Key information
A pioneering degree combining Heriot-Watt University's world leading expertise in Signal and Image Processing with the University of Edinburgh’s globally respected capabilities in High Performance Computing.
- Level
- Postgraduate Taught
- Delivery type
- Full Time
- Degree qualification
- MSc
- Mode of delivery
- On-Campus
- Duration
- 1 year
- Location
- Edinburgh
- Start date
- September
The MSc Imaging, Vision and High Performance Computing is a joint MSc between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh. It has been designed for students with a background in science, engineering, or computing.
This degree will place you at the cutting-edge of science and technology, with skills in computational imaging algorithms and computer vision, as well as in High Performance Computing (HPC) hardware and software technologies. It is a programme of study which, for the first time, brings together the world-leading expertise of Heriot-Watt University in Signal and Image Processing with the University of Edinburgh’s globally respected capability in HPC.
You will graduate simultaneously from both the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University.
Your student experience
A Partnership of World-Leading Departments
The School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University is renowned for world-class research in imaging and vision. The School's Signal and Image Processing Lab is a leading centre for computational imaging and computer vision, both nationally and internationally.
The School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh is one of the most renowned in the world. It provides academic governance to EPCC, the UK's leading supercomputer centre, which has a global reputation for innovative and leading-edge HPC research and training.
In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2021), which assesses the quality of research of UK higher education institutions, the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University were jointly ranked first for Engineering research in Scotland, and third in the United Kingdom. The School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh and EPCC have obtained similarly impressive results in Computer Science research, being ranked first in Scotland and sixth in the UK.
Go Global
With Go Global, Heriot-Watt's global student programme, you can carry your studies to new places and experience new cultures, expanding your horizons on the way. You'll discover what it means to be a true global citizen and emerge prepared for wherever your career journey will take you.
Inter-Campus Transfer
Course content
September Intake - Edinburgh
The MSc is split into three semesters worth 60 credits each. Semesters 1 and 2 consist of a set of compulsory courses as detailed below (30 credits per institution per semester). In semester 3, you'll conduct an individual dissertation project in which you'll be allocated a project with a primary supervisor in one of the institutions, and a secondary supervisor in the other. In preparation of your project, you'll take compulsory preliminary activities in Semesters 1 and 2, focussing on research methodologies and project preparation.
You'll be invited to join a programming boot camp at the beginning of the degree at the University of Edinburgh. Although this is optional, we recommend that you participate.
To explore the course content in more detail, see our curriculum explorer website.
University of Edinburgh courses:
Mandatory September
- Threaded Programming
- High Performance Computing Architectures
- Message-Passing Programming
Mandatory January
- Accelerated Systems: Principles and Practice
- Performance Programming
- Machine Learning at Scale
Heriot-Watt University courses:
Mandatory September
- Optimisation & Deep Learning for Imaging and Vision I
- Foundations of Learning and Computer Vision
Mandatory January
- Graph Methods for Imaging, Vision and Computing
- Optimisation and Deep Learning for Imaging and Vision II
Fees and funding
| Status | Full Time |
|---|---|
| UK | £15,200 |
| International | £37,300 |
- Status: Your residency status is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course.
- International: 'International' includes applicants from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in UK. (This does not include students from the Republic of Ireland - see above).
Scholarships and bursaries
Alumni Discount 10%
Please note the MSc Imaging, Vision and High Performance Computing is exempt from our usual alumni discount. Instead, all Heriot-Watt and University of Edinburgh Alumni applying for this MSc will receive a 10% discount as part of your offer.
We aim to encourage well-qualified, ambitious students to study with us and we offer a wide variety of scholarships and bursaries to achieve this. Over £6 million worth of opportunities are available in fee and stipend scholarships, and more than 400 students benefit from this support.
Entry requirements
We have standard entry requirements for all of our courses that you will have to meet.
First or strong upper second-class honours degree (or its overseas equivalent) with strong competence across signal and image processing and programming (C, C++, Fortan, Java, or Python). Suitable candidates are likely to have studied a first degree in electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, or physics.
Why Heriot-Watt
We're the top university in Scotland for graduate outcomes which means that more of our graduates are employed or in postgraduate education than any other institution in the country and we ranked 5th in the UK.
We're also rated number one in the UK for CEO or MD roles, meaning more of our graduates go on to become CEOs or MDs than any other university in the whole of the UK. On top of that, we have beautiful campuses, across the globe, so you'll get a truly international education. Our Edinburgh Campus is home to Oriam, Scotland's National Sports Performance Centre combined with plenty of wellbeing resources, prioritising fitness and mental health for all students. Our Global Research Institutes look at solving real world issues such as climate change and saving our oceans as well as working on the next medical technological breakthrough and the future of AI and robots.
Student life
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