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Doctor of Philosophy (COM)


  • OVERVIEW

    A research degree is awarded primarily on the basis of a thesis embodying the results of a research project and any coursework topics (when necessary) or other formal studies required by the University and the School of Computer Sciences to be undertaken during the candidature period.

    The degree can be pursued under the supervision of at least one academic staff of the school. Under this mode of study, the candidate is required to complete a thesis within a stipulated time period. Usually, full-time candidates for M.Sc. complete their thesis in 12 - 18 months and for Ph.D. in 30 - 40 months.

    Current research and development activities are organised under three research clusters:

    Service Computing COM11-Enterprise Computing 01 Service Science and Innovation
    02 Management of Information Systems (MIS)
    03 Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
    04 IT Operations and Management
    05 Technopreneurship
    COM12-Software Engineering 01 Service Systems Engineering (SSE)
    02 Software Analysis and Design Patterns
    03 Software Productivity and Quality
    04 Value-Based Software Engineering
    05 Sustainable and Evolutionary Software Systems
    COM13-Social and Sustainable Computing 01 Social Informatics
    02 Computer Ethics
    03 Collaborative Computing
    04 Information Evaluation
    05 Usability Engineering
    COM14-Multimedia Computing 01 Virtual Reality and Animation
    02 Multimedia Retrieval, Processing and Analysis
    03 Distributed Multimedia and Multimedia Communication
    04 E-Learning
    05 Multimedia Tools and Applications
    Data to Knowledge COM21-Computational Intelligence 01 Intelligent System Techniques
    02 Scheduling/Timetabling/Planning
    03 Evolutionary Computing
    04 Collective Intelligence
    05 Brain Inspired Computing
    COM22-Computer Vision and Image Processing 01 Image Analysis
    02 Semantic Image and Video Knowledge Extraction
    03 Image Retrieval
    04 Multimodal Integration
    COM23-Visual Computing 01 Data Visualisation
    02 Information Visualisation
    03 Knowledge Visualisation
    04 Computer Graphics
    05 Visual Analytics
    06 Virtual Environment
    COM24-Language Engineering 01 Natural Language Processing
    02 Automated Translation
    03 Speech Recognition
    04 Speech Synthesis
    05 Semantic Web Search
    06 Text Summarisation
    COM25-Knowledge Engineering 01 Health Informatics
    02 Knowledge Management and Engineering
    03 Data Mining
    Enabling Technologies and Infrastructure COM31-High Performance Computing 01 Distributed Systems
    02 Parallel Tools and Applications
    03 Cluster and Multicore Computing
    04 Grid Computing
    05 Peer-to-Peer Computing
    COM32-Computer Networks 01 Embedded Systems
    02 Wireless and Mobile Computing
    03 Quality of Service
    04 Network and Communication Protocols
    05 Network Modeling
    06 Wireless Sensor Networks
    COM33-Information Security 01 Network Security
    02 Malware
    03 Cryptology
    04 Steganography
    05 Data Privacy and Preservation
    06 Security Management
    07 Digital Forensic
    COM34-High Performance Computational Biology 01 Parallel Sequence Analysis Algorithms
    02 Parallel Structure Prediction Algorithms
    03 Concurrency Theory in Biology
    04 Parallel Biological Data Mining

    Note:- The above may serve as a guide for applicants to choose his/her title and research field.

    Expertise available in the following School: School of Computer Sciences

  • ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

    Applicants should possess the following:

    A. A Master’s degree (Coursework or Mixed Mode) in Computer Science/Computing/Information Technology or equivalent; 

    1. CGPA of at least 3.00/4.00; or

    2. CGPA between 2.50 - 2.99/4.00 with the following additional conditions; or
      a)Research experience for at least two (2) years; or
      b)Professional experience in related field for at least two (2) years; or
      c)Two (2) academic publications in the field; or
      d)Grade B+ for major/elective courses; or
      e)Grade B+ for coursework mode project or Pass for mixed mode dissertation

    B. A Master’s Degree (Research Mode) in Computer Science/Computing/Information Technology or equivalent; or

    C. A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Computing/Information Technology or equivalent with minimum CGPA 3.67/4.00 (fast-track to PhD**)

    ** Subject to interview

    Any Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Computing/Information Technology awarded by local private institutions of higher learning, including those awarded under any collaborative/franchising schemes with local or foreign partners must be accredited by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA).

  • LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

    (Applicable for International Applicants Only)

    The minimum score for each programme can be vary from the below list, candidates are required to check for each programme requirements.

    • A minimum of Band 6 for IELTS; or
    • A minimum score of 60 for TOEFL (Internet-based); or
    • A minimum of Band 8.5 for TOEFL Essentials (Online); or
    • A minimum score of 169 for Cambridge English: Advance (CAE)/Proficiency (CPE) /Preliminary (PET) /First (FCE)/ Linguaskill Online min. score 169/ Occupational English Test (OET) min. score 250; or
    • A minimum score of 59 for Pearson Test of English (PTE); or
    • A minimum of Band 109 for CIEP Level (ELS); or
    • A minimum of Band 4 for Malaysian University English Test (MUET)

    Exemption is given to candidate if:

    • English is the candidate’s mother tongue or National Language; or
    • Candidate graduated from an Institution of Higher Learning in which the medium of instruction at Bachelor and/or Master degree level is English (statement of proof required)

    IMPORTANT: Candidates are required to provide any of the above English result upon application. Incomplete application will be rejected.

  • DURATION

    • Full-time: Min 2 years / Max 5 years
    • Part-time: Min 3 years / Max 7.5 years
  • FEES

    Malaysian (MYR)
    Full Time Part Time
    • Registration Fee : 330.00
    • Tuition Fee (Semester) : 4,150.00
    • Thesis Evaluation Fee : 800.00
    • Convocation Fee : 200.00
    • Research Methodology : 320.00
    • Registration Fee : 330.00
    • Tuition Fee (Semester) : 3,535.00
    • Thesis Evaluation Fee: 800.00
    • Convocation Fee : 200.00
    • Research Methodology : 320.00

     

    International (USD) *
    Full Time Part Time
    • Registration Fee : 225.00
    • Personal Bond : 1,000.00
    • Tuition Fee (Semester) : 1,850.00
    • Thesis Evaluation Fee: 250.00 
    • Convocation Fee : 50.00
    • Research Methodology : 80.00
    • Registration Fee : 225.00
    • Personal Bond : 1,000.00
    • Tuition Fee (Semester) : 1,570.00
    • Thesis Evaluation Fee : 250.00 
    • Convocation Fee : 50.00
    • Research Methodology : 80.00

    *NOT inclusive 6% Sales and Service Tax (SST) imposed by Government of Malaysia

    ** Fees are subject to change

Postgraduate

Institute of Postgraduate Studies
Universiti Sains Malaysia,
11800 Penang, Malaysia.

Tel: +604-653 6309 / 6027 / 2606 / 2946 / 2958
Fax: +604-653 2931

Disclaimer

This website uses the GTranslate component to provide translation into Bahasa Melayu & Chinese Simplify. In the event of any inaccuracies in the translation, the English version shall be referred to as the official reference of this website.

Last Update: Thursday 05 March 2026.

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