Computer Science

Description of the Study Program

Computer science is the study of information processing, focused on design of methods for automated information processing  using computers, development of information and computer systems. Nowadays we can hardly find an area of human activity, which can exist without computers and modern information and communication technologies. Comenius University was the birthplace of the first university program in computer science in former Czechoslovakia.  The program was created in the early seventies of the previous century and has substantially contributed to the development of computer science education in Czechoslovakia. Although almost every university in Slovakia offers a computer science program today and also the original computer science program at our faculty underwent many substantial changes, it still preserves the features that make it unique. 

We have designed the bachelor program to enable its graduates to meet the growing requirements of the scientific, technological and social development. The theoretical basis of the study provides the graduates knowledge with long-term validity and shapes their way of thinking (exactness and the ability of abstraction). The core of the study program is supported by subjects, which allow a more detailed specialization in a chosen area of computer science, either with the aim of starting their professional careers after completing the bachelor degree or they can continue in the chosen specialization in the master program. 

The specific features of the bachelor's study program in Computer Science include:

• The connection between theory and practice, which allows to understand the essence of complex problems, to be able to determine whether they are solvable, to be able to find efficient methods of solving  them; to know current technologies, and to be able to choose the most suitable ones for the implementation of proposed solutions.
• An emphasis on independent work, on mastering effective study methods prepares students for expanding their education through self-study throught their careers.
• A tight link between the bachelor and master program in computer science: Since most graduates of the bachelor's study in computer science continue with the master's study, the two programs are closely connected. The bachelor's program, in addition to the theoretical foundation and the foundations of the specialisations that are developed in the master's study, also offers a number of practically oriented subjects for those students who want to immediately find employment after completing it. The master's program provides the possibility of a deeper study of the chosen specialisation, as well as gaining a broader perspective in other areas of computer science. We currently offer the following specialisations: Computer Security, Bioinformatics and Machine Learning, Programming and Information Systems, Theoretical Computer Science, Data Science.
• Flexibility of the content and forms of study: in the study program, we constantly innovate the content of individual subjects, adding new elective lectures and gradually introducing new specialisations. The program in higher years contains fewer compulsory subjects and gives students more options to choose a specialisation and create an individual study plan by choosing subjects.
• Linking teaching and industry: experts from industry participate in the teaching (leading lectures, projects and bachelor's theses) and, conversely, our students gain practical experience by working in companies (including Google and Eset).
• International compatibility of the studies: upper year students successfully apply for study abroad and participate in international student mobility and internships in international companies.

What to Expect

Compulsory courses are concentrated in the first two years of study and completed by a state exam at the beginning of the third year. The rest of the study, i.e. approx. 40%, is selected by individual students from the available compulsory elective and elective courses in order to prepare for a selected specialisation within the Master's study or to expand their practical skills. We constantly update the list of electives to provide a timely response to technological progress and adapt the study to job requirements.

In the third year of bachelor's studies, we offer the fundamentals of specialisations in programming and information systems, information security, bioinformatics, theoretical computer science and computer graphics.

Final Thesis

The aim of the study is to prepare graduates for independent problem solving. The students use their knowledge and skills already during their studies within their two-term projects, but especially when working on the final bachelor's thesis. The two-term projects are focused mainly on development of smaller software applications, which allow students to enhance their knowledge of programming, software engineering, but also specific programming systems. In many cases, bachelor's theses extend these projects. In addition to solving a computer science problem, the bachelor's thesis also emphasises working with technical literature, presenting the results, analysis of the problem, justification of the proposed solution and development of documentation for the developed software. Some bachelor's theses are devoted to solutions of some interesting theoretical problems.

Examples of successful final theses of our students:

• Modification of a process code at runtime (Samuel Čavoj, 2022) 
• Experimental application for Ledger Nano S hardware wallet (Daniel Oravec, 2022)
• Potláčania hrán v kubických grafoch (Matúš Zubčák, 2022) 
• Generic JavaScript-to-WebAssembly wrapper (Eva Herencsárová, 2021) 
• Material picker: Material recognition in images using deep learning (Filip Jurčák, 2021) 
• Supplementary Information and Nondeterministic Finite Automata(Martin Pašen, 2021) 

Graduates' Career Opportunities

Our graduates work in well-known global IT companies, such as Google, Facebook, ESET, and Accenture, but also in local start-ups developing web and mobile applications. Graduates of our study program are also in great demand in various industries, in banking and insurance sectors, transport, healthcare, education and public service.

After completing the bachelor's degree in computer science, graduates are able to independently create small and medium-scale software applications and participate in development of large systems. They are also able to perform other tasks related to information technology, such as selecting suitable hardware and software for the needs of the employing institution, installing, configuring and managing complex software and information and communication systems. They gained a deep understanding of complex information and communication systems; they understand not only the theoretical foundations of the field, but also how the theory is used in practice. The solid foundations, abstract thinking ability and self-study skills allow them to keep up with later developments in computer science. The study program is characterised by considerable flexibility, which allows students to fulfil their individual needs and ideas. Thanks to this variability, it is possible to prepare graduates capable of finding employment immediately after graduation, although most graduates choose the option of continuing their master's degree in computer science at our faculty or at prestigious foreign universities.