COMPA13978 - Computer Science

Program Structure

Computer Science is the study of computational systems, and encompasses the fundamental areas of algorithms, data structures and computer structures, as well as specialised areas. The program is flexible enough that students can combine the study of computing with some other discipline, or can concentrate entirely on computing.

The Computer Science program is arranged around a core of courses designed to acquaint you with the fundamental principles so that you can easily adapt to changing computing practices. The core material is supplemented by a wide choice of elective material from other disciplines. Possible electives include mathematics, physics, information systems and other business courses, electrical engineering, and courses from the humanities, for example.

UOC denotes Units of Credit, a measure of the amount of work required in a course.

* COMP3711 and SENG4921 have been replaced by COMP4920 and 6UOC of Year 3/4 Computer Science Electives from s2, 2012 onwards.

Electives

Electives are selected from any other discipline where pre-requisites are met. Students should observe the followoing restrictions:

• Students are not permitted to complete more than 30 UoC of First Year electives.
• Students proceeding to the Honours year must take at least 30 UoC level 3 courses.
• Students can do any COMP3xxx, COMP4xxx , and COMP9xxx courses to meet their Year 3/4 Computer Science Electives requirements if they meet the pre-requisites for that course.

Full list of COMP courses available here.

Streams

The flexibility of the Computer Science Program allows specialisations within the program such as Robotics and Computer Games as well as combining it with minors such as Commerce and Japanese. You can specialise in the following areas:

COMPA1 Computer Science
COMPG1 Computer Game Design & Construction
COMPI1 Artificial Intelligence
COMPH1 Human Computer Interaction
COMPR1 Robotics
COMPE1 Electronic Commerce
COMPN1 Computer Networks
COMPD1 Database Systems  

Full details of these streams can be found here.

With the approval of the Program Director, students in this program wishing to fulfil the requirements for a major in a second science discipline, as well as the Computer Science requirements, may substitute a course from the other discipline for one of the level 3/4 computing electives.

The selections for secondary streams in the Computer Science program are the same as for a straight Bachelor of Science and can be found here in Table A.

Minors

Minors can no longer be declared due to a change in the rules governing the Bachelor of Science 3970 program. Students who have previously declared a minor should check the requirements in the handbook listing for the year the minor was first declared. 

General Education

UNSW wants all students to develop skills in a broad range of areas, not just in their specific study discipline, and so students in all degrees are required to undertake a number of general studies courses outside their discipline. Students should select courses from disciplines that are not available in their program as core or elective courses.

See UNSW on General Education for more information.

Year 4 Honours (optional)

Computer Science Honours takes one year full-time or two years part-time of study. Normally, students are expected to have attained an average mark of 65 (according to the myUNSW calculations) to qualify for entry to the honours year. Students who do not meet this expectation may be admitted in special circumstances.

Students who have graduated with a three year computer science degree from the University of NSW or another university can apply for admission to honours.

Detailed information about the program is available on the Honours website.