What was your initial motivation to study CI?
During my master studies in mathematics I got interested in algorithms, theoretical computer science and logic. Thus I attended some related courses at the computer science department and eventually realized that there are not only more courses in this area, but also a master curriculum matching my interests. Hence, I started a master in computational intelligence.
What did you like about studying CI?
During my studies I appreciated the freedom of choosing courses fitting my own interests, only a few basic courses were mandatory and there was a broad range of courses to choose from. In the lectures, the number of students usually was relatively small, and the lecturers often taught things closely related to their own research, which led to a inspiring atmosphere which I enjoyed very much. Another highlight was the diversity of people studying computational intelligence, there where people form different cultures and as well they had different academic backgrounds in computer science, logic and mathematics.
How did the master's program contribute to your career?
As the courses where well connected to research, the knowledge and skills I acquired during my master studies where very valuable for my PhD studies at the computer science department. Moreover this strong connection between courses and research offered me the opportunity to work with the next generations of computational intelligence students several times during my PhD, which I always found inspiring.