The programme consists of three core courses and two groups of Electives (elective courses). The core courses will enable students to acquire a solid foundation in computer networks, data engineering and software engineering. The elective courses are divided into two groups: Group I and Group II. Students are required to take at least 21 credit units of Electives, including at least 3 credit units of Electives in Group I. The elective courses cover a broad range of areas in the field, including artificial intelligence, data science, information security, multimedia, and other related contemporary technologies. Each course is worth 3 credit units except for the elective Project course which is worth 6 credit units. Through suitable choices of elective courses, students may concentrate on a study stream (Data Science Stream or Information Security Stream) based on their interests. Alternatively, students may also choose any elective courses without concentration on a particular stream. Please refer to the programme’s Web site (http://www.cs.cityu.edu.hk/academic/mscs/) for details.
A typical sequence of full-time study is as follows. The study load of a part-time student is normally about half of that of a full-time student.
Year 1, Semester A
3 core courses (Computer Networks and Internets, Data Engineering, Software Engineering), plus 2 elective courses (such as Big Data Algorithms and Techniques, Information Security for e-Commerce, Information Security Technology Management, Machine Learning, Practical Optimization Algorithms and Techniques, Guided Study)
Year 1, Semester B
5 elective courses (such as Cloud Computing: Theory and Practice, Computer Graphics, Data Warehousing and Data Mining, Privacy-enhancing Technologies, Topics in Machine Learning, Vision and Image), or the elective Project course plus 3 other elective courses