Masters Degrees in Human-Computer Interaction, Netherlands

How can we model human task performance? How do our brains combine visual and auditory information? What is the ideal interface for a tired air traffic controller?

The Master's degree programme in Human-Machine Communication (HMC) focuses on Cognitive Science and its applications. By knowing more about cognition you can for example improve the communication between humans and complex computer systems, use language and speech technology or develop simulation models of users. HMC provides you with insights into human cognition and teaches you to use this knowledge in applied settings, such as tutoring systems, speech technology and human-computer interaction.

Two questions form the basis for this programme:
* How does human cognition work?
* How can we use this knowledge in applied settings?

To answer these questions, you have to know how humans perform specific tasks and how this performance limits and affect task performance. How do humans acquire new skills and how do they learn to adapt to a new task? It is important to know in which way information is transferred; the most natural way of human communication is language. But what about machines? Maybe keyboards, choice menus or multi-touch are more suitable.

This programme is unique in combining:
*Artificial Intelligence
*Cognitive Psychology
*Language & Speech Technology

Why in Groningen?

This programme is unique in its combination of:
- Artificial intelligence
- Cognitive psychology
- Language & speech technology

Job perspectives

Once you have obtained your Master's degree, you can then use your skills in industrial research & development departments or usability labs, where you make sure that knowledge about human thinking and acting is used as early as possible in the design process.

In companies where computer software and new media applications are made, user interface design experts, usability testers and interaction designers are needed. If you have specialized in the field of speech and language technology, you can for instance get a job at a telecommunication company.

You could also choose to get a job at a research institute where you work as a researcher. This can be done at a university (PhD studentship) or at a research institute like TNO. About 50% of our students choose a career as a scientist, mostly as PhD student.

Job examples

- Work for a telecommunication company
- Interaction designer
- Usability tester
- PhD research position

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The one year MSc program offers four tracks:

• Business Communication and Digital Media
• Communication Design
• New Media Design
• Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence

Besides the 1 year Master, also a two- year Master is offered:

• Research Master in Language and Communication

The MSc in Communication and Information Sciences offers a unique program in which you learn about how people acquire and transfer information and how new means of communication can be used creatively and innovatively. The approach taken at Tilburg University is unique in the sense that the broad concept of communication is examined from many perspectives, including those of linguistics, cognitive and social psychology, computational modeling and document design.

This program is intended for highly talented and motivated students with a keen sense of intellectual curiosity and intellectual ambition. In this Master’s program, you will encounter state-of-the-art research in the broad interdisciplinary field of communication. The point of departure is natural communication: how is information transferred from one person to another? For what purpose? You will participate in a wide range of courses such as communication strategies, non-verbal communication and computer vision. This unique combination of approaches and research traditions will enable you to work as a communication expert, and answer questions such as:

•What is the best way to present information to an audience?

•How do people communicate within an organization?

•How can you influence people's behavior through language?

You take a particular interest in language and you are seeking to broaden and deepen your academic knowledge. You are interested in the many different aspects of communication such as the effect that words can have, how people produce language, and linguistic phenomena such as metaphors, and the stories behind them.

This one-year MSc program offers four different specializations: Business Communication & Digital Media, Communication Design, New Media Design and Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence.  

Career Prospects Communication and Information Sciences

After completing your MSc program in Communication and Information Sciences, a broad range of career paths in business, research and education will be open to you. You will be able to analyze and consult on internal and external communications. With a Master's degree, you can start your career as a scientific researcher in this field. And remember that these opportunities are worldwide because your studies are internationally-oriented.

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