Master of Artificial Intelligence

Options: Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Speech and Language Technology (SLT) Cognitive Science (CS)

Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Science

Artificial Intelligence
One of the most fascinating research issues today is the investigation of the true nature of intelligence: the study of cognitive processes and models, of natural language and perception, of human knowledge, representation, and reasoning. Related to these issues, one ultimate research objective in science is the development of an intelligent robot: a robot that can perceive and communicate through natural language as well as through vision, sensors, and movement. A robot that can represent its own knowledge and reason based upon it, that can plan and act, that can assimilate new knowledge from experience and interaction with its environment, and, in general, that can perform tasks that one considers to be typical for intelligent human beings. The Master of Artificial Intelligence programme at K.U.Leuven builds on these fascinating challenges. For many years, it has provided an internationally highly acclaimed, advanced study programme on artificial intelligence. The multidisciplinary programme trains students with a variety of backgrounds, including engineering, sciences, economics and management, psychology, and linguistics, in all areas of knowledge-based technology, cognitive science, and their applications. This one-year programme, taught entirely in English, is the result of a collaboration between many internationally prominent research units from seven different faculties of this university. Depending on their backgrounds, students are offered course selections which emphasise either engineering and computer science, cognitive science, or speech and language technology.

Master AI: a bridge to your future

Patrick Jeuniaux My interest in artificial intelligence (AI) emerged during the completion of my Master's degree in psychology and statistics at the Universit Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) in 1999 and 2000, respectively. I was very glad to enter the Master of Artificial Intelligence (MAI) at K.U.Leuven to satisfy this interest. I enrolled in this programme in 2002 as a part-time student, and completed it in 2004 (cognitive science). Since then, I have been a PhD student in psychology at the University of Memphis (TN, USA) working as a research assistant at the Institute for Intelligent Systems. Of all the educational programmes I have followed, the MAI is among the most challenging, diverse, and interesting. Not only did it satisfy my goals as a growing cognitive scientist (confronting me with various computer science frameworks and methodologies completely unknown to me, as well as with advanced theories in linguistics, logic, philosophy, and psychology), but it really went beyond what I expected. The MAI helped me to see the big picture and also to understand a tremendous amount of helpful details about the functioning of many state-of-the-art AI enterprises all this delivered by a pool of highly competent researchers. Moreover, the MAI significantly helped make me comfortable interacting with people from various academic backgrounds and addressing issues outside my area of expertise (e.g., issues involving programming languages). Finally, Leuven is a beautiful city: an amazing environment for studying and living! You will love it.

Nathalie Pochet With my background in engineering in computer science, the Master of Artificial Intelligence has greatly broadened my perspectives. Aside from robot and game AI, I was mainly fascinated by the ability of machine-learning techniques to learn prediction models and to extract relevant information from huge amounts of data. Although these techniques can be applied to a wide range of applications, I decided to specialize in bioinformatics. I pursued my PhD research at K.U.Leuven on using machine-learning techniques for biomedical data analysis in several cancer applications in collaboration with the U.Z.Leuven. Consequently, I got the opportunity to do postdoctoral research at Harvard University and MIT. In a biomedical project, we found for the first time distinct physiological states of the malaria parasite in malaria-infected patients using machine learning techniques.

Admission requirements and tuition fees

Direct access: Master of Computer Science Master of Science / Engineering in Informatics Master of Science / Engineering in Information and Communication Technology Master of Arts in Psychology: Theoretical Psychology Master of Advanced Studies in Linguistics: Theoretical / Computational Linguistics

Except for native speakers, students should present proof of an exam on English proficiency (TOEFL 550). Admission decisions are based upon evaluation of a complete application file: Another Master's degree in Science, Engineering, Applied Economics, Psychology, Philosophy, Arts, Law, Medicine Bachelors degree in Science, Engineering, Applied Economics, Psychology, Philosophy, Arts, Law, Medicine based on a study programme with a normal duration of at least four years.

Experience with computing, proficiency in English, and excellent results (at least cum laude) on the basis of transcripts Tuition fees: For the 2009-2010 academic year, tuition fees for all students admitted on the basis of a complete admission file amount to 1400 Euro.

Profile
As a student, you should be able to formulate research goals, determine trajectories that achieve such goals, collect and select information relevant to achieving research goals, and interpret collected information based on a critical research attitude. If you select the ECS option, you are expected to be familiar with basic undergraduate mathematics. Successful completion of the programme should enable you to understand the concepts, methods, and applicability of the fundamentals of artificial intelligence, the basics of neuroscience, neural computing, and cognitive science, and the philosophical aspects of artificial intelligence. You will become familiar with AI programming languages and several advanced areas in AI, including current research directions.

