The Program mission is to prepare students to be fully abreast of the latest developments in all areas of computing. Graduates of this program are expected to competently fill key positions in their fields of interest and to lead the ongoing process of modernization and development in the United Arab Emirates and abroad.

Program Objectives

In line with the university's dedication to the highest spirit of scientific pursuit and learning as well as to the principle of instilling in its students a commitment to critical thinking and continuous progress, the M.Sc. program is oriented to achieve the following objectives:

• To strengthen the students' in-depth understanding of the field of computer science by providing them with strong theoretical & practical foundation.
• To prepare the students to be able to pursue higher degrees and research, and be ready to properly fill computer science teaching positions in higher educational institutions.
• To equip the students with the necessary skills to meet the needs of the governmental and the business sectors in terms of highly trained and qualified IT professionals.
• To extend to the students an environment, both stimulating and challenging, where they can study different subjects in several advanced areas.
  
• To build strong ties with other national and international academic institutions as well as with industry.
  

Program Structure

The Department of Computer Science offers requires the following courses:

Requirement	Credits
Core Courses	10
Elective Courses	15
Thesis	9
Total	34

 

Course #	Course Title	Credits	Prerequisites
1501560	Object Oriented Design	3	1501366 or equiv.
1501591	Research Methodology	3	Grad standing
1501570	Advanced design & Analysis of Algorithm	3	1501371 or equiv
​1501592	​Independent Studies in CS	​1	​Grad standing
Total	​	10

  

Elective  Courses

Elective computer science courses are to be chosen from a list of courses offered by the Department. Students are strongly encouraged to choose among alternative electives in different areas of computer science to fulfill breadth and depth requirements. 

Prior to selecting any courses, students are required to consult their academic advisors for approval. 

Course #	Course Title	Credits	Prerequisites
1501531	Machine Learning	3	Grad standing
1501535	Computer Vision & Image Processing	3	Grad standing
1501540	Advanced Computer Graphics	3	Grad standing
1501630	Topics in Artificial Intelligence	3	Grad standing
​1501635	​Computational Robotics	​3	​1501371 or equiv.
​1501572	​Computational Geometry	​3	​1501371 or equiv.
​1501640	​Topics in Graphics & Visualization	​3	​Grad standing
1501552	Advanced Networks	3	​Grad standing
1501650	Parallel & Distributed Computing	3	Grad Standing
1501550	Advanced Operating Systems	3	1501352 or equiv.
1501565	Data Mining	3	1501263 or equiv.
1501660	Topics in Software Engineering	3	Grad Standing
1501662	Topics in Database Systems	3	Grad Standing
​1501567	​Advanced Information Security	​3	​Grad Standing

 

Master's Thesis

An M.sc. thesis typically consists of a thorough, integrated literature survey in a specific area, with a critical analysis of approaches and results, and a discussion of areas requiring further work. In addition, it includes a report on the research undertaken by the student. The report must constitute sufficient evidence of students' mastery of the research area. A student can register the thesis after completing successfully 12 credits. The student must present a technical seminar based on the thesis research, prior to the scheduling of the final oral examination. An examination committee will review the thesis to determine whether or not it meets the standards set, and will conduct an oral examination to test the candidate's knowledge of the thesis subject and related fields. The examining committee will be formed in accordance with the University graduate regulations.



Study Plan:

Semester 1			​Semester 2
Crs. No.	Course  Title	Cr. Hrs.	Crs. No.	Course  Title	Cr. Hrs.
1501xxx	Elective1	3	1501560	Object Oriented Design	3
1501570	Advanced Design & Analysis of Algorithms	3	1501591	Research Methodology	3
1501xxx	Elective2	3	1501xxx	Elective3	3
Total Hrs.		9	Total Hrs.		9
Semester 3			​Semester 4
Crs. No.	Course  Title	Cr. Hrs.	Crs. No.	Course  Title	Cr. Hrs.
1501xxx	Elective4	3	1501xxx	Elective5	3
1501592	Independent Study in CS	1	1501695	Master Thesis	6
1501695	Master Thesis	3
Total Hrs.		7	Total Hrs.		9

 


Course Description

1501531	Machine Learning	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. Learning problems; concept learning; decision tree learning; artificial neural networks; genetic algorithms; inductive and analytical learning; case-based reasoning; explanation-based learning; and knowledge-based  artificial neural networks.

 

1501535	Computer  Vision & Image Processing	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. ​
Image processing basics; image segmentation and region analysis; thresholding; connected component labelling; pattern recognition; morphology; image and video; motion detection and compensation; stereo vision and depth perception; knowledge-based vision; biometrics-based authentication and identification; and special-purpose computers for vision applications. ​ ​

 

1501540	Advanced  Computer  Graphics	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing.  Principles and properties of lighting models such as Phong shading, ray tracing and radiosity; a selection of visualization and modelling techniques;2D and 3D animation techniques; and color and human perception.

