Programs of Study and Research Areas
The Department of Computer Science offers a graduate program leading to two degrees:
Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). The graduate program consists
of courses and research. Research is conducted under the supervision of a faculty member.
Graduate faculty in the Computer Science Department are interested in a wide range of
subjects related to computing, including programming languages and methodology, software
engineering, operating systems, compilers, distributed computation, networks, numerical
analysis and scientific computing, financial computation, data structures, algorithm
design and analysis, computational complexity, cryptography, combinatorics, graph theory,
artificial intelligence, neural networks, knowledge representation, computational
linguistics, computer vision, robotics, database systems, graphics, animation, interactive
computing, and human-computer interaction.
Admission Requirements
Applicants to both the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree programs must complete an undergraduate
degree equivalent to a four-year program at the University of Toronto with a standing
equivalent to at least B+. Preference will be given to applicants who have studied
computer science or a closely related discipline. Applicants whose primary language is not
English and who graduated from a university where the language of instruction is not
English must achieve a TOEFL score of at least 580 (on the traditional paper test) or 237
(on the recently introduced computer test) and a TWE essay score of at least 4.
Degree Requirements
Both the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree requirements include some courses and a thesis. The
requirements may be reduced for applicants who have already taken some graduate studies in
computer science.
Degree of Master of Science
This degree program requires five computer science graduate half-courses and a thesis. The
courses must satisfy a breadth requirement to ensure a broad and well-balanced knowledge
and understanding of computer science. The thesis should demonstrate the student's ability
to do independent work in organizing existing concepts and in suggesting and developing
new approaches to solving problems in a research area. A high standard of exposition is
expected. This degree is offered on either a full-time or part-time basis.
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
This degree program requires nine computer science graduate half-courses and a thesis. The
courses must satisfy a breadth requirement to ensure a broad and well-balanced knowledge
and deep understanding of computer science. The most important part of doctoral work is
original research conducted under the direction of a faculty member. This research must
constitute a significant and original contribution to computer science. The results must
be presented in a thesis and defended at department and graduate school oral examinations.
For further details, please consult the Graduate Student Handbook prepared by
the Department also available at
www.cs.utoronto.ca/dcs/graduate.
