploration and analysis.
• Interactive Software and Hardware: develops prototype-building skills for a wide range of interactive technologies.

Optional Modules

The following modules are optional for Computer Science programmes. Not all combinations of modules will be available for all programmes, and some modules are subject to pre-requisites being satisfied.

Students choose two or three optional modules. In the 'Additional optional' lists below, students can only take up to two of the modules in each list.

• Critical Systems Engineering
• Data-Intensive Systems
• Fundamentals of Software Engineering
• Knowledge Discovery and Datamining
• Language and Computation
• Machine Learning
• Principles of Computer Communication Systems
• Software Architecture and Design
• Software Product and Project Management
• Software Quality
• Web Technologies

Additional Optional Modules

Students may take up to two of the following:

• Advanced Communication Networks and Systems
• Computer Architecture
• Computer Graphics
• Computer Security
• Concurrency and Multi-Core Architectures
• Constraint Programming
• Databases
• Distributed Systems
• Logic and Software Verification
• Programming Language Design and Implementation
• Signal Processing: Sound, Image, Video
• Video Games

What It Will Lead To

Careers

The Human Computer Interaction (HCI) MSc modules have been developed by expert researchers who regularly publish in leading international conferences such as ACM CHI, UIST, InfoVis and MobileHCI.

Students who complete this MSc will be at the forefront of HCI and information visualisation and have access to a range of roles in industry such as UX designers, visual analysts, interaction designers and interaction architects.

Further Your Education

The EngD programme in Computer Science is a four-year Engineering Doctorate involving an industrial partner. If you have already completed an MSc you may be able to proceed directly to the individual research component of the EngD.

Why St Andrews?

The School of Computer Science is highly rated for its theoretical and practical research in areas such as:

• AI
• Symbolic computation
• Networking
• Distributed systems
• Human computer interaction
• Systems engineering

Entry Requirements

• A good 2.1 Honours undergraduate degree.

The qualifications listed are indicative minimum requirements for entry. Some academic Schools will ask applicants to achieve significantly higher marks than the minimum.

Application Requirements

• CV. This should include your personal details with a history of your education and employment to date.
• Personal statement (optional).
• Two original signed academic references.
• Academic transcripts and degree certificates. Please only provide certified copies with official English translations if applicable.

Scholarships and Funding

We are committed to supporting you through your studies, regardless of your financial circumstances. You may be eligible for scholarships, discounts or other support:

• GREAT Scholarship
• St Andrews Sanctuary Scholarship
• St Leonard's funding opportunities
• Graduate discount (15% off tuition fees)

Computing Science scholarships

Research Areas

The School of Computer Science is highly rated for its theoretical and practical research in areas such as:

• AI
• Symbolic computation
• Networking
• Distributed systems
• Human computer interaction
• Systems engineering

Alumni

When you graduate you become a member of the University's worldwide alumni community. Benefit from access to alumni clubs, the Saint Connect networking and mentoring platform, and careers support.

"The course is structured in a way that it can be suitable for beginners or challenging for those who did computer science or similar at undergraduate level. I have started applying for a PhD and it’s all thanks to this wonderful year where the hustle and bustle of people’s energy, coupled with a serenity from the town itself, made me fall in love with academia again."

Malak - Cairo, Egypt

Events

The School of Computer Science organises a regular programme of colloquia, talks and seminars by external and internal speakers from both industry and academia. The talks are aimed at bringing the diversity, excitement and impact of computer science from around the globe to staff and students within the School.

The St Andrews Computing Society (STACS) and Women in Computer Science at St Andrews (WICS) regularly organise hackathons and other events open to local and external participants, including Masters students. These are very popular events, often supported by industrial sponsors.