Department of Informatics

King's College London is thought to have established the world's first engineering school in 1838. In contrast, an academic Department of Computing was first established at King's in 1985, becoming the Department of Computer Science in 1994, reflecting a change in focus towards the more fundamental and systematic aspects of the subject.

On 1 August 2010, a new Department of Informatics was established, combining the former Department of Computer Science, the Centre for Bioinformatics, and the Robotics and Telecommunications groups of the Division of Engineering. The new Department of Informatics is part of the School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences and is in 2012 comprises 43 members of academic staff including 13 professors, as well as around 120 postdoctoral researchers and PhD students. Its activities span the range of science and engineering within the broad areas represented by its constituent parts, seeking to excel in all.

The Department offers the following undergraduate programmes:

• MSci Computer Science
• BSc Computer Science
• BSc Computer Science with a year abroad
• BSc Computer Science with a year in industry
• BSc Computer Science with Intelligent Systems
• BSc Computer Science with Management
• BSc Computer Science with Management and a year abroad
• BSc Computer Science with Management and a year in industry
• BSc Computer Science with Robotics
• BSc Mathematics & Computer Science
• MSci Robotics & Intelligent Systems

The Department offers the following MSc programmes:

• MSc in Advanced Computing
• MSc in Advanced Software Engineering
• MSc in Bioinformatics
• MSc in Computing and Internet Systems
• MSc in Computing and Security
• MSc in Computing, IT Law and Management
• MSc in Engineering with Business Management
• MSc in Intelligent Systems
• MSc in Robotics
• MSc in Web Intelligence

Planning, Agents, and Intelligent Systems is concerned with investigating various aspects of agent technologies and intelligent systems, and their applications, including: intelligent agents and multi-agent systems; approximate and qualitative reasoning; argumentation; artificial intelligence and law; deontic logic and normative systems; eScience; provenance; trust and reputation; and virtual organisations.

Algorithms and Bioinformatics develops and analyses algorithms for various computational problems, including pattern matching and recognition, graph searching, network optimisation, scheduling, classification of DNA and protein sequences, analysis of gene expression patterns, and uncovering protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions.

Software Modelling and Applied Logic specialises in developing innovative ways to optimise software engineering processes and products. Research areas include software testing, software evolution, security, search-based software engineering, and applied formal methods. It also studies applications of logic to computer science and artificial intelligence, and investigates various models of reasoning and computation, designing formal languages to describe problem domains, and analysing their expressive power and computational behaviour.

Centre for Robotics Research (CORE) deals with a broad range of topics, including: Robotics and Automation, Robotic Surgery and Robotic Rehabilitation, Medical Robotic Devices, Robotic Handling and Manipulation Systems, Kinematics and Mechanisms, Artwork inspired mechanisms and robots (Artmimetics), Sensing, Monitoring and Inspection Systems and Neural, Cognitive and Biomimetic Systems.

Centre for Telecommunications Research concentrates its research in three main areas: radio access, network and reconfigurability and cognitive radio. The main focus of the Radio Access team is on the physical layer of the OSI communication model. The Network team focuses on future mobile and personal communication networks based on a fully-integrated all-IP architecture, with emphasis on industrial relevance and transferability. The Reconfigurability and Cognitive Radio Team aims to contribute to the current research drive in these challenging and inspiring fields of pioneering communications technology.