Maths requirements: 

• A full year of MATHEMATICS is required to proceed to level 2 in CS
• 16 credits of MATHS 2  is required to proceed to level 3 of CS.
• 16 credits of STATS 1 is required to complete a BScCSIT programme. 

Suggested co-majors:    

• Information Systems & Technology
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Economics
• Statistics
• Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Psychology

Master of Science in Computer Science by Research

Computer Science offers students the opportunity to pursue studies in the broad field of computer science. This program is designed to provide students with an opportunity to strengthen their knowledge in a specific area of computer science, and to provide a significant introduction to research.  A fundamental goal is to help students develop the ability to recognize and solve problems arising in the use of modern digital computers in business and engineering as well as in educational and research environments.  Graduates of the program will be prepared for further study at the doctoral level; occupations in research and development in business, industry and government; consulting and design in the field of information processing systems; and teaching of computer science.

Admission Requirements
Applicants to the MSc Comp. Sc. program must hold a bachelor's degree (Honours) in computer science or related topics with a strong academic record. Qualified applicants requiring prerequisite courses may be required to take such courses in addition to their regular graduate program.

Applications to the Master Program
In order to register  for this program you are required to identify the appropriate academic supervisor based on your interests. See the research interests link to identify the area of expertise of each academic staff member. It is recommended that potential candidates contact a potential supervisor directly prior to lodging an application form.   Some of the supervisors are based on the Westville campus and the others on the Pietermaritzburg Campus.  In the list below this is indicated by a P or a W.

List of potential supervisors

• Hugh Murrell - P (Bioinformatics, image processing, Mathematical modeling)
• Satya Baboolal – W (Scientific Computing)
• Jules-Raymond Tapamo – W (Image Processing, Computer Vision, Data Mining)
• Nelishia Pillay – P (Evolutionary Computing)
• Deshendran Moodley – W (Distributed systems and Ontology Technology)
• Graham Babour – W (Universal Algebra, Cryptography and Computer Security)
• Rosanne Els – P (Computer Graphics and Web Technologies)
• Logan Naidoo – W (Scientific Computing)
• Anban Pillay – W (Software Engineering and Multi-Agent Systems)
• Luke Vorster – W (Computer-based Music Modelling and Open Source)
• Serestina Viriri - W (Software Engineering and Image processing)
• Maria Keet - W (Ontologies, Semantic Web, Advanced Conceptual Data Modelling) 

Applications should be directed through either the faculty office on the Westville campus or the Pietermaritzburg campus depending on where your supervisor is based:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Students may commence study towards the research Master's degree at any time during the academic year.

Requirements for the Degree:

Completion
Normally a full-time student is expected to complete his thesis in two years. For a part-time student the time limit is four  years.

Thesis
The thesis must represent the results of the student's independent work after admission to the program.

A thesis represents an original, useful contribution to the research community. Examples include extending knowledge with publishable results and the development of useful tools for the research and engineering community

The proposed topic for the thesis, together with a brief statement outlining the proposed method of treatment, and the arrangement made with the supervisor, must be approved by the Faculty of Science and Agriculture’s Higher Degrees and Research Committee. The thesis will be evaluated by the student's supervisor(s), and at least two examiners ( at least one of which is external to the University) appointed by the Higher Degrees and Research Committee.

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science

 
Overview of the Degree
The Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science is designed to take students to the frontiers of key areas of computer science. It combines theoretical and applied investigation to create new models and software systems to solve problems in the industry, business and social worlds.   

The active research teams that can accommodate PhD candidates are:

• Artificial Intelligence and Genetic Programming
• BioInformatics
• Image Processing, Computer Vision and Data Mining                                            
• Scientific Computing

Admission Requirements
Applicants to the PhD  programme must hold a Masters degree in computer science or related topics with a strong academic record.

Applications to the PhD Programme
In order to register to this programme you are required to identify the appropriate academic supervisor based on your study interests. Follow theresearch interests links to identify the area of expertise of each academic staff member. It is recommended that potential candidates contact a potential supervisor directly prior to lodging an application form.  Some of the supervisors are based on the Westville campus and the others on the Pietermaritzburg Campus.  In the list below this is indicated by a P or a W.

List of potential supervisors:

 Hugh Murrell - P (Bioinformatics, image processing, Mathematical modeling)

Satya Baboolal – W (Scientific Computing)

Jules-Raymond Tapamo – W (Image Processing, Computer Vision, Data Mining)

Nelishia Pillay – P (Evolutionary Computing)

Applications should be directed through the faculty office either on the Westville or Pietermaritzburg campus, depending on where your supervisor is based:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Students may commence study towards the research PhD degree at any time during the academic year.

Requirements for the Degree

Completion
Normally a full-time student is expected to complete his thesis in four years. For a part-time the time limit is six years. Any extra time required must be motivated by the supervisor.

Thesis.
The thesis must represent the results of the student's independent work after admission to the program. A thesis represents an original, useful contribution to the research community. Examples include extending knowledge with publishable results and the development of useful tools for the research and Computer Science  community

The proposed topic for the thesis, together with a brief statement outlining the proposed method of treatment, and the arrangement made with the supervisor, must be approved by the Faculty of Science and Agriculture’s Higher Degrees and Research Committee. The thesis will be evaluated by the student's supervisor(s), and at least three examiners (at least two of which are external to the University) appointed by the Higher Degrees and Research Committee.