Department of Computer Science
Rules and guidelines
In connection with admission to master’s programmes, please be aware that admission to a master’s programme requires a fully passed and qualifying bachelor’s programme before September 1.
If you have not passed a bachelor’s programme before September 1 and need to pass a number of ECTS credits to complete it, the study board can deviate from this rule by approving an application for an exemption.
An application for an exemption can be approved if special circumstances apply, and if the university estimates that you have the prerequisites to finish and pass the bachelor’s programme meanwhile following courses at the master’s programme. In that case, you can only pass courses and exams to an extent of 30 ECTS credits on the master’s programme, meanwhile being registered on the bachelor’s programme and finishing it.
You can find the Department of Computer Science rules for admission, the template for exemption and the agreement about preparation for re-examination below:
APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION
The Department of Computer Science's rules for admission for bachelor's students on master's modules via exemption
Application for exemption for admission on a qualified master’s programme
Agreement about preparation for a re-examination.
Please be aware that you will not officially be admitted to the master’s programme before you have passed the bachelor’s programme. This will also affect your study grant (SU). Read more about this here.
At the Department of Computer Science, we follow a code of conduct.
See also AAU’s Code of Conduct.
Read the CS code of conduct
Read the AAU code of conduct
A credit transfer is when a student is exempted from exams/parts of a study programme. Credit transfer can be relevant to individuals who have already completed parts of or an entire Danish or foreign higher education programme, or if you consider studying abroad you should investigate the rules for credit transfer
If you want to know more about the rules for credit transfer in relation to a specific study programme, you should contact study board secretary Mette Kaufmann Andersen.
Here you will find the rules for credit transfer at Aalborg University
Rules for credit transfer (in Danish)
Rules for credit transfer (in English)
Apply for pre-approval of credit transfer by sending an email to cs-sn@aau.dk
Information on disciplinary rules can be found here.
In Danish
In English
Further information about the procedure for applying for equipment is available from the link below:
GENERAL RULES
- Examination guidelines for students - in short (Danish version) (English version)
- Rules for submitting project documentation (Danish version) (English version)
- Digital exam for students (Danish version) (English version)
- Information for CS examiners on plagiarism (English version)
- Rules for ITX Flex in written exams (Danish version) (English version)
- Exam policies and procedures (Danish version) (English version)
- Guide to project exams (Danish version) (English version)
- Project exams how is it done? (Danish version)
- AAU rules for plagiarism (Danish version) (English version)
- Rules for complaints (Danish version) (English version)
- All exam rules handled by Study Service at AAU (Danish version)
- Linux and written exams
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and exams
ONLINE EXAMS
An exemption is a deviation from ordinary rules and is only granted in extraordinary cases (e.g. illness).
Here you can find the general AAU rules for exemptions in Danish and English.
Below you find the local CS rules regarding exemptions
You can apply for an exemption in the following cases: 4th and 5th exam attempt, the first year examination, registration for teaching activities (30 new ECTS credits each semester), deadline for hand-in of project reports and theses, admission to master’s programmes.
When applying for an exemption always contact the relevant study board secretary.
Applications for the study board must include:
- Applicant’s name, address and student no.
- An updated study journal from STADS.
- An exact description of what is applied for.
- Explanation of why it is necessary to apply for a dispensation (e.g. explain why you did not pass an exam in the earlier attempts and what went wrong).
- Make it probable that an exemption actually solves the problem (e.g. in your opinion can you pass the exam in a 4th attempt?). You might also attach a statement from the teacher.
Send your application for exemption to cs-sn@aau.dk
Always remember to attach documentation if possible, including a medical statement for illness or similar. If the application is insufficient, it will be returned with indication of what is missing.
Please note that in order for a medical statement to be approved by the study board it must include an actual assessment from the doctor and not a statement from the student about his/her illness. The student must consult the doctor on the actual examination day in order for the medical statement to count as proper grounds for not going to the exam.
- Guide medical statement (Danish version)
- Guide medical statement (English version)
4TH EXAM ATTEMPT
The student has the right to register for an exam three times. The study board can grant exemption for a 4th exam attempt, if extraordinary conditions exist that can be substantiated.
In connection with applications for exemption for a 4th exam attempt the study board takes into account that the student has made an action plan in cooperation with the study board’s student counsellor and follows the course for the second time. The latter is not a requirement, but carries substantial weight when the study board makes its decision of whether or not to grant the exemption. The study board will ask for documentation for participation in the course lectures in the form of verification from the teacher or the student can present a collection of tasks.
Application for the 4th exam attempt must include:
- Explanation of the conditions resulting in the failure to pass the exam in the third attempt.
