Computer Science (MSc)
In our MSc program, you’ll learn and use expert research methods. You’ll work under faculty supervision on a thesis or project of your choice.
You’ll study a range of courses to broaden your knowledge of computer science. You’ll graduate with a well-rounded skill set that will give you a competitive edge in your career of choice, as well as a foundation for further advanced studies.
| Expected length | Project or thesis | Course-based |
|---|---|---|
| 2 years | Yes | No |
Quick facts
- Program options:
- Master's
- Study options:
- Full-time study
- Program delivery:
- On-campus
- Dynamic learning:
- Co-op optional
Outcomes
Students in this program will:
- design, implement, and analyze computational solutions that address real-world problems
- acquire advanced computer science, engineering and complementary interdisciplinary skills
- gain academic research and/or industrial experience in computer science
- respect security, privacy and diversity of end-users in problem-solving and decision-making in the information technology (IT) industry
- learn the role, ethics and responsibilities of computer scientists
Find a supervisor
Computer Science MSc applicants don’t need a supervisor to apply for admission.
However, you should list potential supervisors in your application. Supervisors make the final decisions on admission for eligible applicants.
Alex Thomo
Professor Large-scale graph algorithms, social network analysis, knowledge graphs, LLM applications, differential privacy, data management systems
Alexandra Kitson
Assistant professor; acting combined program advisor for psychology/CSC Human-computer interaction, interaction design, digital health, extended reality, affective computing
Amber Horvath
Assistant professor Sensemaking, developer experience (DevEx), human-centered software engineering, developer tooling, developer diversity equity and inclusion, social sciences, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, generative AI
Anthony Estey
Associate teaching professor; experiential learning coordinator Computer science education
Ashery Mbilinyi
Assistant professor Medical image analysis, machine learning for healthcare, information retrieval, computer vision
Bill Bird
Associate teaching professor; combined program advisor for math/CSC Data compression, computer science education, linear algebra, optimization
Brandon Haworth
Associate professor Graphics, agent-based modelling, crowd simulation, multi-agent reinforcement learning, deep learning, digital games, human computer interaction, human-centred design, artificial intelligence, augmented intelligence
Bruce Kapron
Professor Theory of computing, logic in computer science, computational complexity, cryptography
Celina Berg
Teaching professor; associate dean, undergraduate programs Computer science education
Charles Perin
Associate professor Information visualization, personal visualization, human-computer interaction, interaction design, interactive technologies, data empowerment, sports visualization, augmented reality, situated visualizations
Chenxi Liu
Assistant professor Computer graphics, image generation, vector graphics and 2D visual representations, sketch processing, geometry processing, human-centred creative AI tools
Daniel German
Professor Software engineering, software evolution, open source software development, intellectual property
Daniela Damian
Professor; ECS-CAPI chair in inclusive science, technology & engineering Software engineering, requirements engineering, human-AI collaboration, computer-supported collaborative work, human-computer interaction, value-based software engineering, global software development, human-centric hybrid intelligence
Ekaterina Kochmar
Associate professor Natural language processing, artificial intelligence in education, machine learning
Gabriel Tamura
Associate teaching professor Software architecture, software engineering, applied data science/AI, digital twins
George Tzanetakis
Professor; combined program advisor for music/CSC Computer audition, audio signal processing, machine learning, music information retrieval, human computer interaction, computer assisted music education, music robotics and sensors
Hausi Müller
Professor Software engineering, software evolution, autonomic computing, adoption-centric software engineering, software architecture, software reverse engineering, software reengineering, program understanding, visualization, software engineering tool evaluation
Ibrahim Numanagić
Associate professor; Canada research chair, tier 2, computational biology and data science; combined program advisor for health information science/CSC Computational biology, bioinformatics, algorithms, data science, programming languages
Jaya Prakash Champati
Assistant professor; acting honours advisor Edge artificial intelligence, online learning, age of information, approximation algorithms
Jens Weber
Professor; associate dean, professional programs & development Software engineering, data and knowledge engineering, health informatics, graph transformation systems, reengineering, safety and security engineering
Kui Wu
Professor Computer networks, wireless and mobile networking, mobile computing, network security
LillAnne Jackson
Associate teaching professor Memory consistency for multiprocessor architecture, computational geometry, teaching concurrency, computer science education
Margaret-Anne Storey
Professor; Canada research chair tier I, human and social aspects of software engineering Software engineering, human-computer interaction, information visualization, social informatics, knowledge management and computer-supported collaborative work