 

1501550	Advanced  Operating  Systems	3
Prerequisite: 1501352 or equivalent. Centralized and distributed operating systems; distributed system structures; synchronization  in  distributed  systems;  processes  and  processors  in distributed systems; distributed shared memory; protection and security. Distributed file systems ​ ​

 

1501552	Advanced  Networks	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing.  Resource  sharing;  computer  traffic  characterizations;  layered  network structure;  network  design  and  optimization;  network  protocols;  routing, flow control and extended error control techniques; introduction to formal techniques for protocol specification, and verification and testing. ​ ​

 

1501560	Object Oriented Design	3
Prerequisite: 1501366 or equivalent. Conventional  methodologies  such  as  Structured,  JSD,  SADT,  etc.; OO paradigm; OO design methodologies (OMT, Booch's,Yourdon's methodologies): a comparative study; conversion from imperative to OO designs. Evaluation of OO designs and software metrics. Use of OO methodologies in various application domains such as multimedia, hypermedia, etc. Automation of the methodologies; OO design evaluation. Case Study. ​ ​

 

1501565	Data Mining	3
Prerequisite: 1501263 or equivalent. Fundamental concepts in database management systems; Web as a medium for sharing and interoperating databases across the Internet; mathematical models and measurements of the Web; URL sampling and search engines; data integration and interchange; XML solutions; querying XML data; storing XML data; data mining, and selected topics. ​ ​

 

1501570	Advanced  Design & Analysis of Algorithms	3
Prerequisite: 1501371 or equivalents or written consent of instructor. The course concentrates on developing and analyzing algorithms for problems, which arise in various applications such as shortest path problems, depth first search and applications, general matching, planarity testing, graph colorability, etc. Depending on the year and instructor, a treatment of topics such as, randomized algorithms, average case analysis of algorithms, the class of #P and algorithms for enumeration problems may be covered.

 

1501572	Computational Geometry	3
Prerequisite: 1501371 or equivalents. The design and analysis of algorithms for geometric problems including convexity, intersection, triangulation, search, proximity and optimization. Lower bound arguments, NP-completeness results, probabilistic algorithms, approximation algorithms, dynamization techniques, and other issues applicable to geometric problems. Applications of geometric algorithms are emphasized.

 

1501591	Research Methodology	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. This course explores the research process in general and the resources for research in computer science. Traditional research approaches and use of emerging technology will be discussed. Attendance at Department seminars and classes is required.

 

1501630	Topics in Artificial Intelligence	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. Various topics can be covered subject to the interest of the students and the availability of faculty. Such topics include: natural language processing; machine translation; speech processing; foundations and applications of logic programming; intelligent computer-aided design; etc.

 

1501635	Computational Robotics	3
Prerequisite: 1501371 or equivalents.  Algorithmic fundamentals of robotics: representing rigid bodies, polyhedral models,  representing  rotations,  configuration  space;  elementary  notions from algorithms and geometry: computational complexity, O notation, graph search techniques, convex hull, intersection detection, algorithms for distance calculations; gross motion planning: global motion planning, local collision avoidance, planning with non-holonomic constraints, and path planning in dynamic environments. ​ ​

 

1501640	Topics in Graphics  & Visualization	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. Topics of current research interest in advanced graphics and human interfaces, chosen from such areas as intelligent user interfaces, user modelling, user interface design, visualization, computer animation, advanced multimedia, and computer-based training using visual display, touch, gesture, and marking; speech, language, and audition; subject to the interests and availability of faculty.

 

1501650	Parallel & Distributed Computing	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. Principles and practice of parallel computing; design, implementation, and evaluation  of  parallel  programs  for  shared-memory  architectures,  local- memory architectures, and vector processors. ​ ​

 

1501660	Topics in Software Engineering	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. Study of formal methods in software engineering: formal specification; algebraic specification; model-based specification; inductive specification; automated program transformation; automated test generation; towards automated program maintenance.

 

1501662	Topics in Database Systems	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. OO data  modelling; OO DBs; version  management;  schema  evolution; query processing and optimization; transaction management; authorization and security in OO databases; client/server environment and distributed databases; and deductive databases.

 

1501592	Independent Studies in CS	1
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. This course helps the student explore specific areas of interest or enables him/her to develop in-depth research in a field of interest. The topic should be related to the area of interest in which the student is planning to prepare his/her thesis. The course helps the student to develop his/her critical thinking and analysis. The registration in this course and its topic should be approved in advance by the student's potential thesis supervisor and the program coordinator.

 

1501567	Advanced Information Security	3
Prerequisite: Grad Standing. In this course, students will study various malicious software attacking computer systems and networks. Most of these attacks are caused by the vulnerabilities in the design and implementation of computer systems. Students will learn different techniques to evaluate the security of computer systems and detect common vulnerabilities. They will also appreciate security principles and standards to write secure code. Students are required to conduct research on the course topics and write a review paper. A project is also required.

1501695	Thesis	9
Prerequisite: Completion of 12 credits. The student has to undertake and complete a research topic in Computer Science under the supervision of a faculty member. The thesis work should provide the student with in-depth perspective of a particular research problem in his chosen field of specialization of Computer Science.  It is anticipated that the student be able to carry out this theoretical research and required practical work fairly independently under the direction of the supervisor.  The student is required to submit a final thesis documenting the research, experiments, findings and defend the work in front of a committee

 

​Special Admission Requirements

To check admission requirements, Click Here

​​