The Master’s in Computer Science provides high quality, advanced training to professionals and investigators of a range of specialisations with the field of Computer Science. It increases the knowledge base regarding information technology of those first cycle degree holders who intend to enter directly into the job market whilst simultaneously solidifying the theoretical concepts of those who intend to continue their academic studies. This master’s degree is particularly relevant for those first cycle degree holders who wish to complement their training. It provides technical and scientific improvements to increase students’ employability. It also serves to prepare scholars for doctoral level training.

Fields of Specialization

The Masters Program has three specializations, beyond a generic route.

• Reliable Computing: Fundaments of computer science and rigorous methodologies with immediate application in areas such as computer security and critical systems.
• Parallel and Distributed Systems: High performance distributed systems, peer-to-peer, resource mobility and advanced computing, embedded systems and distributed. Concepts an knowledge that are essential to most demanding computing tasks.
• Data Mining and Data Processing: Data Mining, advancing data bases, structured document processing, image processing, among other topics of growing application in business and scientific research.

Working Language

The MCC is a master´s degree that has grown in numbers of international students admitted. The teaching and materials may be available in Portuguese or in English. Preference is given to English whenever there are students who do not master Portuguese. Therefore, candidates for the MCC must have a good command of English.

Professional Abilities

In this Masters Program in-depth Computer Science / Informatics professional skills are developed through practical, theoretical and
research components, such that its graduates can immediately start their careers either in a business company or in scientific research position. The program exercises a close connection both with the business environment as well as with the high quality research units (INESC TEC, IT-Institute of Telecommunications
and CMUP).

Employment Prospects

This Masters degree gives access to computing careers such as, advanced programmer, systems analyst, data base administrator, data miner, computer projects administrator, system administrator, etc... This program constitutes also an excellent background preparation for any international PhD program, if the goal is to pursuit a career in research or in a highly qualified job. The knowledge and skills here acquired are also a precious asset for a successful career in teaching.

Admissions Requirements

• Holders of a bachelor's degree or equivalent degree under the conditions described in the law, in the areas of Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or similar.
• Undergraduate students who will be able to complete a degree as above before the end of the enrollment for the study cycle; in this case candidates should provide evidence of having completed at the time of application at least 85% of the degree's credits.

Note: in the registration phase, applications that do not prove having completed the degree (or equivalent) by the end of the enrollment deadline will be excluded.

Criteria for Selection and Ranking

The ranking will be done according to the following criteria and sub-criteria:

Criterion 1: academic curriculum (adequacy and grade) (90%)

• Subcriterion 1.1: bachelor’s degree adequacy (20%)
  The degree adequacy will be scored on a scale of 0 to 20 according to the following principles:
  
  • degrees providing solid background in the fundamental areas of Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, and Electrotechnical Engineering, will get a score of 20;
  • other degrees with a solid background in mathematics and / or technologies in areas related to the cycle of studies will get a score of 15;
  • applications that do not fit in the previous cases will be analysed on a case-by-case basis; the score in this sub-criterion will be determined according to the Curricular Units carried out in the relevant areas for the cycle of studies.
• Subcriterion 1.2: adjusted bachelor’s degree grade (70%)
  

  The adjusted grade is obtained by normalising the bachelor’s degree average grade to the 0-20 scale (rounded to the nearest integer), adding the value of ln(R/r), and rounding to the first decimal digit, where ln expresses the natural logarithm and R and r are the rankings for the University of Porto and the institution issuing the candidate degree, as published in the WeboMetrics site ( http://www.webometrics.info.)

  For admitted applications where the degree has not yet been concluded, the previous formula applies, replacing the bachelor’s degree final grade with the weighted average of the curricular units completed on the application date rounded to the nearest integer.

Criterion 2: scientific curriculum and professional experience (10%)

The scientific curriculum and professional experience are classified from 0 to 20 according to the following two sub-criteria, considering the relevance of the indicators for the area of the cycle of studies.

• Subcriterion 2.1: technical and / or scientific publications and communications (5%)
• Subcriterion 2.2: professional experience in industry, participation in research projects or internships (5%)

Tie breaks: In the event of a tie, the ranking of the higher education institution considered in sub-criterion 1.2 will be used as the first tie break criterion, and the result of an interview as the second tie break criterion.

Observations:
Grades of completed curricular units must be certified by an official transcript to be presented by the candidate, including, whenever possible, their weighted average.

If the candidate does not hold a bachelor's degree, the average grade should be certified in the official transcript, or (if this is not available) be explicitly mentioned in the comments field of the application form.

Information

• Application Dates 2024-2025
• Readmission Dates 2024-2025
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Contacts

Course Director:	m.cc.diretor@fc.up.pt
Postgraduate Section:	pos.graduacao@fc.up.pt
Students:	m.cc@fc.up.pt

This information is provided strictly for informational purposes
and does not preclude consultation of the Official Gazette.

General information

Study Plan

Certificates

Predominant Scientific Areas