Admission requirements
None.
Description
The Master Class for Computer Science students takes place biweekly and is mandatory for all students who are doing the Master's Thesis Research Project. For students in the ‘Computer Science and Education’ or ‘Computer Science and Science Communication & Society’ specialisation, this is typically the second semester. For all other students, this is the second year.
Note that as of 2024-2025, we separate the students into two groups according to their start semester, but keep the biweekly rhythm for the students. That is, the class is taught every week, but students are presumed to join only every second week.
The Master Class aims at preparing students for finalising their Master’s programme, mainly focusing on two topics: (1) establishing your thesis and (2) career orientation.
For the thesis-related part, we:
discuss how to set up a thesis, find a topic, find supervisors, organise it formally, etc;
explain how the scientific machinery works with conferences, journals, etc, and what that means for your selection of literature, where to find what and how;
talk about experimentation, which is a fundamental part of most current CS theses; and
intensely deal with and train the necessary soft skills, as defining a structure, how to write a research proposal and a thesis, how to present (also to your supervisor), time management, and others.
Concerning career orientation, we:
invite a number of guest lecturers from companies (usually former students who now work there); and
describe the academic career path (PhD, etc), and talk about chances and differences between these two.
We strongly rely on constant student groups to stimulate active interaction of students with their classmates, discussing open problems, issues, etc., and helping students to stay on track. Each student is asked to give a brief presentation in the Master Class about their Master’s Thesis Research Project. About the research topic and goals, the status, and (expected) results.
Course objectives
After attending this mandatory class of the Master's programme in Computer Science (including all its specialisations), students are able to:
apply taught information and skills to write their Master’s thesis;
plan their graduation systematically (based on understanding the organizational process involved in graduating);
self-evaluate the progress of their research, discuss their research with other students, and train giving presentations about their research;
discuss principles of good scientific practice and relevant sociopolitical implications of computer science for society as a whole;
understand the grading principles applied by their supervisors for grading a research project and a Master’s thesis;
have opportunities for giving feedback about the Master’s programme and discussing with staff members; and
are provided with project topics for research and Master’s thesis projects by scientific staff members.
Timetable
Students who previously started in September will follow the Master Class biweekly in the uneven weeks (starting September 9th, continuing September 23rd etc.) and students who previously started in February will attend the Master Class biweekly in the even weeks (starting September 16th, continuing September 30th etc.).
The most recent timetable can be found at the students' website.
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
Oral presentations
Group discusssions
Guest speakers
Lectures
Two hours every second week in Semester 1 & 2.
The EC are included in the Master's Thesis Research Project (42 or 30 EC, depending on specialisation).
Assessment method
- The Master Class is not graded, but participation is required.
Reading list
Not applicable.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Master Class coordinators: Mike Preuss + Alexandra Blank
In case of questions about the course, please contact masterclass.cs@liacs.leidenuniv.nl.
Remarks
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.