Faculty of Sciences > Programs > Masters Programs > MITSc

• Program Summary
• Program Aims
• Program Objectives
• Admission Requirements
• Program Structure
• IT Requirements
• Program Fees
• Enquiries
• Recommended Enrolment Patterns

Key
HECS = Higher Education Loans Scheme
PELS = Postgraduate Education Loans Scheme
RTS = Research Training Scheme
ANZ = Australia and New Zealand Students
INT = International Students

This program provides opportunities for motivated and highly qualified people to study and develop appropriate research skills and specialist area knowledge that will enhance their career prospects or allow them to undertake further studies. Students are allowed flexibility in the choice of coursework courses and research thesis topic so that the specific needs of the student may be met in the Masters degree.

Successful completion of the Master of Information Technology Sciences will enable graduates to:

• identify, interpret and evaluate major issues in contemporary information technology theory and practice;
• comprehend and evaluate developments in a chosen information technology discipline area and critically examine the relationships between such developments and contemporary theory;
• apply a knowledge of the principles and ethics of research;
• identify research topics and undertake research using appropriate methods;
• report and publish research outcomes; and
• proceed to further higher degree studies.

Specifically, successful completion of the Mathematics/Statistics/Computing major will enable graduates to:

• demonstrate and apply detailed theoretical and practical knowledge of at least one of the following areas:
  • applied mathematics,
  • statistics,
  • applied computer science;
• demonstrate and apply detailed practical knowledge in a subset of the above topics;
• conduct literature searches of a research topic and make an assessment of the current state of research in that topic;
• apply their knowledge to a chosen project; and
• undertake research-orientated careers, or progress to higher-level studies in applied mathematics, statistics or computer science.

The program has eight units of coursework and eight units of research work. Some flexibility is allowed in the order of undertaking the coursework courses and the research work.

Entry to the Master of Information Technology Sciences may be available to students who have:

• graduated or completed all requirements to be eligible to graduate with either a Bachelor of Information Technology, Bachelor of Science (Applied Mathematics), or equivalent degree; and
• obtained a grade point average of at least credit level (GPA of at least 5.0 on a 7 point scale) for either:
  • the whole degree, or
  • the second and third years of the degree, or
  • the major study in the degree; or
• worked in a professional role in a mathematics, statistics or computing field and can provide documentary evidence that advanced knowledge has been acquired; and
• if requested, completed a satisfactory interview with the Postgraduate Coordinator.

Acceptance is also subject to the availability of a suitable supervisor.

Prerequisite Knowledge

Students who are not considered to have sufficient previous knowledge of a particular discipline in which they wish to undertake study, may be required to satisfactorily undertake a limited number of additional undergraduate courses in order to gain required prerequisite knowledge.

Research

The project will be a piece of independently conducted research and review with advice from a chosen supervisor. Students are required to select a research topic, carry out supervised research on the chosen topic using appropriate research methods, and present and defend the results in a thesis. For convenience the work contained in the research project has been allocated to four, two-unit courses, CSC8400, CSC8401, CSC8402 and CSC8403, all of which must be completed satisfactorily.

Coursework

A student's coursework plan of study, and any subsequent changes, must be approved by the Postgraduate Coordinator, Department of Mathematics and Computing.

Students will study a coherent set of eight courses selected, subject to availability, from the following table:

Topic Area	Courses	Mode
Statistics	STA4302 Advanced Statistical Methods	ONC
	STA4303 Stochastic Process Modelling	ONC
	STA4304 Time Series	ONC
Applied Mathematics	MAT4102 Chaos	ONC
	MAT4103 Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations	ONC
	MAT4104 Low-Dimensional Modelling in Hydrodynamics	ONC
	MAT4200 Operations Research A	ONC
Computer Science	CSC3407 Computer Communication and Internetworking	ONC,EXT
	CSC3408 Compiler Design and Construction	ONC,EXT
	CSC4402 Computer Network Programming	ONC,EXT
	CSC4403 Advanced Java Programming	ONC,EXT
	CSC4404 Advanced Web Data Management	ONC,EXT
	CSC4405 Object-Oriented Design with UML and Java	ONC,EXT
	CSC4406 Simulation A	ONC
	CSC8406 Process Modelling and Improvement	EXT
	CSC8407 Advanced Topics in Network Analysis and Design	ONC
	CSC8408 e-Commerce Technology and Web Database Integration	EXT
	CSC8409 Document Languages and Agent Technology	EXT
Generic	CSC4480 Computing Complementary Studies A	ONC,EXT
	CSC4490 Computing Complementary Studies B	ONC,EXT

Topics available from time-to-time for Complementary Studies include: Asymptotic Approximation, Water Waves, Logic Programming, Functional Programming, Formal Methods in Software Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Performance Evaluation and Traffic Engineering, Compiler Technology for High-Performance Computing, Parallel and Distributed Languages and Programming, Object-Oriented Design Patterns, Distributed Object Programming, Graphics Tools Development, Spatial Data Structures and their Applications and Object-Oriented and Multimedia Databases. Subject to the approval of the Postgraduate Coordinator, Department of Mathematics and Computing, a student may, in place of courses from the above table, substitute up to two courses from Level 3 courses offered by the Department of Mathematics and Computing (course numbers STA3xxx, CSC3xxx or MAT3xxx) not previously counted towards a degree, or up to two courses from the Information Systems major of the Master of Information Technology (offered by the Faculty of Business).

Students must have reasonable access to a microcomputer.

If students are purchasing a new computer, the following minimum configuration is recommended: Pentium, 64Mb RAM, 8Gb Hard Disk, CDROM, Sound Card, SVGA with 2Mb memory, Windows 95/98/2000, 3-button mouse, modem.

If students already have a computer with specifications that differ from the above, it may be suitable but they should list the specifications of their computer and mail or email them to the Postgraduate Coordinator, Dr Ron Addie (addie@usq.edu.au ) to check its suitability.

In addition, students are strongly advised to have access to the Internet from home.

The University is installing a wireless network for students' computers. In order to take advantage of this facility and further enhance their on-campus learning environment, students should consider purchasing a notebook/laptop computer with wireless connectivity. A notebook/laptop may be required for some courses.

Initial enquiries should be directed to the Faculty Marketing Officer, Mary McGilvray: telephone (07) 4631 2681; email studysci@usq.edu.au .

Currently enrolled students should contact the Program Coordinator, Dr Ron Addie: telephone (07) 4631 5520; email addie@usq.edu.au .

Further information about postgraduate programs, courses and research projects of the Department of Mathematics and Computing may be found at http://www.sci.usq.edu.au/postgrad