You can find the official description and rules for the Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Masters here.

The site can unfortunately be a little challenging to navigate, so a few quick links follow:

  • You can find the most recent rules here, which apply if you have been admitted September 2024 or later.
  • You can find the admitted 2023 or later rules here. These apply if you have been admitted September 2023 or February 2024. Note that there are no longer a distinction between general competence and technology specialisation courses; the equivalent of these are now called mandatory/core program specific courses and (other) program specific courses.
  • If you have been admitted prior to this date, you need to look at the updated admitted before 2023 rules here. These rules still refer to general competence and technology specialisation courses.
  • If you’re admitted prior September 2022, the rules that were in effect are here. You can still follow these rules. If you cannot for some reasons, you need to reach out to me in order to evaluate to which degree you could be allowed to follow the updated admitted before 2023 rules.
  • You can also find an updated description of the Focus Areas. These are suggestions; you can in principle mix-and-match as long as you adhere to the overall curriculum rules (2023 or later, before 2023) which applies to all students. Note that the “core courses” in the Focus Area are not the same as core program specific courses. Make sure you always check your study plan against the official curriculum.
  • If your focus is in Data Science, you may additionally consider having a look at the Data Science / Big Data Programme. This is an additional set of requirements, and they are interpreted strictly, unlike the Focus Areas. You may, however, still focus on data science and follow the suggested courses from the Focus Areas without aiming for the Data Science / Big Data Programme – you just won’t be eligible for an extra diploma.

If you’re looking for a brief overview of the eduction and some examples of what it’s all about, have a look at the the presentation I normally give to new welcome new students. Note that this likely requires you to be logged in with your DTU account.

Need Advice?

If you’re a current (or prospective) H-CAI student and need advice or want to discuss anything related to the study with me, you are welcome to contact me. See Office Hours for how best to get in contact with me.

You can read more about my “open door policy” (you are always welcome to drop by my office to see if I have time to talk). There are also details on how best to reach me by mail or phone.

In particular, use this link to send email to me regarding H-CAI (and keep the “H-CAI: " first in the subject line, but add your topic after that).

FAQ

Study Plan FAQ

Q: I’ve had some mandatory/core/PS course(s) on my BSc, what should I do?

A: As you’re not allowed to take the course(s) again, you instead need to take other Program Specific courses on your MSc. You still need in total 120 ECTS and you also need to make sure you have at least 60 ECTS in the mandatory, core Program Specific and other Program Specific categories.

Thus, you will NOT be allowed to take more elective courses. You can have at most 30 ECTS elective courses and your elective courses and your MSc thesis together can be at most 60 ECTS.

As an example, if you’ve had 02450 Intro to Machine Learning (5 ECTS) on your BSc, you will then have to take 5 ECTS extra in the Program Specific category. You still need to take the other mandatory courses, of course.

If this applies to you, you will generally need an approval from your Head of Study and then mail the study administration (with the approval) and ask to have the request to take the specific course(s) waived, and instead increase the requirements for the program specific categories.

This also applies if you have taken a core Program Specific course and wish to take a course from the other Program Specific category.

The specific rules in the study handbook says the following:

Students who have completed MSc courses on their Beng or BSc programme MSc students who, as part of their qualifying BEng or BSc education, have passed a course corresponding to courses in either the general competence group or the technological specialization group for the MSc programme must take a different course that contributes to the overall learning outcomes of the programme in question. That also applies if the student otherwise has acquired academic knowledge and competencies.

DTU courses If the course belongs to the general competence group, students must choose a different course from the general competence group (GC) or the technological specialization group (TS). In the latter case, students must contact the Study Administration via studadm@adm.dtu.dk. An approval from the head of studies must be attached, after which the student can take a TS-course instead of the GR-course, which the student has passed on his/her BEng or BSc programme.

If the course belongs to the technological specialization group, students must choose a different course in the technological specialization group.

Non-DTU courses If it is not possible to choose a different course in line with the above rules or if the course is not from DTU, students must obtain approval from the head of studies to take another course that supports the academic profile of the study programme. The head of studies contacts the Study Administration. When in doubt about the programme level of the course or the conversion of the credits from abroad to ECTS credits, the head of studies or the student is welcome to contact merit@adm.dtu.dk.

Q: Can I do an Internship at a Company.

A: Yes and No.

You cannot do an internship and get ECTS “just” by doing the internship

You can perhaps find a supervisor from DTU that is willing to create a special course for you. For that, you would need to have clearly defined learning objectives and an evaluation needs to be agreed – often done by writing a report and having that evaluated

Q: Can a special course count as Program Specific course.

