Honours in Computer Science

The Honours degree is a one-year full-time postgraduate programme that usually follows after the three-year BSc or BCom degree. Over the last forty-five years more than 600 talented students have passed through our programme. It is excellent preparation for pursuing either an MSc degree or a career in industry. This is due in part to the composition of the programme: a mix of core Computer Science theory courses and up-to-date application courses.

The Honours degree is challenging and hard work and students are required to manage their own time and work more independently than during their undergraduate studies, especially on their year-project. However, we pride ourselves on the fact that our graduates are highly sought after. The degree can have a significant impact on your salary and many companies insist on a four-year degree. Further information, such as application procedures and a FAQ, is available on our page for Prospective postgrauate students.

Curriculum: Computer Science Stream

The Honours curriculum has been designed for full-time postgraduate students. Students who would like to study part-time can enroll for a maximum of two years, but note that class attendance is compulsory, because classes often include discussions on known solutions, cutting edge research, or open problems in the field studied. Students should complete an honours project and six elective modules. The list of available postgraduate modules is listed on the postgraduate modules page.

The honours project is worth 32 credits. The honours project is a critical part of the honours degree and is a large software construction or research problem on which the student works independently, under the supervision of a staff member. The project does not follow undergraduate semesters; it starts once the project has been allocated and ends with the final demo and presentation sessions at the end of the year. There are a few deadlines throughout the year, but ultimately students need to manage their own time.

The elective modules are each worth 16 credits and you must register for six modules. The modules are presented, either as blocks, or over a period of 15 weeks, with an additional examination week at the end. The list of all postgraduate modules presented in a specific year is finalised at the start of each year. Students may take at most two postgraduate modules from Mathematics or Applied Mathematics with permission. However, the following two modules from Applied Mathematics do not require approval: Digital Image Processing and Computer Vision. All other external modules are subject to approval by the divisions involved.

Curriculum: Data Science Stream

In the modern era, there is an increasing demand for people able to efficiently deal with the large quantities of data available in all aspects of life. This stream considers the major aspects related to dealing with data. Because understanding the properties of data and using it responsibly has essential statistical underpinnings, we require students to have a background in Mathematical Statistics, and also to take certain honours modules from the Mathematical Statistics honours programme as part of their degree. Students planning to register for this stream, should consult the yearbook for the list of compulsory modules. The elective modules that will be presented each year are listed on the Postgraduate Modules page. Students interested in the data science stream should send an email to kroon@sun.ac.za;

Class of 2022

Important Dates

Class schedules and general info

• First Semester class timetable
• Second Semester class timetable
• Honours 797 intro slides
• Honours lab sysadmin docs

Course frameworks

• Honours 797 programme framework
• Honours 771 project framework

Plagiarism declaration forms

• Plagiarism form for written work
• Plagiarism form for code submissions