Design Your Own Course

What DYOC is about

The idea of Design-Your-Own-Course (DYOC) was mooted in NUS to encourage our students to explore learning beyond their disciplines by engaging the subject matter experts in NUS. DYOC provides an option for students to pursue interests outside their disciplines, broadening their knowledge, and encouraging them to see “learning” as a lifetime endeavour.

The DYOC scheme gives a student* opportunities to pursue self-directed learning, with up to 8 units allowed within the UE space during his or her Undergraduate candidature and will be graded on a ‘CS/CU’ (Completed Satisfactorily/Completed Unsatisfactorily) basis. The DYOC scheme is not applicable to students in the following student careers: Continuing Professional Education (CPE), Graduating (GD) & Non-graduating (NG) careers.

The maximum number of units that students can gain from DYOC scheme throughout candidature is subject to the condition that the sum of units for DYOC and IaaS (Internship-as-a-Service) courses is less than or equal to 8 units.

The only option available:

  • DYOC via group work with supervision – a group of 10 or more students coming together to learn from a thesis advisor.

    • *Exclusion: Medicine, Dentistry, LAW, Yale-NUS, SCALE

    How to embark on the DYOC journey


    Group formation and submission of an application:

    • Students can form their groups through many ways and means (e.g., own social network through residential living and learning);

    • Some students may wish to find like-minded folks (by a specific topic), can consider using Yammer – an online platform for students to connect, discuss, explore together. Click here to join Design-Your-Own-Course network.

    • Once a group is formed (including the group thesis advisor), please appoint a student representative to log into myEduRec to submit an application [Navigation: Student Academics > Design Your Own Course].  A copy of the User Guide can be found here.

    • Upon approval of application, the relevant DYOC would be pre-allocated.

    Timelines (to register for DYOC group in Semester 2, AY2025/2026):

    Date Item
    Now – 28 December 2025 Form a group and get a thesis advisor
    29 December 2025 – 7 January 2026 Application Period for DYOC (Group)
    9 January 2026 – 14 January 2026 Processing of DYOC (Group) applications
    15 January 2026 onwards Outcome of DYOC (Group) applications*

    *Note: Pre-allocation of DYOC module course codes could take place after Round 3 on the published schedule for Course Registration for Semester Two of AY2025/2026.

    Link to User Guides:

    • The only option: DYOC via group work with supervision:
      User guide on Yammer (i.e., if you need help on group formation/ a platform for discussion):
      Option A: https://wiki.nus.edu.sg/x/XQTqGg
      Click here to join Design-Your-Own-Course network.
      Click here to find out more about DYOC Learning Community.
    • Please click here for the DYOC (Group) Video and User Guide.


    Questions about DYOC Scheme?

    Please refer to this link for the Frequently Asked Questions on the DYOC Scheme.