Master of Science (MSc) Thesis-based in Computer Science

Graduate programs must be chosen in consultation with the supervisor and approved by the Computer Science Graduate Affairs Committee. In addition to Faculty of Graduate Studies requirements and Faculty of Science requirements, the Department requires:

a) Course Requirements: course, plus:

b) Twelve units of additional courses. At least 6 units must be graduate-level computer science courses (labelled CPSC or SENG), excluding professional program courses, and at most 3 units can be an undergraduate course numbered at the 500 level.

We recommend that students who are considering continuing on to a doctoral program or entering certain career paths, select courses that demonstrate some breadth across Computer Science (see PhD Breadth Requirements for courses).

c) Seminar Requirement: Students are required to give a department seminar presentation on a topic related to their graduate research.

Advanced Credit

The applicant must make advanced credit requests as part of the admission process. Credit will not be given for course work taken as part of another completed degree/diploma or for courses taken to bring the grade point average to a required level for admission.

Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade)

Students admitted to the Department of Computer Science will not be allowed to request the Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade) for any course that is applicable to their degree; or apply any course awarded a grade of CG towards their graduation requirements.

Students may choose the CG grade for a course taken extra to load.

The use of the CG grade will affect students' eligibility for internal awards.

Credit for Undergraduate Courses

For MSc programs, at most 3 units at the 500 level may be taken as part of the course work requirement. This must be recommended by the supervisor and approved by the Graduate Director.

Time Limit

Expected completion time is two years for thesis-based Master of Science.

Supervisory Assignments

Students are admitted to a specific research area and supervisor. Students may seek a change in research area or supervisor after admission. Such a change must be satisfactory to the student, and to the proposed new supervisor. Provided this change meets any current supervisory load constraints, this change will be supported and approved by the Graduate Program Director.

Research Proposal Requirements

At the master's level, research proposal requirements are determined by the supervisor.

Thesis Examination

In addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations for thesis examinations, the department requires:

Scheduling of the Examination

All members of the Supervisory Committee must have reviewed the student’s research, including a relevant written sample of the materials related to the thesis, before an examination can be scheduled.

Composition of the Committee

The Internal Examiner may be internal to the home program.

Thesis examinations are open.

Financial assistance may be available to qualified students. For information on awards, see the Awards and Financial Assistance section of this Calendar. Successful applicants may be offered departmental teaching assistantships and/or research assistantships in their offer letter.

Students should contact the department for information on scholarship deadlines.