Computer Science

As the use of computers and programs continues to spread, the importance of computer science is still increasing. Switchboards, air traffic systems, ticket reservations, paper production, household electricity - none would function without computers. Computers are used when designing cars, bridges, houses, and phones. We can compute predictions about the environment, such as weather forecasts and pollution spreading in the air and water. With the internet, we can email, pay bills and buy products and services (music!).

Computers and computer science have their roots in mathematics, physics and engineering. Their methods are all used in computer science. A computer scientist can formulate hypotheses and prove them mathematically or by experiments. We design, construct and improve computers and programs. We use mathematical models and use computers to make calculations on them. Experiments that are impossible or too expensive to conduct in reality can be run as computer simulations. But nowadays computers are everywhere in society and have a direct impact on all people's lives. Today computer science also includes questions and uses humanities and social sciences methods. Examples are questions about security and personal integrity, how computers affect the work environment and our minds, legal issues such as ownership of information, etc.

Computer Science in Uppsala is taught by the department of Information Technology on campus with state-of-the-art equipment in a pleasant environment. We combine research and teaching in many areas of computer science, for example, human-computer interaction, image analysis and machine learning. Teaching includes all the basics of computer science as well as several application areas.