Miguel Nacenta
Associate professor Human-computer interaction, information visualization, design, user experience, typography, perception, cognition
Neil Ernst
Associate professor; acting associate chair, graduate; combined program advisor for geography/CSC; director, Matrix Institute for Applied Data Software engineering, software architecture, requirements engineering, technical debt, empirical methods
Nishant Mehta
Associate professor; combined program advisor for data science Machine learning theory
Norha Villegas
Professor; software engineering program director Self-adaptive and autonomic systems, dynamic context management and situation awareness, agentic AI & generative AI ecosystems, digital twins and cyber physical systems, quantum software engineering, engineering education research
Regan Mandryk
Professor, acting associate dean, research; Canada research chair tier 1, digital games and immersive social technologies Human-computer interaction, digital games, e-sports, affective computing, social computing and digital collaboration
Rich Little
Associate teaching professor; associate chair, undergraduate Numerical analysis, numerical linear algebra, computer science education
Roberto Bittencourt
Assistant teaching professor Computer science education, software engineering education
Sajin Koroth
Assistant professor Theoretical computer science, complexity theory, communication complexity, circuit complexity
Sean Chester
Associate professor Data management, parallel computing, algorithm engineering
Shengyao Lu
Assistant professor Graph-native AI, graph representation learning, human-centered, trustworthy and explainable AI
Simon Diemert
Assistant professor Safety and security engineering, AI-based engineering tools, assurance for physical AI and adaptive systems, software verification and validation, regulation and ethics in software engineering
Sowmya Somanath
Associate professor Human-computer interaction, interaction design, creativity support tools, systems for wellbeing and happiness, future of work, tangibles and physical computing
Sudhakar Ganti
Associate professor Traffic management, traffic engineering, quality of service for high speed networks, anomaly detection, traffic based network security analysis, resource allocation for cloud computing
Teseo Schneider
Associate professor Geometry processing, computer graphics, numerical simulations
Ulrike Stege
Associate professor; director of Master of Engineering in Applied Data Science (MADS) program Computational biology, parameterized complexity, design of heuristics, graph theory, cognitive psychology
Valerie King
Professor Graph algorithms and data structures, randomized algorithms and probabilistic analysis, fault tolerant distributed computing
Yu Yan
Assistant teaching professor Adaptive and personalised learning, affective engineering, machine learning, fuzzy systems, STEM education, data science
Yun Lu
Assistant professor Differential privacy theory and applications, privacy estimators and auditors, secure multiparty computation and rational cryptography, especially blockchain security under rational attackers
Yvonne Coady
Professor Scalable distributed system infrastructures, observability in systems, applied AI workflows
Program details
Providing you accurate admission requirements, application deadlines, tuition fee estimates and scholarships depends on your situation. Tell us about yourself:
Program details
Application deadlines
January – apply by June 15
May – apply by October 15
September – apply by December 15
January – apply by June 15
May – apply by October 15
September – apply by December 15
International students should submit their online application plus supporting documents well in advance of these deadlines.
Admission requirements
Program specific requirements
Most students in this program have an undergraduate degree in computer science, computer engineering, software engineering or mathematics with an emphasis on computer science.
As part of your application, you must also submit:
- Two assessment reports from academic or professional references
- A current résumé
- A statement of intent that includes a brief explanation of your career goals and areas of research interest
- Post-secondary transcripts
- Graduate Records Examination results (optional, but highly recommended for international students)
Program specific requirements
Most students in this program have an undergraduate degree in computer science, computer engineering, software engineering or mathematics with an emphasis on computer science.
As part of your application, you must also submit:
- Two assessment reports from academic or professional references
- A current résumé
- A statement of intent that includes a brief explanation of your career goals and areas of research interest
- Post-secondary transcripts
- Graduate Records Examination results (optional, but highly recommended for international students)
Completion requirements
View the minimum course requirements for this program.
View the minimum course requirements for this program.
Funding & aid
Tuition & fees
Estimated minimum program cost*
* Based on an average program length. For a per term fee breakdown view the tuition fee estimator.
Estimated values determined by the tuition fee estimator shall not be binding to the University of Victoria.
Ready to apply?
You can start your online application to UVic by creating a new profile or using an existing one.
Faculties & departments
Related programs
Need help?
Contact Aimee Coueslan at cscgsec@uvic.ca or 250-472-5703.