Specializations
Certain technical electives available to software engineering students have been organized into specific areas that reflect strong or emerging industry interest. This allows you to focus most of your technical electives in key areas of study.
How do I get a specialization?
The courses within each specialization are divided into two groups: the first group contains courses that are key to the area, and the second group contains supplementary “breadth” courses. To earn a specialization, you must take and pass a minimum of three courses (4.5 units) as follows:
- Three or more courses must be from Group 1; OR
- Two or more courses must be from Group 1, and one or more courses must be from Group 2.
Note: If you would like to take more than one specialization, a maximum of one course (1.5 units) can be shared across no more than two specializations.
What if I want to take a course that isn't listed on this page?
The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science offers a variety of additional courses that are not listed below but may qualify as technical electives in a given specialization, including topics courses, directed studies, and technical projects. If you feel a course is appropriate for your targeted specialization, please contact the BSEng advisor before registering for the class as permission is required from the Program Director.
Where is my specialization noted?
Specialization areas are not noted on your transcript. However, once you finish your degree, you can request a certificate from the Software Engineering Academic Advisor to show that you completed the requirements for the specialization area. Specialization certificates are prepared and distributed during convocation week.
The deadline for certificate requests is 30 days prior to convocation.
Specialization areas
Data mining and analysis, artificial intelligence, and machine learning
Group 1
Group 2
- CSC 402 - Systems for Massive Datasets
- CSC 412 - Computing for Cognitive Augmentation
- CSC 425 - Analysis of Algorithms
- CSC 427 - Advanced Topics in Bioinformatics
- CSC 428 - Computational Biology Algorithms
- CSC 349A - Numerical Analysis
- CSC 445 - Operations Research: Linear Programming
- CSC 446 - Operations Research: Simulation
- ECE 403 - Optimization for Machine Learning
- ECE 471 - Computer Vision
Cyber-physical and smart systems
Group 1
Cybersecurity and privacy
Group 1
Performance and scalability
Group 1
Interaction design and data visualization
Group 1
Visual computing (vision/graphics)
Group 1
Disclaimer
Not all elective courses are offered every year, and some courses may require additional prerequisites outside of the software engineering core. Check the UVic Calendar for current course schedules and prerequisites. If you need help planning your electives, make an appointment to see the BSEng advisor.
Software engineering specializations and the courses that qualify may be changed without notice.
Last updated April 27, 2023
The above specializations have been updated: any course registrations as of May 1, 2023 will use these new course lists. Here is a summary of the course additions, deletions, and group changes.