A: In general, no.

There may be a few exeptions to this, e.g. if a new course is being started and is planned to be a Program Specific course but runs for the first time as a special course.

The supervisor or course responsible cannot decide if a course count potentially count as Program Specific. Only the Head of Study can approve this.

Master Thesis FAQ

See also Supervision and Research.

Q: How do I find a supervisor?

A: As a student, you need to find a supervisor yourself for your master thesis.

You may start by identifying topics and courses that have your particular interest, and then talk to those involved with the related research areas or courses. They may already have proposals or ideas for MSc thesis topics.

If they don’t have the capacity to supervise more students, they may be able to help you identify others you could talk to within the area.

Sending out bulk emails usually won’t get you many replies. Target your questions specifically to the ones you’d like to talk to. If you don’t get a reply (many of us get too many emails to be able to respond to within a reasonable time frame), consider if the person you’d like to have an open door policy so you can show up in office hours. Alternatively you may be able to talk to the person when you see them otherwise during e.g. course work.

You can find MSc thesis topics from the Cognitive Systems section at DTU Compute here

If you’re interested in my reseach areas or topics, have a look at my Research page.

If you want to know more about how I supervise and how to structure your proposal and eventually your thesis, you’re welcome to look at my Supervision page.

Q: Do I need to have my own idea first?

A: No, you don’ need to. It is quite common to ask professors within areas you’re interested in, or with whom you’d like to work, if they have any proposals or ideas.

You may of course also bring up ideas of your own to check if these could be MSc thesis topics. Don’t expect that any random professor will supervise your project, but most would be happy to point you in the right direction to someone that at least have the research background to do so.

As for preparing your idea, you may get some guidelines here.

Q: When should I start talking to potential supervisors?

A: Start as soon as you have an idea of which direction you’d like to go with your thesis project.

When you start your 3rd semester may be a good timing to start talking to potential supervisors.

It is quite late to show up during January for a January start; many supervisors may then already approach their capacity for supervision and you may have to spend more time finding an available supervisor.

Q: Can I write alone? Or in a group?

A: You can write your thesis alone (many students do some, although not all departments may have the capacity to allow this). You can also write your thesis as part of a group; being two is also quite common. The rules allow for up to four persons in a group.

If you make sure you can work well together with the rest of your group, you may benefit from mutually inspiring and motivating each other, and you could potentially cover a wider or deeper set of tasks.

Q: Can I have a supervisor from a company?

A: Not as your main supervisor. The study handbook clarifies that:

The main supervisor for a master’s thesis must

  • be an employee at DTU as a VIP with research obligations and one of the following job categories: assistant professor, associate professor, researcher, senior researcher, senior adviser, or professor,
  • hold a permanent position (with the exception of assistant professors and researchers)
  • have completed DTU’s course ‘Supervision of larger projects at DTU’ or similar pedagogical competence development at the university level e.g. a course in PhD supervision; for assistant professors, however, it is sufficient that one is in the process of UDTU, and
  • have in-depth knowledge of the study conditions at DTU.

For assistant professors and researchers, however, there is an additional requirement that an associate professor, senior researcher, senior adviser, or a professor (docent, ingeniørdocent or professor) must be connected to the project as co-supervisor, so that the assistant professor/researcher does not have sole responsibility for the project.

If you’re doing a thesis in connection with a company (which maybe half of our students do), then you obviously also need a company co-supervisor, but that person cannot take the role as the main supervisor.

Hence, even if you may have your thesis subject in place, you still need to find a supervisor here at DTU, who will then take care of all the paper-work.

Q: Can any scientific staff be my supervisor?

A: First, see above.

Also, the supervisor should be one that is familiar with the topic(s) of the thesis and can guide you academically; it is also stated that:

The thesis must document skills in applying scientific theories and methodologies to a clearly defined academic topic.

… so there must be a significant contribution on the scientific/academic side as well.

Q: Can I work for a company doing my thesis?

A: First, see above.

Accordingly, a thesis thus cannot be “normal work” you’re doing for a company where you e.g. already work.

Q: Can I get paid for doing a thesis?

A: Be aware that you cannot be salaried for work you’re getting your ECTS from; a company is thus not allowed to pay you a normal salary for the work that you include in your thesis.

Q: What paper-work needs to be done?

A: You typically need to prepare a description that e.g. answers 1) what problem your’re adressing, 2) what methods are planned to be used, and 3) what the expected outcome is.

Your main supervisor will take care of registering your thesis, which will then become visible to you in the admin tools once it has been approved at the institute and by the study administration.