Postgraduate Studies at the Dept. of Computer Science and AI

Entry Requirements

MSc by Dissertation in Computer Science (Regulations)

The Preparatory Course is composed of a number of credits (both taught and by assignment) which your supervisor deems to be necessary to bring your degree up to the standard of a good first degree with honours. Usually, attendance at the University of Malta is necessary during this period. The duration of the Preparatory Course is of one or two semesters, depending on the number of credits you are required to take.

MPhil/PhD (Regulations currently not available online)

The MPhil/PhD regulations permit MPhil registrations to be upgraded to PhD after a successful application after at least 15 months from the initial MPhil registration.

Course Duration

Finding a supervisor

A Panel of Supervision is created to ensure that a postgraduate student is making sufficient progress and receiving appropriate guidance. The Panel is composed of the Head of Department, the supervisor, and an observer. When the Head of Department is the supervisor, a third member is co-opted as Chairperson. Although the Head of Department and supervisor are expected to be academic members of the Department of Computer Science and AI, the observer can be an academic appointed from any University department.

It is normally the student's responsibility to identify his or her supervisor, although the Department can appoint a supervisor if the student is unable to identify the most appropriate person to supervise their research. A good place to look for a supervisor is to visit the Department's Research and Development Groups and to approach the leader of the group which is most likely to cater for your particular interest. Alternatively, if your interest is not explicitly represented in any of the Research and Development Groups, please contact Chris Staff (cstaff@cs.um.edu.mt), and he will forward your mail to the most appropriate academic member of staff. Please remember to include a description of your interest in your e-mail.

Whether or not you are required to undertake a Preparatory Course, your application to read a Masters by Research must include a detailed description of your proposed area of research. We appreciate that it can be difficult to adequately describe your proposed research topic, so we urge prospective students to contact potential supervisors as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the Call for Masters Applications. The Call is announced in the local press (usually in January, March and July). MSc registration is normally at the beginning of February and October. MPhil applications can be received all the year round, and MPhil registration can happen at any time.

Overseas Students

Normally, students are expected to be resident in Malta during their registration period. However, if regular supervisions can take place at a distance, then it may be possible for non-resident students to undertake a Masters by Research through the Department. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that he or she has access to, and pays for, adequate facilities and resources to undertake research and supervision at a distance.

If you are required to take a Masters Preparatory Course, you must be prepared to reside in Malta for at least the taught component.