The Honours programme in Computer Science 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 programme at the Masters level.

The Honours year is an opportunity to undertake advanced courses in computer science (including Compilers, Functional Programming, Databases, Human-Computer Interaction, Artificial Intelligence and High Performance Computing), as well as to complete a major research and development project. Honours is an enriching and challenging year which requires firm commitment to full­-time, hard work.

More detailed information about the honours programme can be found in the current honours handbook.

 

Honours is a year of full-time study undertaken after the three year Bachelor degree. The Honours degree in a full-time degree, with no part-time options offered at all.

Honours is a year of intensive work and it is impossible to combine it with outside work.

The honours convenor for the second semester of 2023 is Prof Geoff Nitschke.

The rules and requirements for the course can by found in the Science Faculty Handbook.

The Honours programme in Computer Science at UCT 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 programme at Masters level.  

Students with a BSc with a major in Computer Science from UCT take Computer Science honours. The Computer Science Honours degree is accredited by the British Computer Society as meeting the education requirements for Chartered IT Professional (CITP) accreditation and partially meeting the requirements for Chartered Scientist (CSci) registration. Students with a Computer Science undergraduate degree from other universites take Information Technology honours: the curriculum is the same as Computer Science honours. Fourth Year Bachelor of Business Science (Computer Science) students follow mostly the same curriculum.  

Honours is a year of intensive work and it is impossible to combine it with outside work.

Each student registered for this course is required to have a laptop for use during class sessions as well as after hours, (a tablet or “netbook” will not be suitable).

For the Honours degree, a major research project makes up 60 credits and the remaining 100 credits are calculated from the coursework modules.

The modules given vary from year to year but will typically be a selection from:

  • Research Methods (compulsory)
  • New Venture Planning (compulsory)
  • Functional Programming (compulsory)
  • Compiler Construction 1 (compulsory)
  • Big Data Management and Analysis
  • Human Computer Interaction
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Network Security
  • Computer Game Design
  • High Performance Computing.

All students are required to attend the Professional Communications module that forms part of the course, regardless of any other PC course they may have completed.

The starting date for the course is normally two weeks before the start of undergraduate lectures: the date can be found on next year's application forms.

Further details of this year's course can be found in the Science Faculty Handbook. 

Closed

Applications for 2025 are now open. The closing date is 30 September. Applicants must apply on the University's online application system.

Applicants may be contacted later by the department to provide further information such a motivation for why they want to be admitted to the programme. Please note that the 200-word research interest statement in the university application is not used to assess the application and has no influence on the selection of a research project. Referees are also not used for honours admissions.

Prospective students must apply for Honours in Computer Science.

Outcome of Application and Registration

Applicants will be notified of the result of their application by mid-December. International applicants (who require a visa) will be notified by early November. The programme starts around the end of January (usually 2 weeks before the start of undergraduate lectures at UCT).

Funding

UCT has information on funding for postgraduate students. Please download the Postgraduate Funding Handbook.

UCT may have internal funding for honours students, but it is only available to those who have applied to the NRF first.

Foreign Students

Students who need a study visa for South Africa should get all the documents and requirements ready before the end of November. You must get this visa before leaving your home country at the nearest South African embassy, consulate or high commission. Please apply immediately upon hearing of your acceptance. While a visa can be obtained in about two weeks from South African embassies that is only the case if all clearances, documents and health checks are in order, so this must all be done well in advance. It should also be borne in mind that the latter half of December is the start of the holiday period in South Africa; while in the new year, due to the pressure of late applicants, the process may take longer.

 

Closed
Closed

Some of our courses (CSC2/3/Honours) have a laptop requirement.

Recommended specification

To ensure versatility and best performance we highly recommend the following specification.

Processor / CPU i5
RAM / Memory 8GB
Disk / Storage 2 TB hard disk (or smaller solid-state disk (SSD) with external hard disk)
Screen 11 inches or larger

Minimum specification

The following specification is the minimum hardware required to do this course. Lower specification hardware will hinder your ability to undertake the work in this course.

We recommend that where possible you purchase the recommended hardware specification above.

Processor / CPU i3
RAM / Memory 4 GB
Disk / Storage 250 GB hard disk (or smaller solid-state disk (SSD) with external hard disk)
Screen 11 inches or larger
Closed