Graduate Education

The Graduate Division offers comprehensive postgraduate programmes through advanced and in-depth course curriculum, which develops and enhances the candidate’s knowledge, and prepares them to address the complex IT issues at their workplaces.

4.1        Research Programmes

The School welcomes graduates with good academic potential and strong interest in research to be a part of the Graduate Programme. A premier research-based programme leading to a doctoral degree, it is available in both the Department of Computer Science and Department of Information Systems.

Students in this programme spend the first two semesters on advanced courses before embarking on a research project that culminates in a research dissertation.

4.1.1    Degrees Offered

The Graduate Division offers the following research degree programme:

•       Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
All graduate research students are admitted directly into a full-time graduate programme that leads to either:
•       Ph.D., if the candidate passes the Qualifying Examination (QE); or
•       Master of Science (M.Sc.), if the candidate fails the Qualifying Examination but is allowed to complete as a M.Sc. candidate.

4.1.2    Degree Requirements

All Computer Science (CS) candidates are required to complete four postgraduate modules, and pass the QE modules in their first year of studies. At the end of the first year of studies, candidates will be required to sit for the CS Qualifying Examination I (QE I), which will be held at school semester.

CS Ph.D. candidates who are required to complete eight graduate modules, will need to take at least one module each in any of the following clusters – Algorithm and Theory, Computer Systems, Knowledge Systems or Media Technologies. Out of the eight graduate modules, at least six modules must be at level 5000 and above, and at least three must be at level 6000. CS Ph.D. students are allowed to take at most two level 4000 modules.

Ph.D. students admitted to the Department of Information Systems (IS) will follow the structure for the IS Ph.D. programme:

All IS Ph.D. candidates are required to complete five common core modules, spanning the different streams of IS research. This is compulsory for all students to increase their breadth of knowledge. The five modules consist of three modules that cover research methods, one module that covers theories, and one module for a seminar on recent topics in all three IS research tracks (behavioral, technical, and economics).

Upon completion of the common core modules, IS Ph.D students would be directed to a more structured set of modules in one of the three different tracks that they can choose from. Based on their choice of track, they will follow a logically structured curriculum of two track core and two electives modules that ensures breadth and depth of knowledge in their area.  The IS Qualifying Examination I (QE I) which will test the integration of concepts from the common core modules that all students would have taken.

Students of both departments are expected to work on the graduate research paper (GRP) with a faculty member immediately after the first semester’s exam, and to participate in lab activities with the view of producing a quality paper that can eventually lead to at least a rank two and above publication/journal by the third semester. The GRP is part of the Qualifying Examination requirement.

The student is expected to show competence in embarking on the Ph.D. research. The GRP presentation will be evaluated by a panel at the end of the third semester.

In Year 2, candidates are required to complete four more postgraduate modules. All Ph.D. candidates are required to achieve a minimum CAP of 3.5 (B grade) for the modules taken.

By end of Year 3, candidates are expected to complete their thesis proposal. Those who pass the thesis proposal will proceed to the final phase of research. Ph.D. students are normally expected to finish their Ph.D. candidature within four years.

Duration of Programme
The following maximum candidature periods are inclusive of periods of approved study leave:
•       Masters: 36 months
•       Ph.D.: 60 months

4.1.3    Financial Assistance and Awards

Research Scholarship
Financial Assistance in the form of Research Scholarship is available, on a competitive basis to all full-time students who meet the criteria. The Research Scholarship will carry monthly emoluments, plus research fee subsidy. Candidates with good undergraduate degrees in computer science or information systems are invited to apply for research scholarships. These are for pursuing full-time Ph.D. programmes by research in the School. They are tenable for one year in the first instance and renewable annually for up to four years for Ph.D. candidates, subject to satisfactory performance. Graduate students who passed their Ph.D. Qualifying Examination (QE I and QE II) will be awarded an additional top up of S$500 per month during their Ph.D. candidature.

Teaching Assistantships
Research scholars may be required to assist in departmental work such as conducting tutorials/laboratory demonstration, preparation of teaching materials, invigilating at examinations etc., subject to the following conditions:

•      The total time spent on teaching duties and other departmental work must not exceed 16 hours a week or 400 hours per financial year (1st April to 31st March).
•      The assignment of teaching duties and departmental work would be subject to the satisfactory progress of the research scholar.
•      Remunerations for teaching duties and departmental work range from S$30 to S$60 per hour. However, scholars may be asked to perform such work without any remuneration for up to six hours per week.

