Single-unit study
You can study individual units for personal or professional development without having to apply for a full QUT course.
If you successfully complete a unit, you may be eligible for credit if you decide to apply for a degree course in the future.
Units anyone can study
These units don’t have any requirements for previous study or background knowledge.
But if your previous studies were not in English, or were completed in a country where English is not the first language, you will need to demonstrate that you meet our English proficiency requirements when you apply.
Science
Biology and environmental science
BVB101 Foundations of Biology
Biology is the study of living things. Cells are considered the basic structural unit of life, existing in diverse forms from simple single-celled microbes to complex multicellular organisms such as plants and animals. Using collaborative approaches in workshops and the laboratory you will investigate the diverse nature of cells and consider how they are built and powered and how they interact and reproduce and form whole organisms. You will use the concepts developed in this unit to discuss more complex questions such as “are viruses alive” and “can we synthesise life”'.
BVB103 Evolution and the Diversity of Life
The famous biologist, Theodosius Dobzhansky (1973) stated that "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution". Studying evolution and biodiversity provides you with the fundamental basis for understanding biological patterns and processes from data sources spanning research from genomes to ecology and fossils. This unit provides an overview of the nature of inheritance, biological variation, natural & sexual selection and adaptation as well as the diversity of life that these processes have generated. The unit aims to equip you to be able to (1) interpret any biological observation in an evolutionary framework in fields as diverse as conservation and medical genetics and (2) recognise and classify major groups of organisms. We will introduce some key elements of Australia’s largely unique flora and fauna. As a foundational unit, knowledge and skills that you gain will be built upon in subsequent units in the biology and environmental science majors.
BVB212 Drug Action
Introduction to the classification of bioactive compounds according to the various physiological systems they influence, such as the cardiovascular system, nervous system and respiratory system. The principles of drug action will be discussed, including the concepts of drug specificity, potency and efficacy. These principles will facilitate a basic understanding of toxicology, the development drug tolerance, addiction and withdrawal. Taught in the context human and veterinary medicine, as well as the use of drugs in sport, as poisons, or as food or environmental contaminants, it complements 'Drug Discovery and Design' offered in the same semester. The way in which chemical compounds affect biological cells and systems is fundamental to the study of medicines and toxins. The pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and pesticide industries are major economic forces which offer significant employment opportunities in science.
BVB221 Nature's Pharmacy
Fundamental concepts and practical skills relevant to plant medicinal biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology. It introduces the general classes of medicinal compounds, their biosynthesis and function, their purification and analysis, and clinical applications. The unit introduces the pharmacology of specific biologically derived compounds, thereby building upon the knowledge of drug action developed in BVB212. It provides a deeper understanding of the broader technical, social, cultural, and legal challenges in the transition from discovery to application via focused evaluation of existing/emerging global health challenges. The ability to critically evaluate scientific literature, synthesise information, and write effectively is further developed in this unit. This unit develops a broad range of knowledge and practical skills of direct relevance to natural product chemistry, plant science, botany, and allied health.
BZB210 Biological Sciences
Cells are the basic structural unit of life. They exist in diverse forms from simple single-celled microbes to complex multicellular organisms such as plants and animals. In this unit you will investigate the diverse nature of cells and consider how they are built and powered and how they interact and reproduce. You will extend these foundation concepts to examine more complex problems involving molecular biology, plant and animal biology, and ecology.
CVB225 Forensic Biology and Analytical Toxicology
The extensive use of biological evidence to identify victims and offenders as well as indicate attempts to control victims prior to abuse or attack has had a significant bearing on the course of law enforcement investigations, criminal court proceedings, and victim service providers. DNA and toxicology evidence have become a highly influential piece of the crime puzzle. You will be introduced to the concepts of DNA profiling and analytical toxicology and their applications in forensic case work. You will develop the necessary skills for analysing and interpreting DNA and toxicology evidences and be introduced to the basic concepts of forensic anthropology. This learning will be through the study of the theory, hands-on practices relevant to real life scenarios as well as training on the forensic interpretation of the evidence.
EVB102 Ecosystems and the Environment
Like all other species on the planet, humans extract energy and materials from their surrounding environment and as a result of that activity, modify ecosystems. We are part of the earth's ecological systems, and our ability to understand and manage our impact on the environment must be based on a sound knowledge of ecosystems ecology. This first year unit provides an introduction to ecosystems science through a series of lectures, workshops and field work. The unit focuses on broad-scale factors that shape ecosystems, such as energy transfer, materials cycling, climate and soils and examines the ecological patterns that emerge as a result. This knowledge is then used to assess ecosystem change and human impact on the environment. This foundational unit is relevant to environmental science and biology students and those with an interest in understanding the natural science components of sustainability.
SEB104 Grand Challenges in Science
Grand Challenges in Science explores world events, problems or phenomena from a scientific perspective, discovering the many ways in which science is used and misused by practicing scientists and the public. You will understand the problems and challenges of modern scientific inquiry using a range of multidisciplinary perspectives and explore solutions focussed approaches.
SEB123 Life and the Environment: Survival of the Fittest
This unit introduces you to the study of living things, how the environment shapes their survival and in turn how living things can then shape their environments. You will engage with biological and environmental scientists in workshops and practical activities to investigate how and why organisms have adapted to survive and reproduce in different environments and the positive and negative impacts that this can have (with particular focus on Australia). By undertaking introductory experiments and activities in the field and laboratory you will develop your understanding of scientific methodologies. You will experience how traditional and modern approaches and technologies are complementary for answering important questions and for biologists and environmental scientists to make an impact.
Chemistry and physics
CVB101 General Chemistry
This foundation chemistry unit covers the core concepts and laboratory practices that we use to define the nature of atoms and the different forms of matter, to quantify chemical reactions & chemical reaction processes through the application of thermochemistry, kinetics and chemical equilibria. The understanding of these chemical concepts is essential to knowing why matter in our universe exists in specific forms and how it transforms. This knowledge is the foundation upon which the other scientific disciplines and applied disciplines are based. The knowledge and skills developed in this introductory unit are relevant to both chemistry major students and non-majors alike.
CVB102 Chemical Structure and Reactivity
Chemistry relates to all aspects of our lives. An understanding of chemistry is necessary to make sense of our world and to address the global challenges faced by our society. Together with its companion unit, CVB101 General Chemistry, this unit provides you with a foundation in the science of Chemistry. It focuses on how atoms bond to form molecules, and the models chemists use to understand molecular structure. You will learn how to predict the reactivity and properties of molecules and will get a foundational introduction to organic and biological chemistry. You will develop your ability to apply theoretical knowledge and critical thinking to solving chemical problems. You will also complete a suite of laboratory practical experiments, where you will develop professional skills in chemical manipulation, analysis, safe laboratory practices, data recording and analysis. This unit is a foundation for higher-level courses in organic chemistry, materials science and biochemistry.
CVB210 Chemical Measurement Science
The unit introduces students to the principles and methods of making quality measurements in the context of chemical analysis and calibration. Students will gain relevant 'hands-on' experience from the practical and workshop programs, which will enable them to understand the theory in the context of 'real world' examples. The practical component involves a representative examples of wet-chemical and instrumental exercises that provide an introduction to Analytical Chemistry and practical experience for students pursuing any area of Science, Health and Engineering that needs quantitative chemical measurements. Skills developed in the unit will be important for students aiming gain an understanding of the internationally-recognised quality framework for chemical testing and calibration, the ISO/IEC 17025.
CVB215 Criminalistics and Physical Evidence
This unit introduces the current technologies used by crime scene investigators to investigate crime scene and identify evidence. This unit will introduce the students to the realm of forensics and its role in criminal investigations. The student will be introduced to the fundamentals of chemical and physical sciences used for evidence collection, preservation and analysis. The unit will bring to the students hands-on experience in crime scene investigations, questioned documents and fingerprinting.
CVB216 Forensic Chemistry
Forensic Chemistry is dedicated to the screening and quantification of any substance, compound or material that may be abused or cause harm to humans, environment or infrastructure. A forensic chemist is a professional chemist who analyzes unknown substances and other forms of evidence using advanced chemical technologies. The forensics scientist uses in-depth scientific knowledge to interpret the anlysis results and arrive to correct non-biased conclusions on the evidence. In the Forensic Chemistry unit, students will gain expertise in all the major branches of chemistry (organic, inorganic, physical and especially analytical & bio-analytical) as related to forensic investigations. The analytical aspect of the course has been broadened from a more traditional chemistry focus to include modern and special types of analysis of importance to forensic science.
CVB218 Drug Discovery and Design
This unit investigates the evolution of the pharmaceutical industry, modern drug discovery methods and drug targets and explores the concept of chemical structure in relation to drug properties and drug design. The unit provides knowledge and skills at the interface between chemistry and biology relating to the drug discovery process. As the pharmaceutical industry represents a large international concern, offering many employment opportunities, and there is also significant growth in the bio-economy, dealing with bioactive molecules such as food additives and supplements, cosmetics, pesticides and other agricultural bio-chemicals, it is important for students to develop a broad appreciation of the pharmaceutical industry at large. This unit builds on foundation chemistry and biology knowledge as part of the Medicinal Chemistry and Biology minor and complements the BVB212 Drug Action unit.
CVB222 Forensic Analysis of Bio-active Compounds
This unit provides an introduction to the basics of bio-analytical methods used for the detection and identification of bio-active substances in different matrices. The methods are demonstrated to bio-active compounds that are frequently encountered in pharmaceutical, forensic, molecular diagnostics and environmental industries. The unit will introduce modern instrumental analytical platforms such as spectroscopy, chromatography, electrophoresis, nanosensors and immunoassay.
CZB191 Introductory Chemistry for Educators
An understanding of chemistry is needed to make sense of our world and to address big challenges faced by our society both in the natural and unnatural environments. This unit will provide both a theoretical and practical introduction into understanding chemical changes on a molecular level. The unit will focus broadly on topics including synthesis, analysis and quantification within chemistry while drawing on pertinent examples from materials, nanotechnology and complex biological systems.
PCB240 Optics 1
A unit in basic optics is an essential part of any course for optometrists. The eye is an optical instrument that collects and images light to provide our valuable sense of vision. It is important that we know how to quantify and measure light, and control it in lamp sources, instruments and in detector systems. This unit is specially designed to cover a range of topics relevant to optometrists exploring these aspects of light. You will solve a range of practical problems using the principles of geometrical optics, reflection and refraction from surfaces and thin lenses. The relationships between photometric quantities such as flux, intensity, illumination and luminance will be explored. How the eye perceives colour and its quantitative and qualitative determination through CIE chromaticity coordinates will be investigated. Physical optics will be used to examine monochromatic and chromatic aberrations, the wave nature of light and the occurrence of interference and diffraction.
PCN113 Radiation Physics
This unit includes the following: radioactivity and the interaction of ionising radiation with matter; applied radiation counting techniques; radiation detectors; radiation dosimetry.
PCN214 Radiation Protection
This unit covers radiation protection of humans, primarily aimed at radiation in the workplace. Topics include sources of radiation, effects of ionizing radiation on the human body, radiation protection in diagnostic radiology, and laser safety.
PCN701 Topics in Advanced Chemistry 1
The complexity of chemical systems studied in a research program and the sophistication of the modern instrumentation demand deeper theoretical understanding than that acquired in an undergraduate program. This unit provides students with the appropriate advanced level theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for the completion of their research program and for a research career in the academia and the relevant industry. The exact content of the unit depends of the nature of the research project that the student is undertaking. However, this could typically include a selection of topics such as Advanced Materials Characterisation Techniques, Advanced Chemometrics Techniques, Advanced Chemical Testing and Calibration, and Advanced Methods of Data Interpretation.
PCN801 Topics in Advanced Chemistry 2
The complexity of the chemical systems studied in a research program and the sophistication of the instrumentation used demand that deeper theoretical understanding than that acquired in an undergraduate program. The aims of this unit are to extend and deepen the theoretical and practical background required for undertaking a research program and to provide the candidate with the appropriate theoretical and practical background, at an advanced level, necessary for the completion of a research program.
PVB105 Foundations of Physics
The fundamental concepts of physics seek to describe, predict and explain phenomena at all scales from the observable universe down to subatomic particles. They underpin all the sciences. This unit introduces you to those underlying physical processes that relate to the behaviour of the world: motion, forces, energy, gravity, electricity, and special relativity, and see how they help us to also understand thermal interactions, fluid dynamics, global warming, electric and magnetic fields, electrical currents, optical instruments, space travel, the motions of the planets and to theorise about the nature, history and future of the universe itself. You will learn how to think about scientific concepts, and solve problems like a physicist. These concepts are grounded in experimental verification, and you will develop technical and reporting skills in laboratory experiments which investigate the relationships between measurable physical phenomena both individually and in teams.
PVB210 Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the application of physics and chemistry to investigate the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars, planets, nebulae and other astronomical objects in the universe. Topics presented in this unit include Indigenous astronomy, orbital mechanics, telescopes, our solar system, the planets, star formation, stellar evolution, stellar remnants, and exoplanets.
PVB220 Cosmology
Cosmology is the study of the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to the present. Topics presented include special and general relativity, the physics and geometry of space-time, inflationary cosmology, cosmic microwave background, dark energy and dark matter, supermassive black holes, gravitational waves, and the status of Australian cosmology surveys.
SEB122 Physics in the Real World
Physics describes the world around us, from the tides in the ocean to the way that objects heat up in the sunshine. Understanding basic physics provides a fundamental foundation for all of the scientific disciplines, and by learning how to think like a physicist you will understand how to approach problems systematically and analytically. This unit will enable you to identify the core physical laws required to describe a variety of real-world processes, with a particular focus on those that are relevant to other scientific disciplines. You will learn about measurement and uncertainty, motion, forces and energy, basic concepts of thermodynamics, electric and magnetic fields, electromagnetic radiation and waves, and the structure of atoms and molecules, incorporating conceptual, mathematical and practical approaches.
SEB124 Understanding Chemistry
Chemistry, the science of molecules, gives us the tools we need to make sense of the world around us. Chemistry underpins all aspects of the natural and physical world and appears in all science disciplines, including physics, biology, earth and environmental science. Therefore, this subject is designed to develop your understanding of the basic principles of chemistry and an opportunity to explore chemistry in the context of different science disciplines. This unit explores the structure of atoms, how atoms bond to form molecules, and the models chemists use to understand molecular structure, including an understanding of isomers. This knowledge is then applied to understand how chemical bonding and intermolecular forces work together to influence properties of macromolecules and materials. Through the practical aspects of this unit, you will develop professional skills in chemical manipulation, safe and sustainable laboratory practices, data recording and analysis.
Computer science
ENN523 Advanced Network Engineering
This is an advanced-level networks unit highlighting the systems approach and top-down method for service-oriented planning and design of large-scale computer networks. It introduces the theory and methodology to assemble various network technologies in a cohesive fashion for network planning and design to address the connectivity, scalability, reliability, security, quality-of-service, cloud data centres, and other recent developments of networks. Computer networks have become an integrated part of the fundamental infrastructure in modern industries and societies. Building new networks or upgrading existing networks requires a deep understanding of the concepts and principles of advanced network engineering and particularly network architecture. This advanced network engineering unit helps develop such a deep understanding. The knowledge and skills developed from this unit are relevant to networks and cybersecurity, and other related majors.
