Masters

Sections:

• Applications
• Scholarships

The admission of a candidate into the MSc in Computer Science presumes a link between the candidate and a supervisor defined during the selection process. The purpose of this requirement is to foster the research work as early as possible.

There are no common obligatory courses to all students, since the program includes a wide spectrum of research areas. The set of courses is built to ensure that each student will attend courses considered fundamental to his/hers area of research, and have the opportunity to select a few other advanced courses in agreement with his/her supervisor. A number of courses is offered as Special Topics, often taking advantage of visiting professors, or exploring new subjects before being offered as regular courses.

There are two stages to be followed by a student during the MSc: credits and dissertation. During the credit stage, students must prepare a small research project, leading to a monograph (called Individual Work). Its purpose is to allow the student to get a better understanding of the methodological aspects required for a MSc. Once this work has been completed, still during the first year, the student must prepare and present the Study and Research Plan (Plano de Estudo e Pesquisa), which will describe the MSc dissertation plan. Dissertations are preferably linked to a research project conducted by the supervisor, offering the student the opportunity to work in cooperation with other researchers.

Within this structure, students obtain credits and write their Individual Work during the first year and, in the second year, write his/her MSc dissertation. Early in the second year, all students must write and present, to a committee of professors, a paper reflecting the current state of his/her dissertation. This activity allows an intermediary evaluation of dissertations.

Since UFRGS is a public university, there are virtually no tuition fees (all expenses are covered by the Brazilian Government). Hence, the program is free to all admitted students, including foreign ones. Further, students may apply and possibly obtain from the Brazilian Government (CNPq or CAPES agencies) a scholarship which helps covering their living expenses. There are also grants from research projects in association with the Industry sector.