Artificial Intelligence is one of the technological disciplines that is experiencing a higher growth potential, both in the continuous achievement of new advances and in the application on uncountable domains, covering sectors as important as socioeconomics, industry, finances, health, transport and energy, science and innovation or entertainment, to name the most relevant ones. The demand of AI specialists is affecting, in a greater or lower extent, to all those sectors and the predictions point out that it will be increased with the unstoppable digital transformation in all those areas.
The main professional environment for MIA is the ITC sector in Galicia, given the geographical distribution of the courses among the three Galician public universities. The last reports from the Observatory of the Information Society and Modernisation of Galicia (OSIMGA 2021) point out that the ITC sector in this region comprises around 3000 companies directly related to information and communications technology, that provide a Gross Added Value of a 2.7% of the GDP of Galicia and an estimated turnover of around 3 billion euros. Besides, this number of companies is experiencing a continuous growth of around a yearly 3% in the last years, making Galicia the fifth autonomous community in Spain in absolute number of ITC companies, only behind four communities with larger population such as Madrid, Catalonia, Andalusia and Valencian Community. A ratio of 21.6% of ITC companies in Galicia provide AI services, 28.7% use Business Intelligence techniques and 24.2% incorporate chatbots, and these figures are continuously increasing.
The MIA training, however, is not exclusively limited to the Galician environment: the use of English as a teaching language has the goal of training professionals with the capability of working in other environments at an international level, but also attracting students from other countries, fostering an open and enriching atmosphere for students and professors.
Although the MSc in AI abilitates for many posible outgoing specialisations, we can name three main profiles for MIA postgraduates:
The MIA degree is thought as a postgraduate for specialisation in AI and is targeted at university graduates or even postgraduates with a previous technical training that want to deepen in new technologies for intelligent systems. The professional profile in AI specialist is one of the most demanded in the last years, with a clear lack of specialists in this field. This master is a natural continuation for undergraduates in Computer Science, Data Science and Engineering, Mathematics, or some Engineering profiles that want to focus their professional activity towards AI.
The MIA also provides a differentiating added value for university graduates with a previous profesional activity in other fields, not only of Computer Sicence but also in other more or less technical disciplines, that want to extend their capabilities and growth potential in their work environment or that are considering an entrepreneurial initiative. MIA means a good technical complement for other postgraduates coming from a more traditional Software Engineering training too.
Finally, most faculty in MIA has a direct participation in AI research groups with verified international experience and prestige, many of them associated to the specialised research centers CiTIUS and CITIC, with a frequent participation in conferences and events of top level. This turns the MIA master into an ideal bridge for the continuation towards a research career in any of the doctorate programs related to AI in the three public Galician universities, or in the many existing European PhD programs related to AI.
The Computer Science School of A Coruña (Facultad de Informática de A Coruña, FIC) is a school with a high activity in its relation to companies in its environment, from different activity sectors, and promotes the business initiatives among its students and professors. As a consequence, FIC maintains a wide offer of jobs and business internships for their students. More information in:
The Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (Máster Universitario en Inteligencia Artificial; MIA) is an oficial master comprising 90 ECTS credits distributed in 3 four-month periods (quadrimesters) Q1, Q2 and Q3, which are approximately equivalent to one year and a half. In their turn, some courses are tought in two-month periods, inside Q1 and Q2. The attached map displays the temporal distribution of courses in quadrimesters and, inside them, in two-month periods. Courses with a pink background colour are mandatory whereas blue background is used for optional courses. A darker color is used to show courses of 6 ECTS, while lighter ones correspond to 3 ECTS.
Some useful links:
The masters are organized by modules. Click on a module for more information.
