MSc. Data Sciences and Artificial Intelligence

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Data Sciences and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) UFAZ Master’s degree will focus on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence with competencies in distributed and parallel computing, imaging, and networking, with practice on UFAZ’s 800TFlops non-newtonian emergent PARSEC machine. This Master’s degree in Applied Computer Sciences has been designed especially for UFAZ, having in mind both the needs of Azerbaijani companies in terms of state of the art computer programmers but also for research, in order to develop in Azerbaijan top-level computer scientists in these very modern topics.

The program combines theoretical and practical training in advanced programming, networking, distributed and parallel programming, stochastic optimization, data mining, image analysis (satellite image analysis), image synthesis (for games and animation), and of course, complex systems with collective intelligence, deep neural networks and up to the latest state of the art Symbolic and Explainable Artificial Intelligence. Teaching for each topic is done by Associate and Full Professors who are also researchers in top French computer science laboratories.

This Master’s degree is in Applied Computer Science, in the sense that hands-on practice will be put forward (with real projects) in all classes:

• on laptops, which all students should be equipped with,
• on a specific networking lab, equipped with all the necessary networking hardware for hands-on networking practice,
• on a non-newtonian supercomputer made of the same machines, working together as a group, creating a >800 TFlops PARSEC machine for compute-intensive research projects.

The second semester of the Master’s degree will be exclusively devoted to 6 months of applicative internships in companies or research laboratories.

CURRICULUM

Follow the link to learn more about the curriculum.

SKILLS DEVELOPED BY THE PROGRAM

Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and imaging are needed everywhere nowadays, from banking to networking companies, but also in the gaming and imaging industries down to logistics and transportation companies.

DSAI graduates will be top computer programmers with special expertise in developing Big Data analysis and Deep Learning software, but also distributed, networking and imaging software.

Project management, communication, and business creation skills will also be developed in the curriculum, meaning that the range of jobs accessible after this Master’s degree will range from top-level applied programmers and computer scientists to company managers and CEOs but also potential PhD candidates in order to become the future computer science AI and Big Data researchers of Azerbaijan.

PREREQUISITES

• Strong and hardworking candidates, quick learners in all domains of Computer Science with knowledge and skills in applied sciences (physics, chemistry) as computer science is a trans-disciplinary topic that can be used in all these domains.
• State of the art knowledge and hands-on expertise in:
  • Linux / Unix operating system (system management, shell scripting  with loops, variables, ...)
  • Top procedural and object-oriented programming skills (C / C++ / Java / Python)
  • TCP/IP networking
  • Databases, PHP/MySQL
  • Web programming (client/server model, Javascript) 

The purpose of this degree is not to teach these basic skills, which should be completely mastered before entering the UFAZ DSAI Master’s degree.