Graduate Awards
The following graduate awards are given to encourage and recognise continuous and sustained research excellence in graduate research students:

• Research Achievement Award

This award will be given to outstanding Ph.D. students each academic year, encouraging students to strive towards continuous research achievement during their Ph.D. candidature.

Award Criteria:

• Be either a full-time or part-time Ph.D. student throughout the whole semester at the time of award presentation.
• Achieved outstanding performance (over a one-year period) in terms of:
• Publications in Rank-1 journals/conferences
• Registration for patent
• Significant system development of either commercial interest or wide usage by organisations not related to the development work

C.      In all cases, the student must be a significant contributor/primary author of the achievement.
D.      Awards will be given out twice a year.

The recipients of this award will each receive a certificate and $250 cash prize.

• Dean’s Graduate Research Excellence Award

              The Dean’s Graduate Award is a prestigious award to be given to senior Ph.D. students who have made significant research achievements during their Ph.D. study, and the award criteria are:

• Deserving recipients to be given this award once throughout their candidature;
• Nomination to be made by supervisors;
• Award only given once per academic year;

Winners will each receive a certificate and $1,000 cash prize.

The judging criteria for Dean’s Graduate Awards will be the same as the Research Achievement Award. In addition, nominees must produce strong evidence of sustained research achievements during their course of study.
Students who have been awarded one of the awards will not be able to receive the other simultaneously.

Part-time Employment: Graduate Student Researcher (GSR)

Duties
•      To assist the Principal Investigator (PI) in specific research duties.

Eligibility
•      All full or part-time graduate students (except NUS Staff). 
•      International Student
–     Maximum working hours is capped at 16 hours per week.
–     Non-graduating (exchange and non-exchange) students are not eligible to apply.
•      Local Student (Singaporean/SPR)
–     For Research Scholar, maximum working hours is capped at 16 hours per week.
–     For non-Research Scholar, no limit to number of working hours.

Remuneration
S$12 per hour (Bachelor’s degree)
S$15 per hour (at least Honours or equivalent)

4.2        Coursework Programme

The Master of Computing Programme is a comprehensive and challenging graduate programme with area specialisations. It encompasses latest research findings, both applied and fundamental. The programme also provides advanced and in-depth knowledge of IT to prepare the students for challenges in IT career.

4.2.1    Degrees Offered

The Graduate Division offers the following coursework degree programme:
•       Master of Computing (M. Comp.)

4.2.2    Degree Requirements

Structure of Programme
Students are required to pass ten modules, with at least five modules selected from one of the following specialisations:
•       Computer Science; or
•       Infocomm Security; or
•       Information Technology Project Management (ITPM)

The remaining five modules can be chosen from Level-5000 to 6000 modules offered by the School of Computing. Students are allowed a maximum of two Level-4000 modules and two modules (must be at least Level-5000) from other faculties.

The details of the pool of modules available are listed in Annex A in our website:
http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/graduates/Annex%20A_specialisations_May2011.pdf

Dissertation Option
The Master of Computing students will be allowed the flexibility of taking the dissertation option which is equivalent to FOUR graduate level modules (16 modular credits).

The dissertation option gives individual students the opportunity for independent study and research in the area of their selected specialisation. This will be carried out under the supervision of an academic staff, and the selection of the topic/area will be done in consultation with the supervisor in the area of expertise.

Duration of Programme
Part-time and full-time candidates taking M.Comp. programme must complete the coursework requirements within the period as shown:

Workload
Part-time candidates taking M.Comp. may take up to three modules per semester. Full-time candidates may take up to five modules per semester.

Graduation Requirements
Candidates must achieve a final CAP of 3.0 (average grade of B-) to graduate, otherwise their candidature will be terminated.

4.2.3    Financial Assistance and Awards

Loans
All students who are enrolled in full-time coursework programme can request for loans up to 90 percent of their fees. For more information, please refer to: http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/edu/gd-fees.html

Awards
In recognition of the excellent performance of the graduate coursework students, the Microsoft Prize will be awarded to the Master of Computing student with the best cumulative average point (CAP) throughout the course of study.