Programme
The Master of Artificial Intelligence is an advanced academic programme of sixty credits. You can complete the programme on a one-year, full-time basis or a two-year, part-time basis. A basic introductory part of the programme consists of the fundamentals of artificial intelligence, neural computing, cognitive science, philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence, and linguistic theories and artificial intelligence.

Within the programme, students have the choice between three options: Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Speech and Language Technology (SLT) Cognitive Science (CS)

Each option contains a number of mandatory and elective courses, a computer programming component, and a Master's thesis. The ECS option is intended for students with a background in engineering or exact sciences. After an introduction to the basic AI concepts, tools, and areas of application, topics of focus include advanced programming languages, knowledge-based systems, artificial neural networks, robotics, computer vision, machine learning, data mining, support vector machines, bioinformatics, genetic algorithms and evolutionary computation, multi-agent systems, and others. The central focus of the SLT option is the processing of natural language, both in its written and spoken forms. The programme offers a solid linguistic basis, covering the fields of syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, and lexicography, and continues with advanced courses in natural-language processing, speech recognition, speech synthesis, and language engineering. For the CS option, main themes of interest include computational approaches to cognitive science, psychology of perception and memory, knowledge representation, cognitive aspects of human-computer interaction, knowledge acquisition, cognitive ergonomic aspects, and computational and modular approaches in cognitive science. The students have to complete a thesis. The SLT students follow a traineeship of three months in a research lab or company with R&D activities in language and/or speech technology. For detailed descriptions of this programme's courses and for the course timetable, please consult www.kuleuven.be/onderwijs/aanbod/opleidingen/E

Career perspectives
With a Masters degree of Artificial Intelligence you will be welcomed by companies working in information technology, data mining, speech and language technology, intelligent systems, diagnosis and quality control, fraud detection, and biometric systems. You can also work in banking, or provide support for the process industry, biomedicine and bioinformatics, robotics, or traffic systems. Furthermore, this degree offers opportunities to start a PhD programme.

Bart Hamers Hello, my name is Bart Hamers. I graduated as a Master of Physics from K.U.Leuven. Today, it is well known that computers are perfectly suited for repetitive tasks and data storage. I strongly believe that computers should be used for tasks that are more intelligent. It should be our goal to program computers such that they are able to aid humans in as many tasks as possible. Therefore, in 1995 I registered in the Master of Artificial Intelligence programme. The AI programme gave us a very good overview of the all the different aspects of development intelligent programme design by means of logic programming, statistical techniques, and computational intelligence. These techniques are currently being used in such applications as internet search engines, predictive marketing tools, data mining, predictive analytics, speech recognition, medical diagnosis systems, robot design, financial trading, quantitative financial risk analysis, etc. After completing the AI programme, my interest in computational intelligence had only grown. Therefore, I continued my studies at the university and obtained a PhD in this domain four years later. Equipped with a whole arsenal of mathematical techniques, it was not difficult to find an interesting job in industry. I worked for two years as a data-mining consultant fulfilling different projects at telco companies, banks, and governmental institutions in Belgium. Currently I am working as a quantitative risk analyst at Dexia Holding. I still make use of the techniques and insights I learned in the AI programme on a daily basis. I can also assure you that the need for people with a quantitative background in industry is growing day by day. Further testimonies: www.mai.kuleuven.be/testimonies

Communications Office Oude Markt 13 box 5005 3000 LEUVEN, Belgium tel. + 32 16 32 40 10 fax + 32 16 32 40 14 onderwijscommunicatie@kuleuven.be www.kuleuven.be

More information
www.kuleuven.be/ma/MAI General information K.U.Leuven - International Office www.kuleuven.be/english K.U.Leuven International programmes www.kuleuven.be/internationalprogrammes Faculty Secretariat Master of Artificial Intelligence, K.U.Leuven Department of Computer Science tel. + 32 16 32 78 17 MoAI@cs.kuleuven.be Programme Director Prof. Danny De Schreye Danny.DeSchreye@cs.kuleuven.be www.mai.kuleuven.be

This brochure provides the most complete information available for this Master's programme offered by K.U.Leuven during the 2010-2011 academic year. However, small changes to the composition of the programmes may be approved after the publication of this brochure. In no way is the university legally bound by the information provided in this brochure. The most recent information on all our academic programmes can be consulted on www.kuleuven.be/onderwijs/aanbod/opleidingen/E. Last updated: October 2009 Copyright: D/2009/1082/54