ENN524 Mobile Network Engineering
Wireless communications, mobile networks and Internet of Things have been widely deployed and integrated into various mobile platforms for value-added services. This unit highlights the recent advances in wireless local area and wireless wide area networks, vehicular networks and Internet of Things with focus on basic principles, selected standards and protocols. The unit also provides an overview for mobile satellite systems and navigation satellite systems and applications
IFB102 Introduction to Computer Systems
This is an introductory computer science unit concerning computer systems, in particular how modern computer systems work, how they are structured, and how they operate. Computer systems are ubiquitous and yet they are unlike any other man-made product or system; they appear magical and are notoriously difficult to work with and manage in projects. This unit’s goal is to demystify computer systems so students can appreciate, understand and utilise computer systems in their subsequent learning, and effectively participate in the IT industry. Students will study computers, networks, operating systems and the Web. Raspberry Pi computers will be used throughout the unit and at the end students will build their own small computer system using a Raspberry Pi.
IFB104 Building IT Systems
This unit provides a hands-on introduction to computer programming for students with no prior coding experience at all. It introduces the basic principles of programming in a typical imperative language, including expressions, assignment, functions, choice and iteration. It then shows how to use Application Programming Interfaces to complete common Information Technology tasks such as querying databases, creating user interfaces, and searching for patterns in large datasets. The emphasis is on developing skills through practice, so the unit includes numerous coding exercises and assignments, using a simple scripting language and code development environment. The unit establishes a foundation for later subjects that teach large-scale software development using industrial-strength programming languages.
IFB240 Cyber Security
Cybersecurity breaches, from database hacking to malware campaigns, are increasing. The interconnectedness of information systems means the actions of individuals impact many others. This unit is important in developing an understanding of the challenges involved in protecting information assets, introducing fundamental information security concepts. Security goals including confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication and non-repudiation are defined. Threats to information and vulnerabilities that could be exploited are identified. Technical and non-technical measures to provide security for information are discussed in areas including access control, cryptography, and network communications. Security management standards and guidelines on best practice implementation are reviewed. You can take this unit as a stand-alone course to raise your information security awareness, or as a pathway into information security units, including network security and cryptography.
IFN507 Network Systems
This unit introduces the core concepts of computer networks and the Internet, in particular layered network architecture and models, hardware and software, TCP/IP protocol stack, addressing and routing, wireless networks, network security, and network services and applications. It teaches you how modern computer networks and the Internet work, how they are structured, and how they operate. The ability to understand, analyse, design, configure and manage computer networks and network services is a requirement for a range of graduate entry information technology positions. The unit provides the necessary knowledge and skills for further study in networks, cyber security, computer science and other relevant areas. Other advanced-level networks and cyber security units build on this unit by extending your fundamental understanding of computer networks for more complex needs and various network application requirements.
IFN551 Computer Systems Fundamentals
This unit introduces the core concepts of a computer system, in particular how modern computer systems work, how they are structured, and how they operate. You will work with simulation software that allows you will build your own small computer system. The unit teaches you how to work effectively with modern computer environments and gain sufficient knowledge to be able to adapt to the evolution of computer systems in the future. The unit provides the necessary knowledge and skills for further study in areas such as networking, security, data science and software development.
IFN555 Introduction to Programming
This unit is designed for those who have never programmed before. It introduces the basic building blocks of algorithms: sequence, selection and iteration and how algorithmic thinking is used to decompose problems into simpler steps. The C# language is used for expressing those steps in a programming language. It introduces an imperative style of programming in which a sequence of statements change the program’s state. The program’s state consists of a set of variables that contain data of various types. We introduce basic data types including numbers, text strings and lists. Students are also introduced to processes for debugging and testing programs to ensure their correctness and the forms of professional communication associated with software development.
Earth and atmospheric sciences
CLB100 Global Change
In CLB100, you will discover how the Earth has undergone natural global change and how this compares to anthropogenic change of the planet. The three key aims of the unit are: i) to focus on climatic and global change of the last 3 million years; ii) to then put this into the context of the Earth’s long planetary history; and finally, iii) to develop a sound appreciation of the close relationship between human evolution and global change. You will gain new appreciation of diverse perspectives and inclusion by learning about how different cultures have recorded past global change. In conclusion, the unit will let your discover how past planetary change can be used to inform models predicting future climate: the past is the key to the future.
CLB221 Introduction to Climate Change
This unit is designed to offer science, engineering and other students an opportunity to understand fundamentals of climate and climate change together with sustainable development efforts related to clean energy technologies. It provides students with an overview of global climate and climate change drivers, meteorological parameters and global air circulation, as well as an overview of technological pathways towards low carbon society. Students will explore global energy balance and climate change through an investigation of (i) Energy related environmental problems on local and global scale; (ii) Earth's climate, meteorology and transport of pollutants in the atmosphere; (iii) Working principles in selected conventional and alternative energy technologies to reduce energy related environmental consequences.
CLB222 Oceans and Atmosphere
Oceans make up 70% of the Earth's surface, yet less than 5% of them have been explored. There is therefore still much to learn about the marine environment, marine resources, and management, and how oceans affect atmospheric circulation. This unit takes a bottom-up approach introducing students to the major geological processes and geomorphology features that shape the ocean floor, dynamic sediments, and biology that are sourced and distributed by ocean currents and chemistry, followed by an overview of the factors governing ocean circulation and ocean water properties and finally looking at how oceans affect atmospheric circulation and climate. The interaction of all these processes has a direct societal impact such as the management of marine resources, including the cultural narratives of the Great Barrier Reef, infrastructure and food security, and risk mitigation of natural hazards, weather patterns, and climate change.
CLB331 Natural Hazards
In CLB331 we will focus on the Science of Natural Hazards. By understanding the conditions and processes that lead to, and cause, severity of natural processes such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, cyclones, tornadoes, storms/blizzards, floods, bushfire, and asteroid impacts, you will be better informed as to why there are natural hazards and disasters, and how to prepare and mitigate for future events that will have a range of social, economic and political impacts. We will build on the knowledge and skills developed in Year 1 to provide you with a global perspective of how we, as a society, will continually be confronted by natural hazards.
CLB333 Dynamic Atmosphere
Building on the foundation of atmospheric science laid in PQB360, this unit will provide enhanced understanding of chemical and physical processes that are responsible for structure, composition and properties of the atmosphere. Students will gain deeper understanding of aerosol and cloud formation, their interaction with solar radiation and role in global climate, as well as chemical transformations that govern abundance of important atmospheric trace species in both gas and aerosol phase. This knowledge will provide students with the background to understand current issues, such as stratospheric ozone depletion, impact of volcanoes on climate, air pollution and photochemical smog, acid rain and climate change.
CZB190 Chemistry for Health Sciences
This is a foundational chemistry unit for all students of the health sciences in which basic concepts of general, organic and biological chemistry are covered. The organization of the human body begins with chemicals (atoms and molecules) making up its simplest or smallest scale level of organization. Chemistry allows us to understand how cells, tissues and organs are formed, how these substances react with each other and their environment, and how these substances behave. This unit will develop the essential concepts of chemistry necessary for students studying health and biological sciences with topics introduced and applied in a contextualized manner relevant to their discipline. As part of early health science training, it is important to explore and have an understanding of the chemical composition and processes relevant to human body. This unit will form an essential foundation to further study in the areas of health sciences.
ERB110 Earth's Dynamic Systems
Earth Science impacts every aspect of modern life. The concepts of Earth Science are fundamental not only to the field of geology, but also to climate science, environmental science, natural resource management, water security, civil and geotechnical engineering and society at large. This introduction to Earth Science and its applications, includes earth cycles and materials (minerals and rocks), geospatial mapping, geological history, physical geography and landforms. Additionally, the unit provides accessible examples of the use of scientific reasoning for understanding complex natural systems. Earth's Dynamic Systems is a foundation unit for further studies in Earth Science, but more importantly, serves as a broad introduction to the very world we live on and to science in general. Such a background is highly desirable for any informed citizen for understanding complex issues around resources, climate, environment, and societal development.
ERB111 Earth and Planetary Evolution
In ERB111 Earth & Planetary Evolution, you will focus on key events in the history of our planet and the solar system – the formation of our planet, the concept of geologic time, the origin of the oceans and atmosphere, and the evolution of life. You will learn about the connections between the evolution of life and physical planetary processes and events, to appreciate the complexity of life that exists on Earth today. This provides a fundamental introduction to astrobiology and geological time and prepares you for a more in-depth exploration of Earth system connectivity, biodiversity, natural hazards, environmental management, and climate change.
ERB201 Destructive Earth: Natural Hazards
In ERB201 Destructive Earth, we will focus on the Science of Natural Hazards. By understanding the conditions and processes that lead to, and cause, severity of natural processes such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, cyclones, tornadoes, storms/blizzards, floods, bushfire, and asteroid impacts, you will be better informed as to why there are natural hazards and disasters, and how to prepare and mitigate for future events that will have a range of social, economic and political impacts. We will build on the knowledge and skills developed in Year 1 to provide you with a global perspective of how we, as a society, will continually be confronted by natural hazards.
ERB202 Marine and Atmospheric Systems
Oceans make up 70% of the Earth's surface, yet less than 5% of them have been explored. There is therefore still much to learn about the marine environment, marine resources, and management, and how oceans affect atmospheric circulation. This unit takes a bottom-up approach introducing students to the major geological processes and geomorphology features that shape the ocean floor, dynamic sediments and biology that are sourced and distributed by ocean currents and chemistry, followed by an overview of the factors governing ocean circulation and ocean water properties and finally looking at how oceans affect atmospheric circulation and climate. The interaction of all these processes has a direct societal impact such as management of marine resources, including the Great Barrier Reef, infrastructure, natural hazards, weather patterns, and climate change.
ERB205 Earth Materials
Earth Materials comprises the study of minerals and rocks which form the solid Earth. The study of Earth Materials is essential for understanding the structure and composition of the earth and the detailed processes of the rock cycle. Earth Materials forms the basis for petrology (the study of the genesis of rocks) and geochemistry.
ERB220 Minerals in Society
Minerals in Society is the study of minerals and rocks that form the solid Earth, with a focus on how minerals and their elemental building blocks are used in society. Indeed, modern society has been built on humankind’s ability to exploit the physical and chemical properties of minerals. The study of minerals is essential for understanding the structure and composition of the earth, detailed processes of the rock cycle, and how minerals are the source of metals needed for a sustainable future.
ERB311 Dynamic Atmosphere
Building on the foundation of atmospheric science laid in PQB360, this unit will provide enhanced understanding of chemical and physical processes that are responsible for structure, composition and properties of the atmosphere. Students will gain deeper understanding of aerosol and cloud formation, their interaction with solar radiation and role in global climate, as well as chemical transformations that govern abundance of important atmospheric trace species in both gas and aerosol phase. This knowledge will provide students with the background to understand current issues, such as stratospheric ozone depletion, impact of volcanoes on climate, air pollution and photochemical smog, acid rain and climate change.
PCB150 Biomedical Physics
This unit aims to provide Biomedical and Allied Health students with an introduction to the physical properties and processes that underlie the science and technologies used in those fields. Professionals in the applied sciences require an understanding of the processes involved in making and recording measurements and of the physical principles that underlie the parameters being measured and the instruments being used to make those measurements. The unit introduces you to the processes of measurement, and of estimating, presenting and interpreting the uncertainties associated with measurements. The physics of mechanics, heat, sound and light will be introduced and explained to enable you to understand the parameters being measured and the limits of the measurement process. The unit will include a broad introduction to the imaging technology underpinning the diagnosis of many diseases.
PQB360 Introduction to Climate Change
This unit is designed to offer science, engineering and other students an opportunity to understand fundamentals of climate and climate change together with sustainable development efforts related to clean energy technologies. It provides students with an overview of global climate and climate change drivers, meteorological parameters and global air circulation, as well as an overview of technological pathways towards low carbon society. Students will explore global energy balance and climate change through an investigation of (i) Energy related environmental problems on local and global scale; (ii) Earth's climate, meteorology and transport of pollutants in the atmosphere; (iii) Working principles in selected conventional and alternative energy technologies to reduce energy related environmental consequences.
SEB121 Earth in Motion
In this unit you will learn about the inter-connectivity of Earth and life and how our planet has changed through time, including the recent socio-economic issues around climate, biodiversity and future energy demands.
Information systems
IAB201 Modelling Techniques for Information Systems
This is an introductory unit that will provide you with the foundational skills and knowledge required for understanding, designing and analysing information systems. The unit aims to develop an ability to manage the complexity of contemporary and future information systems and the domains in which they are used. It will also provide you with the skills to design artefacts, fit for purpose and audience, that can be used to solve real-world problems related to information systems. Unit content will play an important role in future units and a wide variety of professional IT activities. This unit expands on knowledge acquired in IFB103: IT Systems Design by introducing conceptual modelling techniques that underpin most modern systems modelling languages. Subsequent units will build on the conceptual modelling skills learned in this unit, for example, by applying it to the techniques covered in IAB203: Business Process Modelling and IAB204: Business Requirements Analysis.
IAB203 Business Process Modelling
This unit continues after IAB201 and introduces business process management concepts: how organisations improve their business processes in terms of time, cost and quality. It introduces process identification and process discovery. Furthermore, it addresses the fundamentals of process modelling: model quality, correctness issues and modelling in BPMN's collaboration and choreography diagrams. After this unit, IAB320 continues with other business process improvement steps.
IAB351 Cloud Information Systems
This unit provides knowledge and skills in designing businesses and systems in Cloud settings. It covers many aspects of the design in business models and IT systems, it introduces skills for developing business models and IT systems architecture, relevant for the Cloud. In addition, you will learn key management practices to develop business cases, manage businesses and IT systems as services, and understand privacy, security and regulatory policy that governs the use of cloud services. Through the unit, you will be exposed to authentic industry cases drawn from key sectors such as banking, retail and government. The knowledge and skills the unit provides are widely used by management consulting firms and IT professional roles such as Enterprise Architects, Business Architects, Solution Architects and Business Analysts. The unit uses knowledge provided in IAB305 Information Systems Lifecycle Management, applied for Business Cloud applications.
IAB353 Business Intelligence using Enterprise Systems
This unit provides knowledge and skills for supporting Business Intelligence(BI) using enterprise systems. BI is a technology-driven process for analysing data and delivering actionable outcomes as part of planning and decision-making tasks undertaken by executives, managers, and workers. It involves data science and machine learning techniques and tools applied to key aspects of businesses including products, services, customers and resources. You will be exposed to the planning, modelling, reporting, and prediction structures underpinning business intelligence. To support this, you will learn, Data preparation, analysis and modelling, predictions, and visualization. In addition, you will be exposed to advanced data analytics capabilities including, real-time analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) analytics. This will be applied through a comprehensive framework that supports data Ops, data security, and governance. The unit provides a rich exposure to real-world BI platforms.
