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Research Degree Pathways from the MCOMP Honours

The successful completion of an MCOMP Honours can lead to entry to the Masters by Research (MSc) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Computer Science at the ANU. Students potentially interested, please read on. Note that this page should be regarded as advisory, rather than definitive in this matter.

Performance for Admission

In order to have gain entry, you should aim for the following level of performance:

• Distinction level average (70/100) across all courses
• at least as good performance the COMP8800 Computing Research Project.

Performance for Scholarships

In order to be have a realistic prospect of a PhD scholarship, if you have Australian citizenship/residency:

• 75/100 average across all courses.
• at least as good performance in the project course(s). A strong letter of recommendation from your project supervisors and/or examiners is normally needed.
• similar performance in your undergraduate degree.

The main round of scholarships normally close in October, for starting the degree in the following January. It is still possible if you are completing Masters in semester 2 to apply for the next year, but you need to be well underway with your project by then in order for your project supervisor to be able to give a strong recommendation.

In practice, applying for a MSc by Research makes your chances of gaining a scholarship weaker, not stronger. It is better to apply for a PhD if you require a scholarship (you can always articulate from a PhD into a MSc once you start).

If you do not have Australian citizenship/residency, there are much fewer ANU scholarships available, and the competition is very strong. Note also that you need to pay for fees as well as living expenses (there are scholarships for both, but again it is very competitive). An 80/100 average is required for a realistic chance of being awarded a scholarship. Also, for your undergraduate degree, you would need to be in the top 1-2% of graduates, and your undergraduate institution will also need to have a high ranking in its country (CECS Student Services will be able to advise you on this). The closing date is normally around the end of August - most of your results will probably need to be in by this stage, e.g. most subjects finished in July.

If you are an overseas student, then, the best chance is to seek Australian residency. This requires being in Australia at least for 2 years (6 months longer than the minimum time for completing an MIT degree).

Choice of Project Topics

For MCOMP Honours, you should begin seeking a topic in your first semester (or even when you decide to apply).

It is a good idea to chose the same area of computing research for your project as you would anticipate doing for your PhD studies in the future. Thus, it is recommended that you look for topics that are associated with academics or research groups that have ongoing research projects. The research pages of the Department of Computer Science and the Computer Sciences Laboratory are good places to start.

For Further Information

The CS Graduate Student web page contains much information on current PhD projects proposals (some of which have special scholarship monies available), instructions on how to apply and links to information on scholarships (including the precise closing dates for the current year).

If you have further questions, ask the CS Graduate Student co-ordinator or the Masters Convenor.