- Explanation of how the conditions have changed.
- A signed plan of action and explanation of deviations. The plan of action is signed by one of the study board’s student counsellors, who will also help prepare the application for exemption.
- Argument for passing the exam in a 4th attempt.
- Documentation for the participation in the course the second time (verification from the teacher or presentation of a collection of tasks)
5TH EXAM ATTEMPT
Applications for an exemption for the 5th exam attempt follow the same rules as for the 4th attempt. An exemption for the 5th attempt can only be granted if special, severe and unusual conditions apply and can be documented.
FIRST YEAR EXAMINATION
Failure to comply with the rules on the first year exam means that the student's enrollment must be terminated.
The first year examination consist of two requirements: the requirement to take the exam and the requirement to pass the exam
Requirement to take the exam: By the end of the first year of study in the professional bachelor’s and bachelor's programmes, students must take, i.e., obtain an assessment (pass/fail or a grade according to the 7-point grading scale) in all exams.
Requirement to pass the exam: The student must pass all exams in the first and second semesters before the end of the second year of study after the start of the first semester, i.e. within 24 months. “The 24 months rule” cannot be postponed because of a change of study programme. Prior registrations are included in the 24 months.
Upon application, the study board may grant an exemption from the above if there are exceptional circumstances.
REGISTRATION FOR TEACHING ACTIVITIES
The student must register for teaching activities equivalent to 30 new ECTS credits before the beginning of the semester.
Upon application, the study board may grant an exemption from the above if there are exceptional circumstances.
DEADLINE FOR HAND-IN OF PROJECT REPORTS AND THESES
At the beginning of the semester deadlines for hand-in of project reports are set by the semester group. Deadlines are set in such a way that exams can be finished before the closing of the semester, which is normally by the end of January and June.
In order to participate in the exam you must comply with the deadline, and you must apply for an exemption if you cannot hand in on time. An exemption from the deadline is only granted in special cases such as illness for a longer period of time and it must be documented.
The application for a deadline extension must be submitted no later than 2 weeks prior to the original hand-in date.
ADMISSION FOR THE MASTER'S PROGRAMME
If you wish to sign up for courses and exams in a master’s programme before you have passed your bachelor’s programme, you must send an application for an exemption. No specific form is available for this.
Read more about exemption for admission on a master’s programme:
SPECIAL CONDITIONS FOR EXAMS
If needed you can apply for e.g 25% extra time for exams or maybe different forms of supporting tools (e.g from SPS office), need for privacy or exemption from the registration procedure for the exam day.
Please read chapter 3.4 in examination policies and procedures about special conditions (Danish Version) (English Version).
You must send your application to the study board once each semester (at the beginning of the semester) in connection with the exam registration.
If exemption is given the study board will inform the study secretary who will see to the practical preparations including informing relevant persons including the examiner. The student will be informed directly by the study board of the answer to his/her application.
The thesis concludes the master’s study programme. As a rule, all students write a thesis worth 30 ECTS credits (short). The study board can grant an exemption from this rule and allow theses up to 60 ECTS credits (long), which take two semesters.
Starting time
- For students who started their master’s study programme in a fall semester the starting time for the thesis project is February 1 (short) or September 1 (long).
- For students who started their master’s study programme in a spring semester the starting time for the thesis project is September 1 (short) or February 1 (long).
- The study board can (upon written application) grant exemption for other starting times.
Submission time
- Start February 1: No later than beginning of June (short) or beginning of November (long).
Start September 1: No later than beginning of January (short) or beginning of June (long). - The study board will determine the exact deadline for submission.
NB: See below information regarding failure to meet the submission deadline.
Thesis contract
- The thesis supervisor and the head of studies must approve a proposal for the master’s thesis as stated in a thesis contract.
- The thesis contract must be signed by the thesis supervisor and sent to the study secretary no later than one month after the starting time of the thesis project; i.e., normally October 1 or March 1.
- The study secretary collects all thesis contracts and hands them in to the study board secretary for signature by the head of studies. You will hear more from your study secretary (via Moodle) when it is time to fill out the thesis contract.
Exemptions regarding the submission of the master's thesis
According to the ministerial regulations a master’s education must be completed within 22 months. Failure to meet the submission deadline for the master’s thesis implies a failure to pass the thesis exam. Moreover, a reformulated thesis contract and a detailed study plan must be approved, and the study board will determine a new submission deadline within an additional three months.
In case of failure to meet the new deadline, an additional failure to pass the thesis exam will be recorded and a final attempt is granted under the same conditions as for the second attempt. Applications for exemptions received later than 2 weeks before the submission deadline will normally be rejected.
Unfortunately, we occasionally experience students getting caught in plagiarism because of incorrect citation. Plagiarism (incl. self-plagiarism) is a serious matter, which can lead to expulsion from the university for a semester or more; see plagiarism.aau.dk. This short guideline describes the typical errors and how to avoid them. See also stopplagiat.nu/en/ for information about correct citation.
Error type 1: Instead of e.g. Bohr (1913) states that ”the number of electrons in an atom is deduced to be approximately equal to half the atomic weight” you write the number of electrons in an atom is deduced to be approximately equal to half the atomic weight (Bohr, 1913), where the text is copied (more or less) word-for-word from the reference without making quotation marks.
Error type 2: Copying (more or less) word-for-word from a source without stating the source; which means that you amplify error type 1 by only writing e.g. the number of electrons in an atom is deduced to be approximately equal to half the atomic weight, without stating (Bohr, 1913).
For both types of errors, the reader is left with the clear impression that the formulation is one’s own, which is a serious violation of the rules of plagiarism.
It should be emphasized that copying one’s own material (e.g. from an earlier project report) without correct citation (self-plagiarism) is considered just as seriously as plagiarizing the work of others.
If you wish to repeat a formulation from a source, it must be clearly stated that the formulation is not one’s own; e.g. by putting quotation marks around the copied text and clearly state the source, from where the text is derived.
It is also considered plagiarism if a formulation is made by replacing or swapping single words in a formulation from a source or if you translate the formulation from one language to another.
In other words, all formulations in one’s written work that do not consist of clearly stated citations from clearly marked sources must entirely be one’s own, unique formulations.
The joint programme regulations are available here.
Info about SPS (Special Pedagogical Support) at Aalborg University can be seen here.
LOCAL SPS TEACHERS ARE:
Daniel Russo (KBH)
Johannes Bjerva (KBH)
Nicolaj Brodersen Hansen (HCC)
Falke Bjernemose Øtker Carlsen (DEIS)
Tem Frank Andersen (HUM, BAIT)
Martin Kristjansen (DEIS)
Marco Antonio Muniz Rodriguez (DEIS)
Helena Bøjer Djernæs (HCC)
Daniele Toller (DEIS)
Asger Horn Brorholt (DEIS)
Orla Pedersen
Levs Gondelmans (KBH)
Students can apply for full or partial funding of student trips. The application for funding must be addressed to the study board and the student trip must be academically relevant for the student’ s study programme.
The following principles apply for the handling of applications:
- Student trips are primarily granted to students who have completed no less than two semesters of a given study programme under the study board.
- Domestic travelling may be fully granted whereas travelling abroad can be partially funded.
- Funding applications covering multiple participants can normally only be partially funded.
- Students who have not received funding previously are first priority compared to students who have received grants before.
The applications for funding are administered by the chairman of the study board and the study board secretary. The head of studies can be involved in special cases.
Students that are studying abroad for a semester (with transfer of credits) can get a grant and students who's articles are accepted at a scientific conference can be financially supported in connection with the participation in the conference.
See the policy for funding here (Danish version)
The following procedure must be followed when applying
The application must be sent to the study board prior to the student trip. Please send an email to cs-sn@cs.aau.dk if you wish to apply for funding:
Steps:
- The application must be sent to the study board prior to the student trip.
- The application must include information about date(s), campus name, study programme title and semester, name of semester coordinator, project supervisor or teacher. Furthermore, the purpose of the student trip must be stated. A budget describing the way of transportation, train, car etc. must be enclosed. In addition, a recommendation from the supervisor verifying the academic relevance of the student trip must be enclosed.
- The application must be sent to the study board secretary, when the semester coordinator, project supervisor or teacher has approved your application.
- After the student trip a travel expense sheet must be handed in to the study board secretary.
Please note that applications received after the student trip have taken place will be rejected. In this case, the student trip is on the students own account.
As student at Aalborg University you have good opportunities for going abroad as part of your study programme.
The first step in the process of preparing a stay at a university abroad is to investigate, where you wish to study. There are several ways to study abroad: via cooperation agreements, Erasmus agreements, outside cooperation agreements.
You can search in the cooperation agreements on The International Office database. At the webpage of the International Office you can also find guides and information about going abroad via Erasmus agreements and outside cooperation agreements. As for the latter you can contact your supervisor who often has contacts at universities abroad and in this way investigate if there is a possibility for a stay at a university. You can also seek guidance at the study board or the study counsellor.
Please also find info about the specialisation coordinators on the 9th semester here:
SPECIALISATION COORDINATORS
- Jiri Srba: SV
- René Rydhof Hansen: DS
- Manfred Jaeger: MI
- Bent Thomsen: PT
- Simonas Saltenis: DT
- John S. Persson, Anders Bruun and Henning Pohl: HCi og SD
CREDIT TRANSFER AND PRE-APPROVAL OF CREDIT TRANSFER
If you wish to study at a university abroad you must apply for pre-approval of the study board in due time for the courses you have chosen. Pre-approval means that the study board approves that the stay at the university would replace parts of your normal course of study. Pre-approval for spring semesters must be approved by the study board before October 1 and for fall semesters before April 1.
When you return from the trip abroad you must apply for credit transfer for the study abroad at your study board. In the application you must document the study activities abroad.
Please send your application to cs-sn@cs.aau.dk.
In the application please state your studyprogramme, semester, study no. Apart from that the name of the institution you plan to study at, and the study elements and number of ECTS you plan to take.
See also the study board's procedure for sending out students abroad: Policy for sending out students abroad
FUNDING
Students that are studying abroad for a semester (with transfer of credits) can get a grant from the study board. See the policy for funding (Danish version) and the procedure for applying under the item: "Student trips".
OTHER RELEVANT LINKS
Each year the student representatives of the study board nominates a candidate for the ”Teacher of the Year” at the study board. On this page you can find the procedure used at the Department of Computer Science, which follows the procedure for the Teacher of the Year used at the TECH faculty.
The target group for this procedure is the study board, vice chairman of the study board, study secretaries and semester coordinators.
PROCEDURE
March
- The procedure starts in the beginning of March, preparation of documents mail to students, questionnaire etc.
April
- The vice chairman of the study board contacts all students via mail and/or knocks on doors (experience has shown that knocking on doors is extremely effective).
- The students begin to send nominations.
May
- Deadline for the nomination is end of May.
Juni
- The students of the study board go through the received nominations.
- The study board appoints the Teacher of the Year and informs the teacher accordingly.
September
- The Teacher of the Year is celebrated at a party (could be graduation party or at the semester start event). All students, nominated teachers, and other relevant persons are invited to the party.
- At the party the vice chairman of the study board hands over the prize. In this connection, all the nominated teachers are mentioned.
October
- The vice chairman is called in for a meeting about the celebration of the Faculty’s Teacher of the Year.
February
- The Faculty’s Teacher of the Year is celebrated at a shared event for graduates at Winther exams.
April
- The Teacher of the Year is celebrated at the university’s yearly party in April.
Rules regarding project work
1. BACKGROUND
Group formation processes are an essential part of the project based learning approach at AAU, and these processes greatly influence the students’ wellbeing and learning in the project work. Usually, the group formations are carried out without problems, but for some students the group formation process can be experienced as problematic, chaotic and sometimes unpleasant and associated with exclusion.
A number of different stakeholders with varying levels of interest are involved in the group formation process. The most important stakeholders are the students, the semester coordinators, who are overall responsible for the processes, and the university in general (academic/pedagogical/didactic).
Below you will find the principles and tools associated with the group formation process.
2. OVERALL PRINCIPLES
Overall, group formations can vary from the entirely administrative groups where the university takes full responsibility (for example P0) to processes that are partly managed by students. Despite the different attitudes to and wishes for group formations a number of conditions can be agreed upon:
- As a starting point it is a good principle that no group is closed until all students have been assigned to a group.
- Especially at the first semesters of the study programmes conditions could call for more controlled group formation processes (for instance administratively formed groups).
- At semesters with international students distribution of nationalities/international students in different groups is as a starting point desirable.
- Generally, students learn different things by working in different groups, and for this reason this must be attempted.
- The semester coordinators must be in a position to change and adjust the group formation processes as variations between different study programmes and semesters will exist.
- Coordination between semester coordinators should be established in order to enable an exchange of experiences from previous semesters in terms of group formation and the group work in general.
It may be desirable with certain semesters that ’break’ with the normal group formation processes controlled by students in order to secure that students are not always working with the same group.
This can for instance be done through different semester structures, other working methods than the ‘AAU project’, varying group sizes or new group formation processes.
3. GROUP SIZES
The department has decided the following policy for number of students in a group:
1-3. semester: 7 students
4-5. semester: 6 students
6. semester: 4 students*
7-8. semester 6 students
9. semester: max 6 students
10. semester: max 3 students*
*On bachelor’s and the thesis semester it is possible to write the project alone.
If the number of students on a semester does not equal the group size, there will be one or more groups that are smaller. However, it is not possible to form more groups than what fits with the allocated supervisors.
Application for exemption to a higher number of students per group must be sent to the study board with a valid explanation and approval by the supervisor. Generally, the frames for group sizes, splitting of groups are decided by the Head of Studies.
4. GROUP FORMATION
In principle, group formation in most semesters is a process that involves the students and is facilitated by the semester coordinator.
It is ultimately the semester coordinator who has the responsibility and control over the group formation and the final groups.
In the first semester of the master's programmes (that admit students, where some of the students come directly from the qualifying bachelor's programme, while the rest of the students come from outside) there may be interest in forming mixed groups, so that both AAU bachelors and students from other institutions are represented in each group. This may also apply to master's programmes that admit international students.
There may be a desire from the education to form new groups. Here, rules can be set for how many group members from the previous semester group are allowed in a new group.
5. ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP FORMATION
In some cases it may be an advantage to form the groups administratively. This is typically the case on the first semester of a study programme where the students do not know each other.
By administrative group formation the groups can either be composed randomly, or they can be formed based on personality tests, educational background or choice of subject.
6. SPLITTING OF A PROJECT GROUP
As a last resort a group of students can be split-UP if the collaboration does not work after active involvement by the project supervisor. The rules for splitting project groups can be found under rules and guidelines “splitting project groups”.
Students can spend one semester on project-oriented work in a company during their master's programme. Preferably, project-oriented work should be completed during the third semester of the master's programme.
You will find guidelines and the agreement forms here:
- Guidelines (Danish version) (English version)
- Agreement form (Danish version) (English version)
- Student evaluation form (Danish version) (English version)
- Company evaluation form (Danish version) (English version)
You can get more information about NDA's at the webpage of Grants & Contracts.
For students who make their semester project in collaboration with an external partner it might be relevant to sign an NDA and/or an IPR agreement imposing secrecy of information received from the external partner and governing the rights to ideas, designs, solutions etc. (intellectual property) generated in the project.
There are basically two types of agreements:
- Agreements signed by the company, the student(s), the project supervisor and the (deputy) head of department
- Agreements signed only by the company and the student(s)
Type 1: Some companies have their own templates for such agreements, where AAU employees (project supervisor and (deputy) head of department) must also sign; see the SharePoint site by the Grants & Contracts unit at AAU Innovation for a list of these templates.
Type 2: The Grants & Contracts unit have standard templates that can be used for agreements with other companies. If the company wishes to use its own template and to have AAU employees sign the agreement (i.e., have their template included in the abovementioned list), the Grants & Contracts unit must be contacted at kontrakt@adm.aau.dk to ensure that the template is in accordance with requirements for agreements signed by AAU employees.
Other points to pay attention to:
- Students working on a semester project that is associated with a research project must agree to the same terms as the other partners of the research project. The Grants & Contracts unit has special templates for agreements that can be used.
- Students working with data from the university must agree to special data treatment agreements if the data contain personal information.
In both cases, please contact the Grants & Contracts unit at kontrakt@adm.aau.dk.
The students in a project group can stop working together and split into smaller groups after active involvement of the project supervisor as described below in section 1.
Resources for supervising a group are allocated proportionally with the number of students; therefore, the extent of supervising the new groups will be reduced accordingly.
In particular, students who wish to make individual projects should be aware that the number of supervising hours will be very limited (about 5-7 hours during the semester, and a group room is not a guarantee)
The following rules apply when students wish to split a project group:
- The group’s supervisor should be involved actively in the process and asked for advice in order to solve disagreements before splitting the group. The supervisor should also receive copies of written warnings the project group may have sent to the student(s) about to be expelled from the group (See #7). The semester coordinator, chairman of the study board and the head of school will only be involved under special circumstances.
- Splitting groups is not allowed within the last 4 weeks before handing in project report.
- The study secretariat must be informed about a group split.
- All students in the group are equally entitled to material (documents, prototypes, test setup, etc.,) existing at the time of splitting the group. This means that the material can be taken out of the group.
- Material brought by student(s) who chose to leave a group or who are expelled by a group cannot be used by or given to other students in a new group. This material is considered as the student’s own material – and cannot be used in project work with a new group or be given to other students.
- When splitting a group, the remaining supervising hours will be divided between the remaining group and the student(s) who leave or are expelled from the group. There will be no extra supervision.
- Prior to excluding one or more members of a group, the excluded student(s) must have received a written warning from the remaining group and the student(s) must have failed to comply with the restorative demands outlined in the letter. The letter describing the restorative demands must include a time frame. Immediately after the end of the time frame (which must be scheduled before the deadline for splitting groups (See #2)), the remaining group and the supervisor must determine whether the demands have been met.
Contact
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact:
Diana P. Frank
dpf@cs.aau.dk
Phone no.: 99 40 72 28