IFB103 IT Systems Design
Developing an innovative, practical and cost-effective IT solution that is user-focused is a complex task for IT experts. It requires a systematic process that includes: 1) identifying and clarifying a business problem that an IT system can help to resolve; 2) collecting and interpreting requirements; 3) decomposing the system into its components; and, 4) prototyping techniques to ensure that all the components of the system satisfy the requirements. This unit presents students with authentic industry challenges in which you apply your IT knowledge, fundamental analysis and design techniques. It exposes you to design contexts, theories, processes, principles and methods that IT experts use, either individually or in a group, to analyse and design an IT system. The unit builds your skills towards any career related to operational analysis and design of a specific business scope, including Business Systems Analyst, Solution Architect, and Project Manager.
IFB105 Database Management
This is an introductory unit on database addressing the core concepts, requirements and practices of databases. It introduces conceptual data modeling to address a key area of concern of modeling structured data to build a comprehensive understanding of the data aspect of a problem. You will learn how to transform such data model into a relational database design as well as how to effectively retrieve data through SQL queries. Normalization, database security/administration, other special topics and ethical aspects related to information systems are also covered. IAB207 Rapid Web App Development, IAB303 Data Analytics for Business Insights and the Capstone units IFB398 Capstone 1 and IFB399 Capstone 2 build on this unit for data storage/retrieval and business insights. IAB206 Modern Data Management extends this unit earning to unstructured data such as graphs and documents which are also gaining popularity in the real world.
IFB201 Introduction to Enterprise Systems
This unit provides an introduction to enterprise systems, the most widely used form of software technology in the business world. It will provide you with a background of the different aspects of businesses that they manage, such as resources, teams, products, services, customers and suppliers, and prominent types of enterprise systems in the market, including customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management systems. Based on this background, you will learn how to design, develop and effectively utilise enterprise systems from three perspectives. These are: business processes through which activities are coordinated across an organisation; software applications which provide the programming code underpinning the processes; and decision-making in which data is combined and visualised for users to determine critical outcomes.
IFN515 Fundamentals of Business Process Management
This unit provides an in-depth introduction towards the management of Business Processes. It takes you through the fundamental lifecycle phases of a typical business process improvement initiative, from process identification to process monitoring, covering process modelling, analysis, improvement and automation.
IFN552 Systems Analysis and Design
The unit outlines the process of clarifying business problems that an IT system can help to resolve, and provides a working knowledge of principles, contexts and methods that IT experts use, either individually or in a group, to analyse and design an IT system. The knowledge and skills (both hard skills such as the modelling techniques and soft skills such as team work) that you learn in this unit will be used extensively in your professional life following graduation. The unit builds your skills towards any career related to operational analysis and design of a specific business scope, including Business Analyst, Solution Architect and Project Manager.
IFN554 Databases
This is a foundational unit addressing the core concepts, principles and skills required for understanding, designing and managing databases. It introduces a conceptual approach to modeling the data aspect of business domains, how to transform a conceptual data model into a relational database design, and how to retrieve and manipulate data through standard database querying techniques. Relevant societal and ethical aspects of database management are also covered. The knowledge and skills involved in developing and managing databases effectively are essential for IT Professional, Business Analyst, and Data Scientist nowadays.
IFN558 Management Information Systems
Organisations are continuously transforming to leverage the potential of information systems. To be able to effectively transform an organisation, its leadership must be made aware of what an information system actually is, how to manage the components of information systems effectively, and how to make informed decisions based on the data present in the information system. The purpose of this unit is to provide insights into how information systems can be effectively leveraged by organisations. Drawing on case studies, concepts related to the following will be discussed: digital transformation of organisations, business analytics and data visualisation, design cycle approach for digital solutions, as well as ethical implications. The knowledge and skills taught in this unit will help make you a well-rounded IT professional and prepare you for careers related to business analytics and management.
IFN619 Data Analytics for Strategic Decision Makers
This unit offers students a practical introduction to the field of data analytics, and its application to making decisions. Students will learn common methods for quantitative and computational analytics, through which they can gain an overview of key concepts, skills, and technologies for sourcing data, performing data analysis, and producing appropriate visualisations. While the course covers relevant technologies for data analytics and information visualisation, the focus is on asking the right questions and solving related problems which are driven from the business/organisational perspective. Students will work with both structured and unstructured data, and will be encouraged to work with open data to address real-life problems in ways that align with ethical principles and good data governance.
IFN662 Enterprise Systems and Applications
This unit offers an introduction to enterprise systems. It covers core concepts about planning and implementation, main processes and data structures in an enterprise system and the theoretical. You will explore practical guidance on best practices in systems configuration, following SAP Enterprise Systems modules: financials (FI), controlling (CO), materials management (MM), sales and distribution (S&D) and production planning and control (PP). These core modules will also provide an overview of the fundamentals and capabilities of an Enterprise System. This unit is in the development stage of your course and builds on the work you learnt in Corporate Information Systems. It will provide some fundamental knowledge of the business processes that would be useful in Advanced Process Modelling or Business Process Case Studies.
Mathematical sciences
MXB100 Introductory Calculus and Algebra
This unit builds on high school calculus by exploring derivatives, integrals and differential equations. It also introduces the basic theory of matrices, vectors and complex numbers. The ability to apply these concepts and techniques, and express real-world problems in mathematical language, is essential in quantitative fields such as science, business and technology. This is an introductory unit, which attempts to establish foundational skills that you will extend in subsequent discipline-specific units. This unit is particularly intended for students whose mathematics preparation does not include Queensland Senior Specialist Mathematics, Mathematics C or an equivalent.
MXB101 Probability and Stochastic Modelling 1
This unit introduces probability and shows you how to apply its concepts to solve practical problems. The unit will lay the foundations for further studies in statistics, operations research and other areas of mathematics and help you to develop your problem-solving and modelling skills. The topics covered include: basic probability rules, conditional probability and independence, discrete and continuous random variables, bivariate distributions, central limit theorem, and introduction to Markov chains. This unit is appropriate for those requiring an introduction to, or a refresher in, probability. The concepts in this unit will be extended in MXB241.
MXB102 Abstract Mathematical Reasoning
Mathematics is, at its heart, axiomatic: each new mathematical statement follows logically from previous statements and ultimately derives from the axiomatic foundations. This unit establishes the foundations of abstract mathematical reasoning, introducing the view of mathematics as axiomatic and emphasising the role of proof in mathematics. Fundamental concepts and tools including logic and sets, number systems, sequences and series, limits and continuity are covered. The tools established in this unit will serve as a foundation throughout your mathematics studies.
MXB103 Introductory Computational Mathematics
Many real world phenomena are modelled by mathematical models whose solutions cannot be found analytically. To solve these problems in practice, it is necessary to develop computational methods, algorithms and computer code. This unit will introduce you to numerical methods for addressing foundational problems in computational mathematics such as solving nonlinear ordinary differential equations, finding roots of nonlinear functions, constructing interpolating polynomials of data sets, computing derivatives and integrals numerically and solving linear systems of equations. This is an introductory unit providing foundational skills in computational methods and their practical implementation using relevant computational software. This unit will be essential throughout the remaining parts of your degree. MXB226 Computational Methods 1 builds on this unit by extending your computational and programming skills to more challenging problems and more sophisticated algorithms.
MXB105 Calculus and Differential Equations
Calculus and differential equations are used ubiquitously throughout mathematics, statistics and operations research. In this unit, you will build upon the foundations of calculus established in high school or in earlier university mathematics study, to greatly enhance your repertoire of theory and practice in these areas. The application of calculus and differential equations in the description and modelling of real-world problems will also be considered. This unit will extend your problem-solving skills, range of knowledge and use of techniques in differential and integral calculus. These theoretical concepts and their applications will be pursued further in MXB202 Advanced Calculus.
MXB106 Linear Algebra
This is a foundational unit in linear algebra which introduces core algebraic concepts, as well as theoretical and practical tools, that will be of central importance to solving real-world problems in science and engineering by mathematical methods. Linear algebra is fundamental to most branches of mathematics, finding widespread applications in mathematical modelling, statistics, finance, economics, information technology, operations research, and computational mathematics. This unit aims to cultivate a deep understanding of the basic mathematical structures of linear algebra, including vector spaces and linear combinations, matrix transformations, invariant subspaces and eigenvalue problems. These theoretical concepts and their applications will be pursued further in MXB201 Advanced Linear Algebra.
MXB107 Introduction to Statistical Modelling
Statistical modelling provides methods for analysing data to gain insight into real-world problems. The aim of this unit is to introduce a wide range of fundamental statistical modelling and data analysis techniques, and demonstrate the role they play in drawing inferences in real-world problems. This unit is designed around the exploration of contemporary and important issues through the analysis of real data sets, while simultaneously and necessarily building your statistical modelling expertise. You will learn how to propose research questions, analyse real data sets to attempt to answer these questions, and draw inferences and conclusions based on your findings. The importance of ethical considerations when dealing with real data sets will be emphasised. The R programming language will be introduced, and you will gain experience and build your expertise in using this industry-leading software to conduct statistical analyses.
MZB125 Introductory Engineering Mathematics
Professional engineers have a "conceptual understanding of the mathematics, numerical analysis, statistics, and computer and information sciences which underpin the engineering discipline" (Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer). This unit will serve as the transition from high school mathematics to university, particularly if you have not studied Queensland Specialist Mathematics (formerly called Senior Mathematics C) or equivalent. You will learn about elementary functions, their derivatives and integrals, the algebra of complex numbers, and vectors and matrices. Mathematical techniques and problem solving skills are employed in a range of mathematical exercises and contextualised problems, illustrating how these concepts and techniques are used in engineering systems. In future units you will continue to apply the mathematical knowledge and skills you have learned in this unit to increasingly complex problems.
Units you need background knowledge to study
These units have requirements for previous study or background knowledge. Check the unit’s previous study requirements for details. If you have any questions, contact the unit coordinator for the semester you want to study.
If your previous studies were not in English, or were completed in a country where English is not the first language, you will also need to demonstrate that you meet our English proficiency requirements when you apply.
Science
Biology and environmental science
BVB201 Biological Processes
An understanding of processes which occur at the cellular level is fundamental to all aspects of biology. Using a combination of theoretical and laboratory-based approaches to enquiry you will explore the biochemical pathways and processes that facilitate biological function and the genetic mechanisms that control them.
BVB202 Experimental Design and Quantitative Methods
The skills to design, carry out, analyse and interpret experiments are fundamental for scientists. This is particularly important for students of biology and environmental science since environmental variability is an inherent element of the systems that they will need to understand. This unit builds on first year knowledge of the theory of science and the scientific method developed in first year. With field trips it provides real world experience in problem assessment, formulation of testable hypotheses, and experimental design. These critical skills are used and further developed in later units.
BVB203 Plant Biology
This is a foundational plant biology unit addressing the core concepts of plant function, including structural, physiological and molecular aspects, from the cell to the whole plant. This subject will outline and teach the skills required for measuring and monitoring plant function and an appreciation of how they are influenced by the environment and applied by industry. It introduces the fundamentals of plant physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology in such a way to enable you to understand how plants grow, develop and interact with their environment, and will also be valuable for lifelong appreciation of the potential of agriculture and its contribution to industry and humanity.
BVB204 Ecology
Ecology is the study of the living and non-living factors that influence the distribution and abundance of organisms. It is a key discipline of biological and environmental science, and is central to managing and conserving species and ecosystems. This unit examines the fundamental concepts of ecology such as population ecology, interactions between trophic levels in food webs, attributes of ecosystems such as biodiversity and nutrient cycling; and develops the conceptual foundation for later subjects in the biological and environmental science majors and minors.
BVB205 Animal Biology
An understanding of animal physiology and anatomy is fundamental to studying the way that animals grow, develop, reproduce and respond to their environments. This unit has a focus on vertebrate physiology but will include elements of invertebrate physiology. The unit builds on earlier studies of cells and genes, to explain how the animal functions as a whole, and how different animals have evolved diverse physiological systems to cope with different environments. Finally, the unit will consider the relationship between animals and humans, placing the topic in a broader societal context. This knowledge will be useful to biology educators and those who wish to pursue further animal studies or research in wildlife, domestic, or companion animals.
BVB214 Vertebrate Life
Vertebrates are often the focus of conservation campaigns and environmental impact assessments. Thus, any graduate wishing to pursue a career that involves the biological or environmental sciences must have a deep knowledge of this charismatic group of animals, which includes our most recent ancestors and us. The aim of this unit is for you to gain a deeper understanding of vertebrate evolution, morphology, taxonomy, physiology and ecology through a series of lectures, practicals and field work. The unit will cover evolution of the major groups of vertebrates, considering the fossil record and plausible explanations for major changes such as ‘mass extinctions’. Taxonomy and systematics of the group will be introduced. Physiological systems will be described and consideration given to how they work and operate in an integrated manner. This mid-level unit will give you skills relevant to the biology major, wildlife ecology minor and environmental science major.
BVB225 Ecosystems and Biodiversity
There are over one million species catalogued, and several million yet to be described. Familiarity with biological diversity and the role species play within ecosystems is central to biological and evolutionary research, and for developing solutions to sustain the environmental health of our planet. Australia has a largely unique flora and fauna, with a very high proportion of our plant and animal species found nowhere else. While it is impossible to cover every Australian plant and animal in a single unit, we will introduce some key elements of that diversity, with a focus on terrestrial ecosystems and the plants, insects and mammals which occur in them. For students enrolled in biology and environmental science majors this unit provides foundational knowledge to complement areas such as ecology and environmental monitoring; while for education majors the skills gained in creating collections forms a basis for teaching biology in both primary and secondary school.
BVB301 Animal Biology
An understanding of animal physiology is fundamental to studying the way that animals grow, develop, reproduce and respond to their environments. This unit has a focus on vertebrate physiology, but will include elements of invertebrate physiology. The unit builds on earlier studies of cells and genes, to explain how the animal functions as a whole, and how different animals have evolved different senses and diverse physiological systems to cope with different environments. Finally, the unit will consider the relationship between animals and humans, placing the topic in a broader societal context. This knowledge will be useful to biology educators and those who wish to pursue further animal studies or research in wildlife, domestic, or companion animals.
BVB304 Integrative Biology
This Capstone unit requires you to think critically about an important problem in biological sciences and to integrate the knowledge gained through earlier units to provide an effective solution. You will conduct a research project, applying your knowledge of quantitative techniques and experimental design, to answer a specific challenge. Through critical analysis and reflection on your work and that of your peers, you will gain a deeper understanding of the scientific method and will become confident in applying it. The unit will provide a foundation for future Honours studies, or higher degree research.
BVB305 Microbiology and the Environment
The biology, evolution and ecology of microorganisms underpin critical, complex and, sometimes, harmful processes in almost every environment on earth, from oceanic vents to the animal gut, in the roots of plants and the health of soil, and even in your shower head. These fundamental biological processes are a rich resource for cutting-edge research and applications in biotechnology, including the growing field of synthetic biology.You will conduct structured laboratory research and desktop analyses to explore, evaluate and communicate insights into core concepts in microbiology, their functional interactions in the environment, and their exploitation in agriculture, bioindustry and the built environment. Through this, you will build understanding and skills in project planning, technical communication, and experimental design, conduct, and analysis, to address real world applications and prepare you for a key area of post-graduate employment.