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI Fundamentals | Compulsory | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| Data Engineering | Compulsory | 1st | 3 ECTS |
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning and Planning | Compulsory | 1st | 6 ECTS | |
| Computational Aspects of Cognitive Science | Optional | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| Explainable and Trustworthy AI | Compulsory | 2nd | 3 ECTS | |
| Multiagent Systems | Optional | 2nd | 6 ECTS | |
| Knowledge and Reasoning under Uncertainty | Optional | 2nd | 3 ECTS |
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Language Understanding | Compulsory | 1st | 6 ECTS | |
| Text Mining | Optional | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| Language Modelling | Optional | 2nd | 3 ECTS | |
| Web Intelligence and Semantic Technologies | Optional | 2nd | 6 ECTS |
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machine Learning I | Compulsory | 1st | 6 ECTS | |
| AI in Big Data Environments | Optional | 1st | 6 ECTS | |
| Deep Learning | Optional | 2nd | 6 ECTS | |
| Machine Learning II | Optional | 2nd | 3 ECTS | |
| Evolutionary Computation | Optional | 2nd | 3 ECTS |
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Vision I | Compulsory | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| Computer Vision II | Optional | 2nd | 6 ECTS |
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligent Robotics I | Compulsory | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| Intelligent Robotics II | Optional | 2nd | 6 ECTS |
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI in Health | Optional | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| Intelligent IoT | Optional | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| Intelligent Cibersecurity | Optional | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| Emergent Aspects and Entrepreneurship in AI | Optional | 1st | 3 ECTS | |
| AI Project Management | Compulsory | 2nd | 3 ECTS | |
| Process Mining | Optional | 2nd | 3 ECTS | |
| Real Time Intelligent Systems | Optional | 2nd | 3 ECTS |
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work Placement | Compulsory | 1st | 6 ECTS |
| Guide | Type | QTR. | credits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Master´s Dissertation | Compulsory | 1st | 12 ECTS |
In Spain, there are many examples of AI specialised masters in several universities in the country, although most of them are constrained to an academic year (60 ECTS) and a much smaller offer of optional courses, while in many cases, teaching is online or hybrid. Therefore, these seem degrees with a less complete or integral syllabus with respect to MIA, offering a more complementary training. The postgraduate degrees in AI closer to MIA are the University Master in AI of the three universities of Barcelona, Politechnical University of Catalonia and University Rovira i Virgili, also interuniversitary, with face to face teaching in English and 90 ECTS, or the University Master in AI of the Politechnical University of Madrid, also face to face and in English, but covering 60 ECTS.
At an European or international level, the offer in AI postgraduates is much wider and consolidated, in many cases, with a longer tradition. Practically all top Computer Science schools offer master degrees in AI or directly related to AI, including Imperial College, University of Cambridge and University of Edinburgh in United Kingdom, the École Polytechnique of Paris and the University of Toulouse in France, the Technical University of Munich in Germany or the universities of Bologna and Sapienza in Roma, in Italy, to name a few relevant examples. In USA, the situation is similar, with AI postgraduate degrees in top level universities such as Stanford, Massachussets Institute of Technology or Berkeley.
In the elaboration process of this degree, several reports and counsels from external agents were taken into account, such as representatives from companies and organisations in the environment that, due to their nature and activity scope, are especially relevant for a MSc in AI. This external counseling was provided by, among others, entities such as the research centres CITIC and CiTIUS, the Galician ITC cluster TIC Galicia, the Professional Association of Computing Engineering in Galicia (Colegio Profesional de Ingeniería Informática en Galicia), the Galician Association of ITC Companies, the Galician Association of Free Software Companies, software consulting firms widely established such as IBM or Indra, together with multiple local consultancies, spin-offs associated to the three universities and other representatives from the industrial sector in Galicia.
The study is taught by the following teachers:
The masters are organized by modules. Click on a module for more information.
UDC holds student mobility agreements with universities and other third-level institutions across four continents. Students are offered several opportunities each year to apply to study abroad in one of these centres (for a single term or for a whole year), with the guarantee that all credits obtained will be duly recognised in their academic record upon their return.
For each round of applications, the University publishes the list of exchange options available to students and, where relevant, the specific conditions associated with each. Students may also apply to the University for funding for international work experience placements and internships.
Work experience placements are accredited in the student's academic record and the European diploma supplement. Students are free to decide in which host company or academic institution within the EHEA they wish to carry out their placement. To assist them in their search, the University has created an online noticeboard with jobs postings and other news.
Work-study placements in A Coruña are arranged by the International Relations Office (ORI) of the UDC in collaboration with the international relations coordinators in the student’s home university. The general entry criteria, rights and obligations of students, and admission and acceptance procedures for the programme, are regulated by the UDC Mobility Policy.
Actualmente, la Facultad de Informática tiene convenios activos con más de 50 Universidades de todo el mundo bajo los programas: