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MDU
MSc Hybrid School of Computational Arts & Sciences

MSc Human-Centered AI

ML engineering paired with ethics, policy, and product design · Evaluation-first approach (bias, robustness, monitoring) · Mentored research-to-practice thesis

OverviewDetailsNotes
Degree MSc
School School of Computational Arts & Sciences
Field Computer Science
Mode Hybrid
Duration 18–24 months
Credits 120 ECTS
Purpose & curriculum

Overview

The MSc Human-Centered AI is designed for practitioners who want to build AI systems that remain accountable once deployed.

Thesis

Your thesis can be either:

  • an applied research study with an evaluation protocol, or
  • a product-oriented system with a responsible deployment plan.

Theses are supervised by faculty and an external reviewer from our partner network.

Tuition & scholarships
ItemSummaryNotes
Tuition €5,800 (EUR) Includes two low-residency weeks (Berlin or Tallinn hubs) focused on labs and ethics workshops.
Scholarships Responsible AI Fellowship · MDU Access Grant (needs-based) Limited awards; apply early where possible
Start terms September Program-specific deadlines may apply
Language English Some modules include academic writing support
Before applying, review refund/deferral summaries and bring your sharpest questions to an open day.
Sample courses
AI310 · Undergraduate
Machine Learning Foundations

Covers supervised learning end-to-end: baselines, feature engineering, train/validation discipline, and error analysis. Students practice building reproducible evaluation reports, spotting leakage/overfitting, and communicating results with clear metrics and caveats.

  • ml
  • evaluation
  • fundamentals
AI610 · Graduate
LLM Systems & Evaluation

Build production-grade LLM applications beyond prompting: retrieval and grounding, safety and policy checks, tool use, and systematic evaluation harnesses. Students implement test suites for quality, hallucination risk, and regression, then iterate on architecture with measured evidence.

  • llm
  • evaluation
  • responsible-ai
AI520 · Graduate
Responsible ML Systems

Design and operate responsible ML services: evaluation protocols, bias and slice checks, monitoring/alerts, rollback strategies, and incident-style postmortems. Emphasis on documentation, governance, and shipping models that remain reliable under drift.

  • ai
  • ethics
  • mlops
CS101 · Undergraduate
Introduction to Programming

An introduction to programming through small, complete systems: variables, control flow, functions, and working with files. Strong emphasis on readable code, incremental testing, debugging via tracing, and using version control to iterate with feedback.

  • programming
  • fundamentals
CS210 · Undergraduate
Data Structures & Complexity

Study core data structures and complexity with hands-on implementation: stacks, queues, trees, hash tables, and graphs. Focus on choosing the right structure, analyzing time/space tradeoffs, and writing performance-aware code with clear invariants.

  • algorithms
  • performance
CS240 · Undergraduate
Databases & Data Modeling

Model real domains in relational databases: schema design, normalization, SQL querying, indexing, and integrity constraints. Includes a mini project with audits and migrations, emphasizing data quality, reproducibility, and reasoning about consistency.

  • databases
  • sql
  • data-modeling
Faculty
School of Computational Arts & Sciences
Dr. Elena Vasilev
Associate Professor of Responsible Systems
  • Responsible AI
  • Evaluation Protocols
  • Public Sector Technology
School of Computational Arts & Sciences
Dr. Jan Kowalski
Lecturer in Systems Engineering
  • Distributed Systems
  • Observability
  • Reliable Software
School of Computational Arts & Sciences
Dr. Marie Dubois
Associate Professor of Research Operations
  • Reproducibility
  • Data Governance
  • Research Operations
Admissions requirements
Checklist (summary)
  • · Bachelor’s degree in CS, math, engineering, or equivalent experience
  • · English proficiency (IELTS 7.0 / TOEFL iBT 100, or waiver)
  • · Statement of purpose and writing sample
Full process and deadlines are on the Admissions page.
Who thrives here

If you enjoy making decisions explicit—writing down assumptions, testing them, revising honestly, and respecting boundaries—this program is built for you.

FAQ
Is this a research program or an industry program?
Both. You will ship applied systems while grounding decisions in current research and responsible AI practices.
Do you teach deep learning?
Yes, paired with evaluation, interpretability, and operational reliability.