BVB306 Plant Biology
This is a foundational plant biology unit addressing the core concepts of plant function, including structural, physiological and molecular aspects, from the cell to the whole plant. This subject will outline and teach the skills required for measuring and monitoring plant function and an appreciation of how they are influenced by the environment and applied by industry. It introduces the fundamentals of plant physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology in such a way to enable you to understand how plants grow, develop and interact with their environment, and will also be valuable for lifelong appreciation of the potential of agriculture and its contribution to industry and humanity.
BVB311 Conservation Biology
The theory and practice of conservation biology is essential for maintaining viable populations of rare and threatened species and for maintaining essential ecosystem processes. In this unit, you will synthesise a diverse range of information including high quality scientific literature, apply field skills in biodiversity monitoring and prepare written reports that provide an incisive and decisive analysis of key conservation issues. Specific modules will train you to critically analyse the link, or lack of, between theory and application in current conservation management approaches. Scientific methods will be used to develop problem-recognition and problem-solving skills through fieldwork, data collection, analysis and reporting. This advanced unit is essential for anyone wanting to work in areas of wildlife management and conservation.
BVB313 Population Genetics and Molecular Ecology
Understanding the dispersal and movement of genes in populations is fundamental to the management of invasive species, the management of fisheries and wild resources and the conservation of rare species. This unit will provide the theoretical and practical training required for practicing ecologists to use genetic techniques in theoretical and applied settings.
BVB317 Principles of Genomics and Biotechnology
This unit will introduce students to the basic principles, core concepts and processes that underpin the topics of genomics and biotechnology. The cutting-edge innovations arising from these rapidly emerging and evolving areas have, and will continue to, transform and shape the world we live in with global impacts in human health, agriculture and the environment. The unit will build on the basic cell and molecular biology skills acquired in BVB101 and further develop theoretical knowledge and practical expertise in the cellular and molecular processes and techniques that are used to manipulate and exploit organisms (microbes, animals and plants). Recent technological advances such as gene editing will also be covered in addition to important issues such as regulation and commercialisation of biotechnology process and products. The biotechnology industry is growing rapidly and graduate employment in this sector is expected to be in high demand.
BVB321 Invasion Ecology
Invasive species cause substantial and costly negative effects to native ecosystems and threaten food security. An understanding of the ecological processes by which they are introduced, establish and spread in new regions is essential for their control. Invasive species are now so widespread that they will be encountered in some way in a wide range of careers in ecology and environmental science. Similarly, while pest species are typically dealt with within agro-ecosystems, managing and reducing large populations in a sustainable manner requires science and sophistication, and often similar ecological principles to dealing with invasive species. Integrating and extending work introduced in earlier units, you will learn the skills and concepts that are necessary to understand, analyse and manage pests and invasive species, and the processes of biological invasion.
BVB328 Applications in Biotechnology
Biotechnology underpins the manufacture of a wide variety of products on which society depends. Such products include pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fuels, and foods. With the major advances in biotechnology and the ability to engineer biological systems in recent decades, biotechnology offers the generation of better products at lower cost with reduced environmental impacts. As such, both established companies and start-ups are making a major impact on the global stage to deliver products that we use every day. You will learn about a variety of biotechnology applications from both a technical and a business perspective. Your learning will be contextualised with local and international biotechnology company case studies and you will perform an entire biotechnology process during practical classes. At the end of the unit you will have a deep understanding of the biotechnology industry and the technologies that underpin it as well as an awareness of the opportunities it offers.
BVB330 Synthetic Genomics
The field of Synthetic Biology has emerged from decades of advances in DNA sequencing and editing technologies. Thanks to the increasing information available describing DNA sequence-function relationships, scientists can design and build new biological parts (like enzymes), new genetic programs (connecting multiple biological parts), and even new organisms. These products of synthetic biology are used improve agricultural practices, reduce pollution, develop new therapeutics, and create new bio-based chemicals and materials. In this unit you will be introduced to bioinformatic tools for analysing DNA, and for designing new genetic circuits. You will apply this knowledge to design, edit and implement genetic programs in vitro and in live organisms, and develop data analysis skills.
ERB310 Groundwater Systems
This unit focuses on the origin, occurrence and movement of groundwater; aquifer properties; chemistry and quality of groundwater; exploration methods for groundwater; drilling methods and well testing equipment; assessment of groundwater problems, both supply and quality; and introduction to modelling of groundwater systems. Groundwater resources of Australia and current issues associated with these resources are covered.This unit builds on knowledge of soil and water chemistry from “Soils” and “Environmental pollution”. Through working on real world assessment tasks, you will learn how to collect, analyse and interpret groundwater data. These skills will prepare you for any role where groundwater may be encountered (including government, industry and consulting roles).
EVB206 Environmental Pollution
This unit deals with major sustainable development problems of pollution of water, the land surface and the atmosphere. It covers processes responsible for the occurrence and release of pollutants in the environment, dispersion mechanisms, the hazards associated with different types of pollutant, accumulation of toxic substances, and procedures for the reduction of emissions and remediation of contaminated environments. It applies your learning from the Experimental Design and Quantitative Methods unit, BVB202 to assess and report on environmental pollution.
EVB302 Environmental Pollution
This unit deals with major problems of pollution of water, the land surface and the atmosphere. It covers processes responsible for the occurrence and release of pollutants in the environment, dispersion mechanisms, the hazards associated with different types of pollutant, accumulation of toxic substances, and procedures for the reduction of emissions and remediation of contaminated environments. It applies your learning from the Experimental Design and Quantitative Methods unit, BVB202 to assess and report on environmental pollution.
EVB304 Case Studies in Environmental Science
This capstone unit requires you to think critically about an important problem in environmental science and to integrate the knowledge gained through earlier units to provide an effective solution. You will identify and research a real world environmental problem, apply your knowledge of quantitative techniques and experimental design and think critically to address the problem and provide an answer to the research question posed. Through critical analysis and reflection on your work and that of your peers, you will gain a deeper understanding of the scientific method and its application to environmental science.
EVB310 Groundwater Systems
This unit focuses on the origin, occurrence and movement of groundwater; aquifer properties; chemistry and quality of groundwater; exploration methods for groundwater; drilling methods and well testing equipment; assessment of groundwater problems, both supply and quality; and introduction to modelling of groundwater systems. Groundwater resources of Australia and current issues associated with these resources are covered. This unit builds on knowledge of soil and water chemistry from “Soils” and “Environmental pollution”. Through working on real world assessment tasks, you will learn how to collect, analyse and interpret groundwater data. These skills will prepare you for any role where groundwater may be encountered (including government, industry and consulting roles).
Chemistry and physics
CVB201 Inorganic Chemistry
The fascinating and diverse chemistry of transition metals and main group elements is explored in detail from the fundamentals of electronic structure and bonding through to metal complex structure, symmetry, isomerism and chirality, magnetism, reaction mechanisms and molecular orbital theory. Learning is enhanced through a range of practical laboratory activities that enable understanding of theory through experiment. Core laboratory skills in the handling and synthesis of a wide variety of metal complexes will be developed and techniques such as magnetometry, UV-visible spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry will be introduced and used to discern metal complex structure and function. The knowledge and skills developed in this unit underpin further studies in physical, organic and coordination chemistry.
CVB202 Analytical Chemistry
This unit introduces modern chemical analysis, including some standard instrumental techniques, which are firmly linked to the theory and practice of the discipline in a modern, working laboratory. You will gain essential analytical and deductive skills for chemical science as well as laboratory-based experience in sampling, treatment of samples, principles and practice of making high-quality chemical measurements with chromatographic and spectroscopic instrumentation. This unit further develops your knowledge and technical laboratory skills in chemical instrumentation and analysis. It links to the work previously undertaken in CVB101 General Chemistry and prepares you for the final semester major capstone unit CVB304 Chemistry Research Project.
CVB203 Physical Chemistry
This is a developmental unit that covers concepts that determine how chemical systems behave. It covers the discrete nature of atoms and molecules through spectroscopy, and develops understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical processes. Theoretical and practical-based approaches are to develop understanding of the nature of the physical properties and dynamic transformations of matter essential to all branches of chemistry and to other disciplines based on physical materials, or that use and rely on chemical reactions. This unit builds on knowledge and practical skills introduced in CVB101 General Chemistry, it expands on the concepts introduced in CVB101 and prepares for CVB302 Applied Physical Chemistry.
CVB204 Organic Structure and Mechanisms
Build on the organic chemistry knowledge and laboratory skills gained in CVB101 and CVB 102. The deeper understanding of reaction mechanisms, instrumental characterisation and stereochemistry are important in facets of all subsequent chemistry units. Perhaps most importantly, this unit will be used as the foundation for advanced studies in organic chemistry in CVB 301 Organic Chemistry: Strategy for Synthesis. To successfully complete this unit you will: -Describe the electronic effects and mechanistic concepts which govern the reactions of organic compounds. -Predict the outcome of a set of reaction conditions when applied to organic compounds. -Design syntheses based on the major functional groups. -Deduce the solution of synthetic problems in organic chemistry -Apply modern spectroscopic techniques as an aid to structure elucidation -Demonstrate a range of practical skills in safe laboratory practice applied to the synthesis, isolation and purification of organic compounds.
CVB212 Industrial Analytical Chemistry
The modern chemical industry requires comprehensive analytical measurement relating to raw materials, process streams and outputs in order to control quality and to confer error prevention. This unit further develops your knowledge and technical laboratory skills in chemical instrumentation and analysis in applications relevant to the chemical industry. It links to the work previously undertaken in CVB101 General Chemistry and prepares you for the final semester major capstone unit CVB304 Chemistry Research Project.This unit aims at extending your foundational chemistry in areas of chemical applications that are relevant to the industry. In particular, this unit provides you with the theoretical knowledge and practical capabilities for chemical analysis and measurements that are widely used in industrial analytical laboratories as well as outlining the future direction of this area.
CVB301 Organic Chemistry: Strategies for Synthesis
Learn skills in the synthesis of organic molecules and an analysis of the nature of the reaction mixtures and products generated. Apply the principles of synthetic design, using their knowledge of a range of synthetically useful organic reactions and the concept of retrosynthesis. You will learn to evaluate experimental data qualitatively and quantitatively, especially with regard to IR and NMR spectroscopic data, and use this knowledge to deduce and explain conclusions based on logical arguments. You will be able to use creative design strategies to overcome common synthetic organic problems by applying the principles of protecting group strategies and selectivity in organic synthesis. The application of practical skills in safe laboratory practice relating to the principles of synthesis, isolation and purification of organic compounds will allow you to demonstrate their capabilities as well as develop skills to document their findings in an appropriate work orientated format.
CVB302 Applied Physical Chemistry
Physical chemistry is a discipline of chemistry in which the physical factors which govern chemical reactions and interactions are described, quantified and explored. This unit will explore the effects of the underlying principles of thermodynamics and kinetics to chemical and physical processes which commonly occur around us. The principles that govern the macroscopic behavior of solids, liquids and gases, the fundamental physical properties which determine the extent of reaction and the speed with which it occurs will be explained. These thermodynamic principles are extended to mixtures, the properties of solutions, polymeric systems and electrochemistry which all play a very important role in the world around us.
CVB303 Coordination Chemistry
Coordination chemistry - the chemistry of transition metal complexes - encompasses aspects of organic, physical and transition metal chemistry. Deep understanding of the electronic structure of these remarkable compounds is developed along with an exploration of fascinating topics of current international research interest including organometallic compounds, bioinorganic chemistry, coordination polymers, metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs) and other metallo-supramolecular species. Synthesis and characterisation skills are honed through laboratory exercises drawing on knowledge developed throughout the chemistry major including magnetometry, thermogravimetric analysis and UV-visible, infrared and NMR spectroscopy.
CVB313 Environmental Analytical Chemistry
Environmental Analytical Chemistry provides the tools and techniques necessary to make quantitative measurements of the extent of environmental alteration by natural or man-made activities. Principal areas of study include the chemical evaluation of air quality; water quality; soil and sediment contamination; and pesticide residue contamination in agriculture. Students will gain an understanding of the relevant methods of analyses through the lectures and a complementary laboratory practical program. This will allow students to develop technical skills such as: sample collection and treatment; use of modern instruments, including receptor modelling, atomic spectrometric and IC instruments for inorganic elemental analysis, GC, GC-MS and HPLC instruments for organic components. Experience gained in the unit will be important for students seeking positions in environmental protection agencies, environmental laboratories and environmental consultancy.
CVB320 Instrumental Analysis
Modern instrumental methods are capable of producing large quantities of data and it is becoming common practice to use data driven chemometic and cheminformatics techniques as an adjunct to instrumental analysis. These techniques are introduced through a project-based investigation of bio-analytically related datasets where you develop understanding of applications of instrumental analysis and further develop your analytical thinking, problem-solving, communication and deductive skills using real-world examples. This unit builds upon the theoretical and practical framework for chemical analysis in the unit CVB202 Analytical Chemistry to develop advanced instrumental and analysis techniques for modern laboratory practice.
PCB272 Radiation Physics
Radiographers require a basic knowledge of general physics and more detailed theoretical background to the physical basis behind the equipment design, construction and materials and the increasing technological support for developing modalities. The aim of this unit is to provide you with an understanding of radiation physics related to x-ray production and radiographic practice and how radiation interacts with matter. You will learn about the basic physics of radiation and radioactivity, interaction of radiation with matter, radiation safety and the physics underpinning X-ray imaging. You will also acquire the basic knowledge of the physical principles of X-ray imaging and radiotherapy systems.
PCB675 Radiation Safety and Biology
This unit covers radiation protection and the biological effects of radiation on the human body. It is aimed towards those who are likely to be working with ionizing radiation in the workplace.
PCN112 Medical Imaging Science
This unit offers an introduction to nuclear medicine, radioactive decay, radionuclide production, imaging systems and internal dosimetry. There is a strong emphasis on the application of new technologies in the clinical discipline of nuclear medicine. The second part offers an introduction to programming techniques and algorithms and digital image processing techniques that are important for the practicing medical physicist. The techniques will be authentically applied to different types of medical images preparing you for the workplace on graduation.
PCN211 Physics of Medical Imaging
Support for clinical imaging systems is an integral part of the Medical Physics profession. This requires an understanding of not only electronics and software, but also the fundamental physics underpinning the process of imaging. The aim of this unit is to provide you with a solid understanding of the physics behind three common medical imaging modalities: Computed Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and ultrasound imaging. These techniques complement each other both in terms of the type of radiation used (ionising radiation, radio waves and acoustic waves) and in terms of the imaging utility; therefore, this combination of techniques provides a good introduction into the diverse and rapidly developing field of medical imaging. You will learn about the interaction of these types of radiation with matter, the basic mathematical principles of image formation, the factors determining image contrast and ways to modulate contrast, and the imaging common hardware.
PCN212 Radiotherapy
This unit provides an overview of the application of physics to radiotherapy including theoretical and practical aspects of the major topics in radiotherapy physics. The unit builds on your previous knowledge of radiation physics and applies it to radiotherapy.
PCN520 Project (FT)
New and exciting technologies are playing an increasingly important role in everyday life. Modern healthcare is a good example of a field where technology has had a huge impact in the way patients are diagnosed and treated. Graduates are increasingly involved in the research and development of new technologies and also in its translation and implementation into clinical use. This unit aims to develop furthe your skills for carrying out such work in the form of a research project. The project may be carried out in collaboration with a hospital or industry. This unit aims to introduce and improve your skills in carrying out research work in the form of a short research project.
PCN540-1 Project (PT)
New and exciting technologies are playing an increasingly important role in everyday life. Modern healthcare is a good example of a field where technology has had a huge impact in the way patients are diagnosed and treated. Graduates are increasingly involved in the research and development of new technologies and also in its translation and implementation into clinical use. This unit aims to develop further the student's skills for carrying out such work in the form of a research project. The project may be carried out in collaboration with hospitals or industry. This unit aims to introduce and improve the students skills in carrying out research work in the form of a short research project. (48 credit points achieved at completion of PCN540-1 and PCN540-2.)
PCN540-2 Project (PT)
New and exciting technologies are playing an increasingly important role in everyday life. Modern healthcare is a good example of a field where technology has had a huge impact in the way patients are diagnosed and treated. Graduates are increasingly involved in the research and development of new technologies and also in its translation and implementation into clinical use. This unit aims to develop further the student's skills for carrying out such work in the form of a research project. The project may be carried out in collaboration with hospitals or industry. This unit aims to introduce and improve the students skills in carrying out research work in the form of a short research project. (48 credit points achieved at completion of PCN540-1 and PCN540-2.)
PVB200 Computational and Mathematical Physics
This is a foundational physics unit designing to provide strong mathematical knowledge and skills required by a physicist and demonstrate the application of computational methods to solve problems in physics. It builds on prior maths study in Maths C or equivalent and teaches tactics in MATLAB programming, numerical methods and the implementation. The strong computational skills are important attributes of any physicist, whether working in research or industry, experimental or theoretical. This is an introductory unit and the knowledge and skills developed in this unit are relevant to physics, chemistry or some engineering majors. PVB302 Classical and Quantum Physics needs the mathematical knowledge and computational skills from this unit to understand the complex quantum world.
PVB202 Mathematical Methods in Physics
Strong mathematical skills are important attributes of any physicist, whether working in research or industry, experimental or theoretical. This unit is designed to provide the key mathematical methods to solve physical problems. It builds on MXB100 and first year.
PVB203 Experimental Physics
This unit aims to develop your skills in experimental methods, from the design and execution of your work to data treatment, fitting, and statistical analysis of errors.It provides you with an opportunity to build, practice and provide evidence of your analysis and problem-solving skills for physics, as well as to build your scientific report writing skills and presentation of results. It also provides you with a working knowledge of instrument design and the principles of circuit theory and electronics that underlie instrumentation. This unit is in the developmental stage of your course and builds on the work of previous experimental units. This unit also links to further self-managed experimental and project work in your final year.
PVB205 Classical Mechanics
The first part of this unit focuses on vector calculus, complex functions and Fourier series, which is designed to provide strong mathematical knowledge and skills required by a physicist, to be used in this and advanced physics courses such as fluid dynamics, electromagnetism and quantum physics. The second part of this unit applies the mathematical tools acquired in the first part to 3D Newton mechanics, and reformulate classical Newtonian mechanics into mathematically sophisticated frameworks, i.e., Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics under arbitrary coordinate systems. These tools will be used to analyze real world effects, starting from First Nations Australian's experience in mechanics, through to descriptions of weather, planetary motion and more. The Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulation derived from the principle of least action using the calculus of variations generalises elegantly to modern quantum mechanics.
PVB207 Quantum Physics
This course provides an introduction to the principles of quantum physics, exploring the fundamental principles that govern the behavior of matter and energy at the microscopic level. Topics covered include wave-particle duality, black body radiation, quantization of energy, uncertainty principle, and Schrödinger equation. By using a theory - practice approach you will explore these new concepts and learn how to apply these principles to understand the behavior of electrons and the properties of quantum systems. The course will also cover the historical development of quantum physics, including the contributions of prominent scientists such as Max Planck and Albert Einstein, and its applications in modern technology and research.
PVB301 Materials and Thermal Physics
The aim of this unit is to introduce you to the physical principles that describe the behaviour of solids and fluids at both the macroscopic level and at the atomic level. This is an advanced unit that builds upon conceptual physical and mathematical principles of earlier units. Through lectures, practical classes and simulations the unit will provide you with strong foundation in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. You will gain knowledge in the fast growing area of solid state physics and learn some of the techniques used to study new materials. The development of new materials is pivotal for the technology advancements of our society, with outcomes in every aspect of human life, spanning from reducing our environmental impact, to improving communication and computing, to achieving a better healthcare.
PVB302 Classical and Quantum Physics
Build on your prior learning in analytical mathematical approaches to solve problems in classical mechanics. Extend your understanding of classical mechanics through comparison of the Newtonian, Lagrangian and Hamilton’s methods and their connection to quantum theory. Historical development of quantum theory will be traced, introducing key concepts such as wave-particle duality, its connection to the theory’s probabilistic nature and the uncertainty principle. This understanding of quantum concepts will be applied in terms of modern wave mechanics via solutions to the Schrodinger equation to explain a range of observed electronic behaviours such as quantum tunneling which is the operating mechanism of many semiconductor devices prevalent in technology today. The quantum approaches developed will also be applied to determine the appropriate description and arrangement of electrons bound to atoms and to explain the features of their emission and absorption spectra.
PVB303 Nuclear and Particle Physics
This unit explores the microscopic universe from the nucleus down to the fundamental particles and forces from which matter is built. It will examine the development and the modern state of models of the nucleus, drawing on Quantum Mechanics (PVB302) to explain the stability and the properties of nuclei. Some of the current theories of particle physics and nuclear forces will be introduced. The second part of the unit will explore applications of nuclear physics, e.g. nuclear reactions, nuclear power and nuclear medicine. Lectures will be complemented by experimental laboratory work, enabling you to advance your experimental, communication and scientific writing skills.
PVB304 Physics Research
This is the capstone unit for the Physics course, which gives you the opportunity to engage in real-world physics research. Students will undertake a project in which they explore computational and/or experimental approaches to generating new understanding in active research areas, and summarize their findings through scholarly writing and presentations. This unit provides students with the chance to develop their skills around gathering data, interpreting data, assessing uncertainties and presenting results in a clear and compelling way, helping them to develop skills that are required in both industry and academic contexts. This unit builds on all the previous learning in the Physics course, and enables students to draw on their developed expertise and to apply it to a well-defined research problem.
PVB322 Advanced Nanotechnology
This unit deepens the understanding of nanotechnology, which is an emerging field focused on understanding and exploiting the novel chemical and physical properties of matter at the nanometer scale. Nanomaterials offer substantial advantages in many applications due to their small size, which can lead to, for example, improved thermal conduction or insulation or exceptional low electrical resistivity. These properties are relevant to the improved sustainability of electrical devices, buildings, cars, etc. This is an advanced unit and comprises an introduction to the physics and chemistry related to nanoscale science, which will lead to the understanding of nano-objects and nanomaterials, with a bias towards technological applications derived from the fundamental sciences. This unit builds on PVB321, providing extra skills in computation to calculate properties at nanoscale that are relevant to physics, chemistry and engineering.
Computer science
CAB201 Programming Principles
This unit builds on the gentle introduction to programming provided in IFB104, EGB103 or MZB126. In those units students learn how algorithms are constructed by combining the logical structures of sequence, selection and iteration. Students also learn how functions can be used to abstract and reuse sections of code. These concepts are reinforced in this unit and extended with additional applications of abstraction necessary to combat complexity when building larger systems. Object-oriented principles are introduced where the program is structured around classes of objects that are identified from the real-world providing a high-level architecture that is better able to stand the test of time as requirements evolve throughout the lifetime of the system. This unit provides the foundation for the other more advanced and specialized programming units.
CAB203 Discrete Structures
In trying to solve complex problems, a powerful approach is to transform the problem into a simpler model by abstracting away some of the less important details. Once in this more abstract form, powerful mathematical techniques (developed over centuries) can be brought to bear. For computing related problems, the most relevant mathematical concepts and techniques come from the field of discrete mathematics, and include arithmetic, logic, set theory, graph theory and functions. This unit demonstrates how these mathematical concepts and techniques can be used to model and solve real-world problems. The unit also supports subsequent units: CAB301 where algorithms involving graphs are introduced and CAB402 where the mathematical notion of a function provides the basis for alternative programming paradigms.
CAB210 User Experience Fundamentals
User experience (UX) means how a person feels when interacting with digital technology, like mobile applications, web services and games. This unit introduces user experience methods to study people’s needs in a real-world context, and to evaluate the usability and experience with technologies. This unit is important to inform the design and development of technologies that meet the needs of people who are going to use them and the context within which they will be used. A stronger understanding of user experience will provide students with an edge in the market place for jobs such as interaction designers, usability engineers, game designers, app developers, information architects, and user experience designers.
CAB222 Networks
Building on your digital systems knowledge, you will be introduced to practical and theoretical knowledge on a wide range of modern networking topics to be able to design, implement and maintain network-based applications. You will participate in practical networking exercises to provide hands-on experience with network-based computing.
CAB230 Web Computing
The World Wide Web is the most important platform for software systems and an integral part of modern life. Many companies owe their existence to the web, through applications deployed over the Internet using web protocols. All IT professionals require a good understanding of the web and its architecture, especially software developers and those tasked with maintaining and implementing web-based software systems. This unit is a technical introduction to modern web computing. You will design and implement clean and responsive user interfaces, taking account of accessibility and internationalisation. We will provide an introduction to JavaScript and you will use it throughout the semester, gaining practical experience with HTML, CSS and frameworks such as React on the client side, and node.js, Express and the node ecosystem on the server side. You will explore security threats and their mitigation and gain practical experience deploying an internet facing web server using HTTPS.
CAB301 Algorithms and Complexity
This unit teaches you the fundamental principles used to assess the efficiency of software algorithms, allowing you to distinguish solutions that can process large amounts of data or perform complex calculations effectively from those that run unacceptably slowly or not at all. In this unit you will examine a range of different algorithms, review the principles used to predict their efficiency and perform empirical measurements of specific algorithms to confirm the theoretical predictions.
CAB302 Software Development
This unit teaches you how to work effectively in a team to develop large-scale software systems. It includes principles of teamwork, modern software development methodologies and tools that are needed when working in a team on a large project.
CAB310 Interaction and Experience Design
This is an advanced human-computer interaction unit focussed on the design and evaluation of emerging technologies for human use. Emerging technologies like robots, machine learning, and Internet of Things devices have the potential to disrupt how we work and live. Based on interaction design theories and methods, this unit focusses on how we design, prototype, and study how people experience such emerging technologies. Understanding how to design emerging technologies for human use will give students an edge in the market place for jobs as user experience professionals, IT developers, and interaction designers. The theories and methods introduced in this unit prepare students for a career in human-computer interaction research and development. This unit builds on design thinking skills from unit IFB103 and user experience research skills from unit CAB210 to design experiences with emerging technologies.
CAB330 Data and Web Analytics
Data analytics has become a popular way to support decision-making by turning an organization's large collection of data into useful knowledge about their customers and business processes. Data analytics has direct applications in several fields such as social networks, business processes, search-engines, e-commerce, digital libraries, bioinformatics and web information systems. This unit provide fundamental knowledge and skills of data analytics to help with data-driven decision making. You will learn the different types of data mining techniques to apply classification, clustering and association mining. You will learn how the processing can be applied to text and web usage data. This is an introductory unit and the knowledge and skills developed in this unit are relevant to all IT professionals. It builds on CAB220 - Fundamentals of Data Science which introduces the basic concepts of data manipulation.
CAB340 Cryptography
The dependence of modern society on remote electronic data transmission and storage makes it an essential requirement that this data be secured, both against unwanted disclosure and malicious alterations. This unit provides a self-contained introduction to the field of cryptography, from historical roots and attacks, to the mathematical principles that underpin the workings of the modern ciphers most commonly in use for securing internet communications. The focus of this unit is on a grounded understanding of cryptographic designs and their limitations, which in turn inform how they are used in practice.
CAB401 High Performance and Parallel Computing
Building on your skills in "sequential" programming, this unit teaches you the tools and techniques needed to exploit multi-processor computer systems to achieve dramatic performance improvements for computationally intensive problems. This unit gives you both an understanding of why future computer hardware will be increasingly parallel, the challenges this poses for software development as well as a set of practical skills in creating high-performance programs using today's best tools and techniques.
CAB402 Programming Paradigms
This advanced unit exposes you to special-purpose programming languages that operate under different paradigms than the conventional "imperative" languages you have used in the course so far. This unit will expose you to new ways of thinking about and expressing software solutions, exploring advanced programming language constructs, principles for the sound design of new languages and how they evolve. The unit provides both a deep theoretical foundation for programming languages by abstracting them to basic mathematical forms as well as showcasing practical application of those advanced principles for software development in the real world.
CAB403 Systems Programming
Most of our other Computer Science units focus on high-level applications programming. Applications programmers are insulated from the low- level intricacies of the underlying hardware by making use of services provided by the operating system such as threads, virtual memory, file systems and device drivers. This unit focuses on Systems Programming, where the programmer can’t necessarily rely on high level services provided by the operating system and must interact directly with the underlying hardware. Systems software is either part of the operating system or software that operates at a similar level. This unit aims to give you practical programming skills for developing systems level applications and services.
CAB430 Data and Information Integration
With the rapid growth of data and digital repositories, there is an increasing awareness of benefits of data warehousing and mining techniques for Business Intelligence. Data warehousing represents an ideal vision of maintaining a central digital repository of all organizational data that can be smartly used through data mining tools to maximize business profits. Data warehousing is recognized by the IT industry as a dominant technique for applications of databases in the future. This unit discusses the concepts, architectures and methods of data warehousing and mining techniques, e.g., data warehouse architecture and schema, data cubes and OLAP (on-line analytical processing), ETL (Data Extraction, Transformation and Loading) process, data quality, association analysis and classification. It also focuses on the topics and techniques that are most promising for building and analyzing multidimensional data for efficiently organizing data warehouses and mining tools.
CAB431 Text Analysis and Web Search
With the explosion of information resources on the Web, social media and corporate intranets, there is an imminent need for advanced technologies to help people deal with big text data. There are many practical applications of Web search and text analysis in the areas such as classification of news stories, academic papers or medical records; spam or junk email filtering, understand customers opinion or behaviors through their feedback in online-systems or social media, customer service promotion etc. Therefore, it is urgent for IT developers, Web analysts, information management consultants, or Web development & support officers to understand NLP (Natural Language Processing) techniques, popular text processing models (such as Web search engine, information retrieval models); advanced text mining techniques (such as supervised methods for information filtering or classification and unsupervised method for topic modelling); and future directions in Web Intelligence.
CAB432 Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing is among the most important developments in the IT industry in recent years, and one which has received enormous attention. Cloud is a natural progression from earlier trends in service and infrastructure outsourcing and virtualisation, but is distinguished by its elasticity and scale: service and infrastructure provisioning may change rapidly in response to variations in demand, allowing clients to cater for unexpected spikes in load without tying up capital in expensive and potentially underutilised assets. Cloud services and technologies are becoming increasingly diverse and sophisticated, moving rapidly from the original 'bare metal' offerings and providing a rich set of options and APIs. This unit provides a technically oriented introduction to Cloud Computing, giving you experience in developing modern cloud applications and deploying them to the public clouds of the major vendors.
CAB440 Network and Systems Administration
This unit builds on your existing knowledge of networks and systems administration. You will be introduced to technical knowledge and practical skills for managing network administration, including: (1) configuring addressing and routing with physical/virtual network devices, (2) installing/maintaining/troubleshooting network services on a Unix-like platform, and (3) preventing vulnerabilities/threats to network systems and proposing mitigation strategies to secure network infrastructure. CAB441 Network Security builds on this unit by extending your network administration skills to secure network application services.
CAB441 Network Security
As a system administrator or information security professional you are expected to have an in depth understanding of a variety of network security controls, principles and analysis tools and their use in a wider cybersecurity context. In this unit you will learn these tools by building and testing a secure network in a virtualised environment in accordance with cybersecurity principles.
IFN509 Data Exploration and Mining
This fundamental data science unit addresses the core concepts, techniques and practices of data exploration and mining. In the information age, with astronomical amounts of data produced and made available every minute, data exploration and mining becomes necessary for individuals and organisations who need to make decisions. With the advancements in data storage technology and the need for automation, data analytics skills are now essential. Data analytics methods enable users to manage, interpret, understand, process and analyse the data to find useful insight. This unit will introduce you to a wide range of data analytics methods and theories to manipulate, model and analyze data. This is an introductory unit and the knowledge and skills developed in this unit are relevant to both computer science and non-computer science majors.
IFN541 Information Security Management
This unit builds upon the fundamental information security concepts introduced in IFN553 by exploring the challenges and solutions for information security management in organisations. This is important contextual knowledge that can be built upon through later, more specialised units. In this unit, you will learn how careful planning, implementation and improvement of information security controls in the areas of people, process and technology can be an enabling force to help organizations achieve their business goals. Effective information security risk management is a crucial component of organizational risk management. Information security is a digital life skill. This unit provides relevant, real-world examples of information security vulnerabilities, threats, attacks and the controls to manage them, that all information technology professionals should understand to protect themselves, the organisations they work for and to advance their careers.
IFN553 Introduction to Security and Networking
Cyber security breaches - network infiltration, malware, theft of personal or corporate information - are commonplace. The rise of the internet means that malicious actions of individuals may have global impact. This unit introduces essential information security concepts such as confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is used to understand network communications. Threats and vulnerabilities are identified, for both stored and transmitted data. An overview of cyber security measures - preventing, detecting and correcting actions that result in harm - is provided. The limitations of such measures are noted, allowing you to develop an understanding of the trade-offs involved in protecting information. You can take this unit as a stand-alone course to raise your awareness of information security issues in networked systems, or as the start of a pathway into further cyber security and networking units.
IFN556 Object Oriented Programming
In this unit you will learn how the principles of Object-Oriented programming can help combat complexity when developing larger programs. The key concepts are abstraction and encapsulation. Abstraction is the processing of giving a name to something plus generalization – the process of ignoring differences and instead identifying common properties of a collection of objects. Encapsulation is the process of “putting things in a box” – selectively exposing some aspects of what’s in the box, but deliberately hiding much of what is in the box. In object-oriented programming languages classes and methods provide the principle mechanism for abstraction and encapsulation.
IFN563 Object Oriented Design
Builds upon the concepts that you have learned in IFN556, introducing methods of Object Oriented Design which will allow you to solve more complex, real world problems. In this unit you will learn how to identify potential objects and classes by examining the real-world context that the programming is modelling. By basing our software design on entities that exist in the real world, we maximise the chances that our software architecture will age and evolve gracefully - i.e. we won’t need to restructure our application completely as the requirements change. This is because our choice of objects is stable - the entities that an organisation needs to deal with (for example Customers, Invoices, Vehicles and Projects) will not change completely overnight. You will also learn about and apply several standard software design principles and patterns. Finally, you will learn how such designs are professionally communicated and used as part of object-oriented software design processes.
IFN564 Data Structures and Algorithms
In this unit you will work with some of the fundamental data structures of computer science, including lists, stacks, queues and trees, including the binary search tree. You will learn and implement the algorithms commonly used for searching, sorting and processing these data. You will learn how to assess the efficiency of such algorithms, allowing you to distinguish between those which can process large amounts of data efficiently, and those that run unacceptably slowly as the size of the input grows.
IFN591 Principles of User Experience
User Experience (UX) describes how we engage with technology, including how we use, feel, think, and talk about it. It is widely recognized as a key success factor for digital technologies and services that shape how we live, work, socialize, learn, play, and manage our health. In this introduction to User Experience you will learn methods and theories to understand and characterize what experiences matter to people, to generate ideas and create prototypes, and to evaluate the experiences that people have with technology prototypes. Understanding how to create positive experiences with digital technologies will give students an edge in the market place for jobs as user experience professionals, IT developers, and interaction designers.
IFN645 Large Scale Data Mining
The data that modern data scientists have access to is larger and more complex than in previous generations. Dealing with these data requires specialised algorithms and the use of a higher performance or cloud computing environment. This unit outlines the challenges and opportunities associated with big data and introduces data mining algorithms that scale to large datasets. This unit will expand on the material presented in earlier data mining units and students will use their programming knowledge to implement data mining algorithms in high-performance computing environments.
IFN646 Biomedical Data Science
Biology and medicine are becoming data-intensive disciplines. From new sequencing technologies to electronic health records and wearable devices, it has never been easier or cheaper to generate biomedical data. This provides a great opportunity to study complex biological systems, to offer better patient care, etc., but working with this data is not trivial. This advanced unit will teach you how to handle and analyse biomedical data, as well as gain an appreciation of its strengths, limitations and complexities so that you can understand and critically interpret measurements and analyses. The unit aims to provide you with knowledge of modern biomedical technologies and the associated data science methodologies, buildingon what you have learned in IFN509.
IFN647 Text, Web and Media Analytics
This unit provides an understanding of the principles and techniques underlying the development of Text, Web and social media analysis solutions to some of the varied and complex problems that involve big data. It covers data preprocessing techniques to represent and analyse text, web and social media data. It includes text classification, text clustering and topic modelling methods to understand the text data. It includes web log, structure and content mining to better organise and retrieve data from websites. It teaches you the methods of social network analysis dealing with both the structural and content information embedded within these networks such as sentiment mining, review analysis, etc. This unit is motivated by the ubiquity of unstructured big data in text, Web and social data for which it provides to future professionals and researchers in computer science and data science complimentary approaches to traditional systems
IFN648 Applied Cryptography
This advanced unit will provide an in-depth understanding of cryptographic algorithms and their applications. Cryptographic algorithms enable practical security services such as confidentiality and integrity assurance for stored or transmitted data, and authentication of entities. As a society, we are increasingly dependent on electronic systems, often interconnected, for storage and transmission of information. However, there are many threats to the security of information. This unit will explore the application of modern cryptographic techniques to protect information in a range of situations, and also provide an understanding of their limitations. This unit follows IFN553 Introduction to Security, and IFN541 Information SecurityManagement, and is a more detailed examination of a particular set of control mechanisms that make use of mathematical and analytical algorithms to protect information assets.
IFN649 Advanced Networks
This unit is designed for graduate students in the Masters of IT. Students will learn the theory, architecture, hardware/software, and programming of networks, including network services, Internet-of-Things (IoT), as well the security, trust, and privacy considerations in these networks. You will learn the theory and practice of building, monitoring, and tailoring computer networks to applications, including core network functions and services such as routing, DHCP and DNS. You will also learn about the theory and practice of IoT networks that underpin the 'fourth industrial revolution'. There are two main components of the unit: collaborative learning activities covering the principles involved, and practical assignments in which you will build your own miniature networks using free open source software on virtual servers and on IoT devices.
IFN657 Principles of Software Security
Many security vulnerabilities and threats arise at the software level. They can often be attributed to poor software design and implementation, including poor understanding of code-level security requirements, inadequate handling of exceptional cases, incomplete descriptions of the interface between components for secure interactions, and insufficient care in the use of programming languages. This unit provides an overall understanding of software security from a programming perspective in a security context, with the aim of improving your ability in designing, implementing and analysing security-critical programs. In this unit, you will learn about secure programming techniques that can be used to detect vulnerabilities in software and defend against attacks such as buffer overflows, SQL injection and cross-site scripting. The module also covers common mistakes made in using programming languages, libraries and frameworks, and how they can be avoided.
IFN664 Advanced Algorithms and Computational Complexity
This unit builds on the intermediate level Data Structures and Algorithms unit, progressing to advanced graduate level topics in data structures, algorithms and complexity analysis that would not normally be seen in an undergraduate curriculum. When faced with a challenging software problem to solve, it is important to be familiar with a range of clever, but general algorithms and data structures that others in the field have already developed. When no ready-made solution exists, it is important to understand and be guided by the general principles of algorithm design, and to draw upon the experience of the profession in creating new methods. You will learn how to analyse the computational complexity of new and existing algorithms, to determine their suitability for the task at hand. And most importantly, you will learn how to apply your knowledge to solve practical real-world problems.
IFN666 Web and Mobile Application Development
This unit provides a technical introduction to web and mobile application development and the software patterns which support them. We will introduce you to JavaScript on both the client and the server side, and you will build applications targeting desktops and mobile devices using modern standards and frameworks such as React and React Native. You will design and implement clean and responsive user interfaces, taking account of accessibility and internationalisation. We will introduce you to server side web computing using node.js and Express. You will understand security threats and their mitigation, and gain practical experience of HTTPS deployment.
IFN692 Interaction Design for Emerging Technologies
In IFN692 you will learn how to use Interaction Design to imagine, prototype, evaluate, and critique Future and Emerging Technologies such as the Internet of Things, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Social Robotics. Interaction Design and User Centred methods allow to look beyond the new technologies, to the new experiences, business practices, and forms of social interactions that these technologies will make possible, which is key to leading design innovation. IFN692 builds on the methods and principles encountered in IFN591 – Understanding the User Experience - and will add tools, methods, knowledge and critical skills that you will apply in the context of a design project, from exploring the social and cultural context of the design intervention, to envisioning possible futures for, with, and by users, up to prototyping and testing the interaction with emerging technologies in a realistic setting.
IGB388 Design and Development of Immersive Environments
This immersive systems unit addresses the core concepts, requirements and practices of immersive system design and development and the factors that influence the subjective user quality of immersive experiences. It introduces the major considerations and techniques for laying out immersive system designs and then the software engineering principles required to implement such systems. The ability to design and implement 3D spaces and user interactions suitable to immersive systems are covered at a general level, suitable for use in many sectors of the immersive technology industry, such as education and training, interactive entertainment, amongst others.
Earth and atmospheric sciences
CLB223 Geospatial Information Systems
This unit introduces the theory and concepts of digital geographic information science with a focus on the interpretation of earth and environmental data from observations and sources like remote sensing and climate models/reanalysis data. You will record and create geospatial information that you share and combine to class data sets for mapping and analysis. Skills on accessing and processing scientific datasets in formats like NetCDF, HDF are developed through collecting and processing environmental data sets. Cartographic products are created to respond research questions about spatial patterns and environmental variability. Thus, a final report assessment demonstrates spatial analytical thought by analysing the datasets and discussing possible explanations to the patterns identified. Think spatially about processes and patterns, create informative and accurate geographic information and reporting products based on real world geospatial data sets.
CLB224 Environmental Geochemistry
The interface between the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere is the most active and significant for element cycling. This the environment in which humans rely on for food, water, energy and raw materials. Environmental Geochemistry explores the behaviour and fate of chemical elements in this planetary interface. It is designed to provide students with an understanding of the principles of geochemistry and how they relate to environmental issues, influence climate, and habitability for life. The unit covers a range of topics, including the chemical composition and properties of the Earth's surface, the cycling of elements in the environment, and the impacts of human activities on the geochemistry of the Earth's surface. It also covers the geochemical techniques used to study and monitor processes in Earth and environmental industry and academic applications, such as the use of stable isotopes to trace the movement of elements in the environment over different time scales.
ERB203 Sedimentary Geology and Stratigraphy
This unit provides you with an introduction to sedimentology and stratigraphy, incorporating sediments and sedimentary rocks and how they relate to depositional environments. The unit focuses on the link between features preserved in sedimentary rocks and what those features tell us about how the rock was emplaced, the environment it was emplaced into and the subsequent burial history of the rocks. Sedimentology and stratigraphy is a fundamental part of the education of any earth scientist, and especially of those who wish to be involved in fossil fuel (i.e., coal, petroleum and gas) exploration, water resource exporation and management, and environmental geology, such as geosequestration of carbon dioxide, landscape remediation and soil science, investigation of extreme events (e.g., landslides, tsunami and storm surge) and climate change.
ERB206 Petrology
Igneous and metamorphic rocks comprise the bulk of the Earth and are formed by geological processes, many of which cannot be directly observed as they occur at relatively high temperature and pressure within the Earth. The structure, texture, mineralogy and chemical composition of igneous and metamorphic rocks provide the fundamental clues from which the origin of these rocks can be interpreted. This information can then be used to address larger scale geologic issues, such as the tectonic development of mountain ranges or plate boundaries, and magma source regions and eruptive history of volcanoes.
ERB221 Sedimentary Geology and Stratigraphy
Sedimentary rocks cover most the Earth's surface and are arranged into layers that record the planet's evolution over large periods of geological time. The study of sedimentary rocks (sedimentology) and sequences of layers in the Earth’s crust (stratigraphy) can help unravel sedimentary processes, depositional environments and the burial history of the rocks. This allows scientists to develop a detailed geological history of an area, including modern and ancient climate variations, landscape evolution and exploration for resources. Sedimentology and stratigraphy are a fundamental part of the education of any earth scientist, and especially those who wish to be involved in energy and mineral resource exploration, water resource exploration, climate science and management and environmental geology, such as geo-sequestration of carbon, landscape remediation, soil science and investigation of extreme events (e.g., landslides, tsunami and storm surge).
ERB222 Igneous Petrology and Geochemistry
Igneous rocks comprise the bulk of the Earth's crust and are formed by geological processes, many of which cannot be directly observed as they occur at relatively high temperature and pressure within the Earth. The structure, texture, mineralogy and chemical composition of igneous rocks therefore provide fundamental clues from which the origin of these rocks can be interpreted. This information can then be used to address larger scale geologic issues, such as the hazard risk and future eruptive potential of volcanoes, constraining magma generating processes and source regions deep within the Earth that lead to a diverse spectrum of magma compositions generated and erupted at the Earth's surface, and the tectonic development of plate boundaries.
ERB301 Chemical Earth
Earth Science examines the interaction of physical, biological and chemical processes in the fractionation and differentiation of the Earth. Geochemistry is therefore an essential component of understanding the origin of the Earth, its evolution through time and the functioning of systems that are active today. This unit aims to apply and develop your theoretical knowledge and practical skills, to use and apply a wide range of geochemical tools available to the modern scientist to address a variety of geological and environmental problems.
ERB302 Applied Geophysics
Applied geophysics provides geoscientists with the tools to investigate the generally inaccessible subsurface. These tools enable us to detect temporal and spatial changes in the physical properties of Earth. Knowledge of material properties such as density, electrical resistivity, magnetisation, elasticity and natural radioactivity is essential for the exploration of minerals, hydrocarbons and groundwater. Beyond exploration geophysical methods are used in disciplines as diverse as plate tectonics, environmental geology, engineering geology, and seismic hazard assessment.
ERB303 Energy Resources and Basin Analysis
The vast majority of the world's energy is derived from fossil fuels. Advanced concepts of stratigraphy and basin analysis are fundamental for exploration, evaluation, exploitation and conservation of oil, gas, coal and water in sedimentary rocks. Knowledge of subsurface geologic methods using core, well and geophysical data is essential for anyone wishing to enter the petroleum, coal or strata-bound minerals industry. This unit will cover advanced basin analysis concepts and combine project based learning and practical exercises to provide insight into the exploration of petroleum and other natural resources.
ERB304 Dynamic Earth: Plate Tectonics
How we think about Earth processes and evolution has been revolutionised by the recognition that rigid plates forming the outer layer of the Earth move relative to one another and interact at their boundaries. This notion is a cornerstone of the unifying theory of Plate Tectonics. In this unit, you will be introduced to the driving mechanisms of motion and deformation within of the Earth and how they relate to the driving forces of Plate Tectonics. You will become familiar with the igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary responses associated with specific tectonic environments, and how they have evolved through Earth's evolution. This is a synthesis course integrating all knowledge that you have gained from your Earth Science Major units.
ERB305 Geological Field Methods
Field experience is an essential part of the professional training of geologists, environmental scientists, and natural resource specialists in general. The theory and practice of methods to recognize, map, measure, and interpret important geological features and characteristics are essential to the study of geology. Methods of mapping, orientation, and interpretation are necessary skills for resource assessment, geo-exploration, and environmental impact assessment. This unit assumes knowledge of geological principles and methods, namely structural geology and basic petrology and petrography (sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks). It provides professional experiences that are essential for the employability for geology graduates.
ERB306 Earth's Mineral Resources
A mineral resource represents an enrichment of an element or mineral that can be mined for a profit, and Australia's wealth and future economic growth depend largely on these resources. Develop a theoretical background and understanding of the major aspects of mineral resource formation; develop the practical skills to describe and interpret mineralised rocks and their host sequences; and plan and execute an exploration program. Learning approaches include, lectures (including guest industry lectures) and practical sessions using samples from famous ore bodies across the globe (hand samples and thin sections for microscopic study). Students are assessed based on a group project and theoretical and practical exams. Many students find the semester-long mineral exploration group project a highlight, as students get an opportunity to use a variety of real datasets to ‘explore’ for mineral prospects. The JK Education Endowment Award is given to the group with the top mark.
EVB203 Geospatial Information Science
This unit introduces the theory and concepts of digital geographic information science with a focus on the interpretation of earth and environmental data from observations and sources like remote sensing and climate data. Students record and create geospatial information that they share and combine to class data sets for mapping and analysis. Environmental datasets are also accessed, collected, and analysed with data science concepts such as open software and data discussed. Cartographic products are created to respond research questions about spatial patterns and environmental variability. Thus, a final report assessment demonstrates spatial analytical thought by analysing and discussing possible explanations to the patterns identified in the data. This unit will engage students to think spatially about processes and patterns; and create informative and accurate geographic information and reporting products based on real world geospatial datasets.
PVB204 Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism is one of the fundamental forces in the universe and is present in almost all aspects of modern technology. In this unit you will develop theoretical knowledge and understanding of electromagnetism from electric charge to more advanced topics such as electrostatics, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves and applications such as waveguides. It will extend your mathematical knowledge and techniques from earlier units to explore and analyse these advanced physics concepts.
Information systems
IAB204 Business Requirements Analysis
This unit introduces you to the role, knowledge, skills and techniques required of a business analyst. The unit focuses on the tools and methods used by a business analyst, as well as the soft skills such as creativity and communication, all of which are critical to successful business requirements analysis.
IAB206 Modern Data Management
Introduce you to the technologies that can be used to address challenges in managing fast incoming, voluminous, and varied data that is increasingly being relied on to make decisions in today's business environment. You will develop practical skills in using modern data management technologies that will prepare you to be a data analyst, business analyst, solution architect, as well as enterprise architect.
IAB207 Rapid Web Application Development
Web applications are widely in use both within enterprises and in consumer applications. Developing Web applications faces significant challenges, including faster delivery of new innovations, robustness for change, and performance scalability. The unit will address these challenges by using Model-View-Controller (MVC) frameworks to support rapid development of web applications. The knowledge and skills developed in this unit are valuable for all IT professional roles – software engineers, business analyst and architects, enabling an understanding of software systems design practices and development practices. This is an introductory unit and students will be exposed to web application development through a guided process of using well known frameworks such as CSS-Bootstrap, Python-Flask and JQuery. It builds on concepts learnt in IFB103 and IFB105 and recommends knowledge of Python programming.
IAB230 Design of Enterprise IoT
This unit introduces the components of a mobile ubiquitous system, including stand alone and wearable sensors and wireless network protocols. It introduces the Internet of Things (IoT) context and develops the skills in designing systems and applications that use mobile and ubiquitous sensors and smart devices. The ability to critically review real case studies, expand awareness of interconnections between technologies, networks and user contexts and design a solution to a smart IT context problem is a requirement for a range of graduate positions. This is the first unit in the Mobile Application Development minor and builds on the skills that you developed in IFB103 IT Systems Design, and IFB104 Building IT Systems. IAB330 Mobile Application Development builds on this unit in which you design and build a working prototype system that uses mobile and ubiquitous system components.
IAB250 Enterprise Systems Configuration
This unit introduces the fundamentals of enterprise systems configuration. It uses a leading enterprise system to demonstrate how organisations configure these systems to meet organisational and user requirements. Configuring an enterprise system is a substantial undertaking that must take into account technical, business and environmental considerations. This unit commences by introducing core enterprise systems concepts related to organizational structures, process models, and data models. This knowledge then serves as the foundation to configuring financial, sales, procurement, and production related functionalities. With enterprise systems forming the IT backbone of most large organisations, the knowledge and skills learnt in this unit are relevant for any IT professional.
IAB251 Software Engineering for Enterprise Systems
This unit provides knowledge and skills related to software engineering, applied to the design, development, configuration, and maintenance of Enterprise Systems. Enterprise Systems (ES) are large-scale software applications that serve as the operations of modern organizations, such as managing customers, controlling production, and connecting to suppliers, and more. You will learn how to analyse business needs, design software architectures, and develop, test and deploy software applications. To support this you will learn, key aspects of software engineering using a real-world ES Platform. This will include: software design patterns; multi-tier software components and rapid composition of solutions; testing; DevOps; and agile development. By the end of the unit, you will become proficient at these for real-world projects and software development.
IAB260 Social Technologies
This unit will introduce you to the theoretical and practical requirements to build and understand social technology platforms, social networks, and digital communities. You will learn concepts of social technology platforms practical manner, investigate the building blocks of successful digital communities and understand the critical design features. Digital communities are becoming a key feature of the future economy with online communities and social networks are increasingly employed as part of the business model. The success of digital communities varies wildly with some communities were successful and others were struggling. This unit explores how to develop successful online communities by incorporating both a theoretical and architectural perspective.
IAB303 Data Analytics for Business Insight
In this unit you will draw on your knowledge and skills learnt in prior IT core units to learn how to problem solve with data for the purposes of extracting business insight. Through the practical sessions you will explore the relationship between common business concerns and the data and analytics that can be used to address them, developing the skills to use a range of analytics techniques with a variety of data. You will also have the opportunity to learn how to present analytics in a meaningful way for business use. Interactive sessions will support you in increasing your understanding of different kinds of data, their importance to business, and why certain analytical and visualisation techniques can be used.
IAB305 Information Systems Lifecycle Management
This unit provides the essential skills and knowledge for managing an information system across its lifecycle, spanning inception, design, implementation and production release. For systems inception, it covers the way an information system is proposed and justified, at the highest level, using a business model and business case analysis. Systems design covers the modelling of both business and systems architecture to support new design proposals. Systems implementation focusses on the different options and processes for purchasing off-the-shelf solutions in support of systems design. Production release covers the planning of IT infrastructure to host and run digital solutions as well as organisational change management. The unit expands on skills from IFB103 Systems Design and IAB201 Modelling Techniques for Information Systems. The skills learned in this unit will be utilised and further developed in IAB401 Enterprise Architecture.
IAB320 Business Process Improvement
This unit fosters developing process analysis, improvement, and design skills of students. These skills and capabilities will prepare you to undertake the digital transformation challenges of today’s organisations. You will understand and apply a variety of methods, tools, techniques, and approaches for organisational-wide process improvement initiatives. You will be exposed to a robust selection of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques as well as key process redesign paradigms used in the industry. This will involve developing your knowledge and expertise in different process improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma and Process Reengineering using a hands-on teaching approach with real-life case studies to enable authentic learning outcomes.
IAB321 Business Process Technologies
Whether you will be a business analyst, a process owner, a solution architect or a software engineer, it is essential that you understand the principles and value of business process automation, in order to fully realise the benefits of Business Process Management. This unit introduces the fundamentals of "business process automation”. You will learn how to develop an executable business process based on a business-oriented process model. You will practice how to automate an executable process using a business process management system (BPMS) and how to monitor its progress. The unit further presents various post-execution techniques for analysing the behaviour of automated processes. The hands-on approach allows students to design, control and analyse automated business processes using a variety of well-known business process technologies.
IAB330 Applied IoT and Mobile Technologies
Internet of Things, such as sensor networks, mobile and wearable devices, are emerging computing platforms and frameworks. These technologies have resulted in a high demand for professionals who can design and build cross-platform IoT solutions and given the infinite possibilities for innovative solutions, there is a major skills shortage in the industry. This unit aims to provide the theoretical and technical knowledge and skills to design and develop cost-effective cross-platform IoT solutions. You will extend your design and development skills by working collaboratively in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams to acquire a solid practical foundation for the design and development of a real-world IoT solution.
IAB352 Enterprise Systems Management
Organisations invest substantial resources in acquiring enterprise systems from vendors such as SAP and Oracle, presumably expecting positive impacts to the organisation and its functions. Despite the optimistic objectives, failure of enterprise systems to attain benefits is common. This unit provides the knowledge and skills into how to successfully manage enterprise systems projects throughout their entire lifecycle, from acquisition to use to retirement. Drawing on real-life case studies, concepts related to requirements analysis, implementation strategy, training, knowledge management, and change management will be discussed throughout the unit. The knowledge and skills taught in this unit are relevant for anyone pursuing a career involving the management of large IT projects.
IAB401 Enterprise Architecture
This unit covers Enterprise Architecture (EA) theory and practice, concerning the ways in which business and IT systems are planned and designed using modelling techniques. EA focuses on organizational capability maps, which reflect what businesses do, independent of business. The techniques for capturing different artefacts at business and IT levels relevant to systems planning will include business services, processes, information and resources. Students will be taught how to develop a multi-layered EA based on state-of-the-art modelling techniques in TOGAF Archimate and UML. Importantly, this unit extends your knowledge and skills to model, design and problem and pursue careers in EA, modelling, design and solution architecture of individual systems. The unit links to and extends learning from previous units in Data and Information Management and Process Modelling.
IAB402 Information Systems Consulting
In IAB402 Information Systems Consulting, you will gain an appreciation of the management of consulting practices and an understanding of the consulting sector generally. Having developed business requirements analysis skills in IAB305 to identify systems problems or opportunities and specify solution-approaches, Business Analysts and other IT professionals must be able to convincingly communicate these (problems, opportunities, requirements, solution-approach) to managers, colleagues and clients in the form of a proposal. Many roles benefit from such specialised proposal writing and communication capabilities. Organisations are increasingly moving to flatter, project-oriented, team structures, akin to consulting firms. A better appreciation of the consulting process will be beneficial to students working in these modern organisations as IT professionals. The unit will provide information on establishing a consulting practice and techniques to engage clients successfully.
IFN521 Foundations of Decision Science
Human beings engage in information environments of ever increasing complexity both within organizations and socially. In these environments, human beings interact with information in various ways. This unit introduces principles of cognitive science relevant to understanding how human beings process information and make decisions. In addition, the unit presents relevant frameworks to understand what information really is. Understanding both of these aspects is necessary for modern organizations to be able to exploit their data for effective decision making. IFN623 builds on this unit introducing relevant technologies to support human interactions with information.
IFN557 Rapid Web Development
This is a foundational unit addressing web application development through a guided process by using well known frameworks such as Bootstrap, and Python-Flask. It introduces the development of a web application, covering development life-cycle phases of design, development, and deployment. The unit provides a working and “hands-on” introduction to different aspects of building an interactive and dynamic application. The knowledge and skills involved in developing web applications are indispensable for all IT professionals. This applies not only for programmers but also for roles such as business analyst and solution architect, which require a strong understanding of development for systems analysis and design practices.
IFN561 Enterprise Systems Lifecycle Management
This is a transitionary unit, providing students with fundamental information systems skills relating to different practices in managing information systems in large, enterprise-level organisations. Information systems and enterprises are becoming inextricably interwoven. It has become nearly impossible to talk meaningfully about enterprises that are not dependent on information systems of one type or another. An important role of managers is to understand what type of information system they should use to achieve the business strategic objectives or to improve existing business capabilities. This unit provides students with fundamental skills that business analysts or IT managers are required to have in order to be able to analyse business strategies, evaluate how information systems may enable enterprises to achieve strategic objectives, and understand how such an information system can be developed and implemented within an enterprise.
IFN562 Advanced Business Analysis
Business Analysis is a fast-developing domain. With the increased usage of digital technologies, IT graduates need to have multidisciplinary skills in Business, Process & Project Management and be able to devise innovative business solutions that align with the needs and values of the corporation.The Advanced Business Analysis unit aims to develop knowledge in using digital technologies, as well as skills in interpreting and reflecting the different perspectives – both internal and external to the organisation. The unit focuses on building problem-solving ability, analytical and communication skills, and technical capabilities. This unit is balanced with theoretical and practical aspects of business analysis. The unit is fundamental for future business analysts.
IFN623 Human Information Interaction
Humans usually interact with and retrieve information by means of technologically driven systems. As our information environment becomes ever more complex, these interactions are becoming more and more diverse. While much is understood about the systems side of this picture, much less is understood about how humans interact with information. The foundation of this unit is an understanding how humans process information from the viewpoint of cognitive psychology. This understanding will be translated into conceptual frameworks and associated design principles for creating effective interactions. This grounding is then mapped to contemporary technological solutions (e.g. conversational agents) which are used to augment human intelligence in highly interactive contexts. Methods to evaluate and critique both interaction effectiveness and implications for society will therefore also be covered in detail.
IFN631 IT Governance
This is a foundational executive Information Technology (IT) unit addressing the core concepts, frameworks and methods for IT leaders (e.g. CIOs, IT Managers) to support their organizations in creating and delivering business value with information and technology through business-IT alignment. Three main outcomes that can be expected after successful adoption of IT governance are: benefits realization, risk optimization, and resource optimization. The unit takes an enterprise-wide, managerial perspective on how IT executives can facilitate the transition towards digital business and set the executive agenda for IT in larger organizations. This unit builds on IFN528 Management of Information Systems, which introduces you to a foundational understanding of information systems and their role in transforming organizations.
IFN650 Business Process Analytics
This unit introduces you to a number of process analysis techniques used during the design, execution and post-execution stages of the Business Process Management (BPM) life cycle. BPM provides organisations with the ability to save money and time by systematically documenting, managing, automating and optimising their business processes. To unlock the true benefits of a process-aware organisation it is essential that process modelling efforts do not purely remain paper-based but act as the prelude to automated support. The last decade has seen increased uptake of process automation/workflow technology that has increased the potential for real, evidence-based analysis associated with the execution of various business processes. By applying techniques such as process verification, process simulation and process mining, we can gain insights into both current and future business operations of an organisation, which in turn can lead to continuous process improvement.
IFN653 Business Process Automation
This unit provides a detailed technical and practical exposition of modern business process automation. In order to fully realise the benefits of Business Process Management, it is essential to have the ability to transform business process models into executable process instances. These processes can be designed, executed, monitored, analysed and improved using Business Process Management Systems. The application of these systems can lead to significant cost reductions to an organisation and provide it with the flexibility to rapidly adapt to an ever-changing environment. Major themes of the unit include the theoretical and operational underpinnings of process automation, a detailed discussion on workflow patterns, runtime process flexibility and exception handling, and the design, implementation and deployment of process specifications using a state-of-the-art business process automation environment.
IFN663 Advanced Enterprise Architecture
IFN663 is an advanced unit on Enterprise Architecture (EA). The unit looks into the ways in which business and IT systems are planned using modelling techniques. It introduces how business and IT aligns and supports the scoping of IT solution architectures of individual systems and principles of enterprise architecture. It covers how to develop a multi-layered EA based on state-of-the-art modelling techniques in TOGAF Archimate and UML and provides skills for IT professional and senior roles. The unit builds upon pre-requisite knowledge from IFN500 Design Thinking for IT. Units such as IFN662 Enterprise Systems and Applications are highly related to this unit.
IFN667 Enterprise IoT Systems
This is a foundational unit addressing the key technologies, industry examples and case studies, systems concepts and architecture techniques related to Enterprise IoT systems. It aims to provide students with technological expertise in IoT-enabled enterprise systems which supports the integration of business operations and real-time resource management. Students will gain an exposure to key technologies, case studies as well as critical practitioner skills involving systems analysis, design and architecture. These are essential for meeting the demands on IT professionals, for this contemporary and competitive area of IT underpinning the strategic ‘Industry 4.0’ vision for IT seen, for example, in the advanced industrial manufacturing, connected airports, provenance supply chains, smart transportation and other applications. The unit builds on IFN561 Enterprise Systems Lifecycle Management and focuses on IoT technologies transforming modern enterprise systems.
Mathematical sciences
MAB141 Mathematics and Statistics for Medical Science
This introductory unit is designed to meet the mathematical and statistical requirements of medical science students, particularly students enrolled in Vision Science (OP45). Approximately one quarter of the unit focuses on the mathematical foundations for techniques used in manipulating medical science laboratory data. The remainder of the unit considers a range of relevant statistical techniques, addressing concepts such as which analysis methods may be appropriate for testing a given research hypothesis, how the choice of analysis method is affected by the available data and how to interpret the outcome of the formal analysis. This unit will provide you with an essential foundation in the mathematical and statistical concepts and data analysis methods that will be used in later medical science units.
MXB161 Computational Explorations
This unit introduces you to techniques of computation and simulation across a range of application areas in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Computation and simulation are cornerstones of modern practice across STEM; practitioners skilled in these areas can explore behaviours of real-world systems that would be impractical or impossible to undertake using only theoretical or experimental means. In this introductory unit, you will develop your computation and simulation skills through individual and collaborative problem-solving activities. Further exploration is available through the second major or minor in Computational and Simulation Science.
MXB201 Advanced Linear Algebra
Much of the power of linear algebra stems from its widely-applicable collection of analytical tools for applied problem-solving. This unit builds upon your knowledge of linear algebra to explore more advanced techniques and applications of matrices and vectors. Furthermore, you will learn how much of what is familiar about linear algebra in Euclidean space can be abstracted to develop a more generally applicable theory. Hence you will develop an appreciation for the power and versatility of linear algebra across the mathematical sciences.
MXB202 Advanced Calculus
Advanced calculus is fundamental to the study of applied mathematics and related quantitative disciplines such as physics, physical chemistry and engineering. This unit introduces you to new skills and methodologies in multivariable and vector calculus that are essential to the study of science, technology and engineering, and it also provides you with the necessary background to go on to more advanced study in applied mathematics, such as partial differential equations and advanced mathematical modelling. This unit builds on your introductory calculus and linear algebra skills developed in MXB105 Calculus and Differential Equations and MXB106 Linear Algebra, and will further develop your ability to decompose complex problems into smaller components, resolve these smaller components and hence solve the original problem.
MXB225 Modelling with Differential Equations 1
Differential equations are commonly used to formulate mathematical models of real-world phenomena from across science, engineering, economics and beyond. This unit builds on your earlier studies of differential equations to consider how such models are constructed, how to obtain analytical solutions, and how to use these models and their solution to gain insight into real-world processes.
MXB226 Computational Methods 1
This is a foundational unit for Computational Mathematics. It introduces the design and implementation of mathematical models that can then be solved using techniques in Computational Mathematics. These techniques will be analysed for important properties such as efficiency, stability, convergence and error. The main topics that will be covered include: finite difference methods for models of heat diffusion in two dimensions; direct and iterative methods for linear systems; efficient storage of data; approximation; numerical integration; numerical methods for ordinary differential equations.
MXB232 Introduction to Operations Research
Operations Research (OR) is a mathematical approach to decision making. The predominant goal of OR is to determine how best to design, operate, manage, and predict behaviour of complex systems. The cornerstone of OR is formulating and solving mathematical or computational models to extract the best, or optimal, decisions. The purpose of this introductory unit is to introduce students to foundational OR methods and techniques to solve management and optimisation problems. It provides the theoretical foundation for future studies in OR and builds upon earlier studies in linear algebra. This unit aims to develop students’ ability to apply various OR methods, algorithms, and techniques in the solution of practical, real-world problems in contexts such as the environment, agriculture, industry, finance, and healthcare.
MXB241 Probability and Stochastic Modelling 2
It is important to develop skills and knowledge in both statistics and mathematics. Building on the methodology and skills developed in previous studies in probability and stochastic modelling, this unit provides you with formal statistical tools such as stochastic process models and statistical methods for theoretical and applied development. These methods are useful in a wide range of areas, from communication systems and networks to traffic to law to biology to financial analysis, and link with other modern areas of mathematics. This unit will provide opportunities to learn how to build statistical models of real world processes, acknowledging the assumptions inherent in selected models. The skills developed in this unit will be integral in the understanding of material throughout your studies in statistics and mathematical modelling.
MXB242 Regression and Design
This is an intermediate applied statistics unit addressing the collection (design of experiments), exploration, summarisation, analysis and reporting of continuous data. You will analyse data using general linear models and communicate findings using oral and written methods. You will use mathematical and statistical software, such as R, to enhance your data analysis and develop your statistical programming skills. The application of statistical data analysis is pervasive across Engineering, Science, Health and Business. Hence, this unit is suitable for both Mathematics students and students in other disciplines. This unit is intended for students who have completed foundation studies in statistical data analysis and who wish to develop further skills in applied statistics. MXB344 Generalised Linear Models builds on this unit by considering the analysis of binary, categorical and count data. MXB343 Modelling Dependent Data extends this unit for data that are not independent.
MXB261 Modelling and Simulation Science
With the rapid development in both computing hardware and its application to advanced scientific problems that require computational solutions, there is a need for IT, Maths and Science students to have a practical understanding of Computational and Simulation Science. This unit aims to provide you with the knowledge to apply computational simulation techniques in a selection of application areas where the scientific problems are characterised by widely varying scales, both in space and time. You will use relevant programming softwares to develop and implement simulation algorithms together with analysis of resulting data using multi-dimensional visualisation techniques. You can further develop visualisation skills through units MXB262 Visualising Data and MXB362 Advanced Visualisation and Data Science, as well as extending your knowledge of computational science through the unit MXB361 Aspects of Computational Science.
MXB262 Visualising Data
Our world has an unprecedented amount of available data - especially in STEM, where generating and working with data is core to our fields. The ability to visualise data is critical for exploring and communicating science and engineering findings. Modern visualisation theory and techniques allow us to efficiently explore and communicate with data. This unit introduces data visualisation concepts, theories, and techniques, along with practical experience exploring and dynamically visualising complex data. You will develop an understanding of the fundamental concepts in data visualisation through practical, real-world examples in contexts such as the environment, agriculture, industry, engineering, and healthcare. You will follow the visualisation pipeline from importing, to visualising, to communicating data. We focus on effective visual communication and high-quality, fit-for-purpose representations of 2D, multi-dimensional, network, and spatial data.
MXB322 Partial Differential Equations
Partial differential equations are the foundation of mathematical models that describe evolving processes exhibiting spatial and temporal variation. In this unit you will learn how the study of such equations synthesises and extends many of the concepts you have learned previously in linear algebra and calculus. The powerful frameworks of Fourier analysis and integral transforms that underpin partial differential equations provide a means for obtaining solutions to a number of equations of unparalleled physical importance, and for understanding the behaviour of mathematical models more generally.
MXB325 Modelling with Differential Equations 2
Among the variety of differential equations encountered in applied mathematics, equations modelling the transport of quantities such as mass and energy are especially important. This unit significantly extends your repertoire by considering models with greater mathematical complexity than you have previously encountered, drawn from and representative of a variety of important real-world applications. Such complexity necessitates greater ingenuity in the analysis and solution of the governing equations, which will harness and extend your full knowledge of modelling with differential equations.
MXB326 Computational Methods 2
Advanced computational methods underpin essentially all modern computer simulations of complex real-world processes. This unit will significantly extend your toolset of computational methods, particularly for the solution of complex partial differential equation models of real phenomena. You will gain critical expertise and experience at building practical, efficient computer codes which will leverage advanced theoretical and algorithmic considerations that draw upon your full range of mathematical and computational knowledge and skills in linear algebra and calculus.
MXB328 Work Integrated Learning in Applied and Computational Mathematics
Throughout your course, you have been building your discipline skills and your understanding of contemporary industry practice. This capstone unit provides you with the opportunity to bring together the skills that you have developed throughout the applied and computational mathematics major, combining them in a coherent manner to solve a significant and relevant real-world problem from industry. Your experience will reflect the genuine practice of an applied mathematician in the workforce.
MXB332 Optimisation Modelling
Operations research techniques are used in numerous industries and are critical for decision making. These industries need graduates who can apply techniques of mathematical modelling, statistical analysis, mathematical optimisation and simulation and can implement these techniques using appropriate computer software packages. This unit will build upon the content of MXB232 by introducing more advanced “intermediate” level operations research methods and techniques. The topics addressed in this subject are vital in this field and are critical for advanced applications and studies in this field. Topics covered include: model building in mathematical programming, modelling language - (e.g. OPL, Gurobi or equivalent), integer programming and branch-and-bound method, introduction to inventory theory, dynamic programming; and computer solutions of advanced linear programming problems and their analysis.
MXB334 Operations Research for Stochastic Processes
This unit provides you with the opportunity to apply your knowledge and skills in operations research to guide decision-making for complex real-world problems. Your previous learning in deriving and solving operations research problems was mostly dealing with a decision making in a deterministic setting. The focus here is to optimize decision making when there is uncertainty and stochastic variables. Combined with the operations research expertise you have acquired over your degree, you will be able to formulate and solve these complex decision problems using computational tools.
MXB338 Work Integrated Learning in Operations Research
Throughout your course, you have been building your discipline skills and your understanding of contemporary industry practice. This capstone unit provides you with the opportunity to bring together the skills that you have developed throughout the operations research major, combining them in a coherent manner to solve a significant and relevant real-world problem from industry. Your experience will reflect the genuine practice of an applied mathematician in the workforce.
MXB341 Statistical Inference
This is an advanced unit in mathematical statistics covering the theory of point estimation and inference using both classical and Bayesian methods. Statistical inference is the practice of both estimating probability distribution parameters and using statistical testing to validate these results, and plays a crucial role in research, and many real-world applications. You will use the methods of least squares, moments, and maximum likelihood to construct estimators of probability distribution parameters and evaluate them according to criteria including completeness, sufficiency, and efficiency. Results will be computed both analytically and numerically using software such as R. You will learn and apply the Neyman-Pearson Lemma for the construction of statistical tests, including to real-world applications, and learn Bayesian statistics for finding posterior distributions of parameters and evaluating their performance. Results will be communicated both orally and in written form.
MXB344 Generalised Linear Models
For data that arise in, for example, science and commerce, it is often unreasonable to assume they are continuous random variables from a normal distribution. It is likewise unlikely that data are handed to an analyst in a state ready for advanced statistical techniques. In this unit you will be introduced to modelling techniques and methodology for the explanation of non-normal data. You will also learn, by way of a realistic project, techniques to overcome common issues with shaping data for analysis. Hence, you will be well prepared in the application of appropriate statistical practice when such data are encountered in the real world.
MXB348 Work Integrated Learning in Statistics
Throughout your course, you have been building your discipline skills and your understanding of contemporary industry practice. This capstone unit provides you with the opportunity to bring together the skills that you have developed throughout the statistics major, combining them in a coherent manner to solve a significant and relevant real-world problem from industry. Your experience will reflect the genuine practice of a statistician in the workforce.
MXB361 Aspects of Computational Science
With the rapid development in computing hardware, algorithms, AI and their applications to advanced scientific problems that require computational solutions, there is a need for IT, Maths, Science and Engineering students to have a practical understanding of Computational Science. You will develop advanced knowledge and skills in computational techniques for solving real-world in numerical computing environments such as MATLAB. This unit aims to provide you with the knowledge to apply computational techniques for problem-solving in a variety of application areas you are likely to encounter in your early careers, whether in industry or in further study. This unit will equip you with an understanding of different application areas requiring modern computational solutions, particularly as they relate to complex systems; you will have the opportunity to implement such computational techniques and analyse and interpret the resulting data.