Computer Science

The Masters programs in Computers Science involve two yearsat University of Cape Town is designed to provide students with the professional basis for a career path in the computer industry, and/or to enable them to embark upon a research program at Doctoral level.

Key Facts

There are two possibilities:

• The Masters by Coursework and Dissertation involves a first year of coursework and a second year during which a mini-dissertation is completed. It is a full-time degree with no part-time options offered. Find out more about the courses.
• The Masters by Dissertation involves two years of research during which a dissertation is completed. To be accepted for this program, the student must already have identified a supervisor who is willing and able to take them on as a student.
In the first year of study, a student completes coursework totalling 90 credits, comprising a compulsory course in Research Methods (18 credits) and six elective courses (12 credits each). The coursework year is a year of full-time intensive work and it is impossible to combine it with outside work. At the beginning of the second year of study, once they have passed the required coursework, a student enrols for the mini-dissertation component. The degree has been completed once a student has passed both the coursework and the mini-dissertation component.

The coursework aims to provide students with an overview of those fields of Computer Science in which the department conducts research:

• Research Methods (compulsory)
• Computational Geometry for 3D Printing
• Databases for Data Scientists
• Distributed Scientific Computing
• Evolutionary Computation
• Information Retrieval
• Intelligent Systems
• Introduction to ICT for Development
• Introduction to Image Processing and Computer Vision
• Logics for Artificial Intelligence
• Multi-Dimensional Data Visualization
• Networks and Internet Systems
• Ontology Engineering

Upon successful completion of the coursework component, students will be required to register for the mini-dissertation component and complete a suitable research project under supervision of an appropriate computer science academic staff member. The research component will expose the student to research methodology, experimental design, data analysis techniques, and dissertation writing skills. Students should be in a position to submit the final dissertation before the end of the second year.

Courses include:

• Research Methods (compulsory)

• Computational Geometry for 3D Printing

• Databases for Data Scientists

• Distributed Scientific Computing

• Evolutionary Computation

• Information Retrieval

• Intelligent Systems

• Introduction to ICT for Development

• Introduction to Image Processing and Computer Vision

• Logics for Artificial Intelligence

• Multi-Dimensional Data Visualization

• Networks and Internet Systems

• Ontology Engineering