PHD by research

A research degree is awarded primarily on the basis of a thesis embodying the results of a research project and any coursework topics (when necessary) or other formal studies required by the University and the School of Computer Sciences to be undertaken during the candidature period.

The degree can be pursued under the supervision of at least one academic staff of the school. Under this mode of study, the candidate is required to complete a thesis within a stipulated time period. Usually, full-time candidates for M.Sc. complete their thesis in 12 - 18 months and for Ph.D. in 30 - 40 months.

Current research and development activities are organised under three research clusters.


CLUSTER

  • COM11 – Enterprise Computing
    01 Service Science and Innovation
    02 Management of Information Systems (MIS)
    03 Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
    04 IT Operations and Management
    05 Technopreneurship

    COM12 – Software Engineering
    01 Service Systems Engineering (SSE)
    02 Software Analysis and Design Patterns
    03 Software Productivity and Quality
    04 Value-Based Software Engineering
    05 Sustainable and Evolutionary Software Systems

    COM13 – Social and Sustainable Computing
    01 Social Informatics
    02 Computer Ethics
    03 Collaborative Computing
    04 Information Evaluation
    05 Usability Engineering

    COM14 – Multimedia Computing
    01 Virtual Reality and Animation
    02 Multimedia Retrieval, Processing and Analysis
    03 Distributed Multimedia and Multimedia Communication
    04 E-Learning
    05 Multimedia Tools and Applications 

  • COM21 – Computational Intelligence
    01 Intelligent System Techniques
    02 Scheduling/Timetabling/Planning
    03 Evolutionary Computing
    04 Collective Intelligence
    05 Brain Inspired Computing

    COM22 – Computer Vision and Image Processing
    01 Image Analysis
    02 Semantic Image and Video Knowledge Extraction
    03 Image Retrieval
    04 Multimodal Integration

    COM23 – Visual Computing
    01 Data Visualisation
    02 Information Visualisation
    03 Knowledge Visualisation
    04 Computer Graphics
    05 Visual Analytics
    06 Virtual Environment

    COM24 – Language and Knowledge Engineering
    01 Natural Language Processing
    02 Automated Translation
    03 Speech Recognition
    04 Speech Synthesis
    05 Semantic Web Search
    06 Text Summarisation
    07 Health Informatics
    08 Knowledge Management and Engineering
    09 Data Mining

  • COM31 – High Performance Computing
    01 Distributed Systems
    02 Parallel Tools and Applications
    03 Cluster and Multicore Computing
    04 Grid Computing
    05 Peer-to-Peer Computing
    06 Parallel Sequence Analysis Algorithms
    07 Parallel Structure Prediction Algorithms
    08 Concurrency Theory in Biology
    09 Parallel Biological Data Mining

    COM32 – Networks
    01 Embedded System
    02 Wireless and Mobile Computing
    03 Quality of Service
    04 Network and Communication Protocols
    05 Network Modeling
    06 Wireless Sensor Networks

    COM33 – Information Security
    01 Network Security
    02 Malware
    03 Cryptology
    04 Steganography
    05 Data Privacy and Preservation
    06 Security Management
    07 Digital Forensic

REQUIREMENTS

  • Applicants should possess the following:

    • A Master’s degree in Computer Science/ Information Technology or equivalent or
    • A Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering/ Electrical Engineering/ Computer Engineering (60% of the core component must be Computer Science related) with
    • A minimum CGPA of 3.00 or equivalent or
    • A Bachelor’s degree with GGPA with greater than 3.67in related areas.
  • (Applicable for International Applicants Only)

    The minimum score for each programme can be vary from the below list, candidates are required to check for each programme requirements.

      • A minimum of Band 6 for IELTS; or
      • A minimum score of 60 for TOEFL (Internet-based); or
      • A minimum of Band 8.5 for TOEFL Essentials (Online); or
      • A minimum score of 169 for Cambridge English: Advance (CAE)/Proficiency (CPE) /Preliminary (PET) /First (FCE)/ Linguaskill Online min. score 169/ Occupational English Test (OET) min. score 250; or
      • A minimum score of 59 for Pearson Test of English (PTE); or
      • A minimum of Band 109 for CIEP Level (ELS); or
      • A minimum of Band 4 for Malaysian University English Test (MUET)

      Exemption is given to candidate if:

      • English is the candidate’s mother tongue or National Language; or
      • Candidate graduated from an Institution of Higher Learning in which the medium of instruction at Bachelor and/or Master degree level is English (statement of proof required)
  • Prerequisite Courses: These requirements are indicated in your offer letter.

    • EKC500 (Science and Engineering Research Methodology)
    • LKM111 (Malaysian Culture and Malay Language) - for international students only

    You may register for EKC500 and LKM111 in the upcoming semester through the Campus Online portal (https://campusonline.usm.my).

    Additional prerequisite courses may be indicated in your offer letter, if any.

    Publication Requirement: You are required to fulfil the publication requirement, (https://shorturl.at/5IPNN) within your candidature period as a requirement for graduation.

  • The following requirements need to be fulfilled although not indicated in your offer letter. These requirements are aimed at monitoring your progress and ensuring your active participation in our academic programs:

    • CCS591 (Research and Empirical Methods in Computer Science): Starting from Semester I 2024/2025, students are only required to sit-in (physical mode) with attendance of at least 70%. The student must register this course by filling in the CCS591 Registration Form available at the School of Computer Sciences.
    • Proposal Review: To be presented by the end of the first year of candidature for PhD students or the 6 months for Master of Computer Science students.
    • CSD Points: Students need to collect a total of at least 40 CSD points based on student participation in related research activities during the candidature period. The minimum collection of 40 CSD points will serve as the requirements before the student proceeds to the Research Review stage.

    CSD points can be collected from the following activities: Computer Science Postgraduate Colloquium (CSPC) (it is compulsory to attend twice during your candidature.

    Students are required to fill in the CSD point collection form yearly according to each research activity category, and submit it together with evidence to Ms. Sheela Muniandy every December.

    CDS Point Collection Form: https://shorturl.at/0U1e2

    The form will be verified by the School, and the student will be notified about the status of CSD point collection through email. Also, an email notification will be sent to students once a minimum collection of 40 points has been collected.

    • Research Review: To be presented by the end of 2 years after clearing the Proposal Review, and is a requirement before being eligible to submit the Notice of Thesis Submission form (for PhD students only).

DURATION

  • Full-time: Min 2 years / Max 5 years
  • Part-time: Min 3 years / Max 7.5 years

FEES

School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +604-653 3647 / 2158 / 2155  |  Fax: +604-653 3684  | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  |  icon admin

  • Last Modified: Tuesday 10 December 2024.