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Degrees involving a year of research

A Master of Commerce (MCom), a Master of Science (MSc), or a Master of Applied Science (MAppSc) involves a year of supervised research leading to the writing of a thesis. The entry requirement is a degree equivalent to an Otago four-year honours degree with at least a B+ average in final year papers, or equivalent when coming from outside the university.

Students who only have a three year, ordinary, bachelor degree can be admitted to study for an MCom or MSc by "papers and thesis". This involves taking a year of taught courses before beginning the thesis study. In most cases we prefer to admit these students to a postgraduate diploma, after which they can apply for entry to a thesis-only master's.

A master's degree has an associated major subject. For thesis-only study, this means that the thesis topic must be related to that subject. For study by papers and thesis, the available taught courses will depend on the major subject.

The MCom and MSc can be taken majoring in Information Science. The Master of Applied Science can be taken majoring in Software and Knowledge Engineering or in Telecommunications.

Information and inquiries

Information about the application process and fees for international students is available here. If you have New Zealand residency then the application process is simpler - contact us for information. The IELTS requirement is a score of 6.5 in the academic module (with no individual band below 6.0).

If you decide you are interested in coming here, then it would be useful if you could send us a copy of the transcripts for your previous study. Also, if you think you will be eligible for thesis-only Masters study, please outline some specific research topics that interest you. Although some of our academic staff are happy to propose research topics to potential students, others prefer to see an initial proposal that the student has written, and may then begin an email correspondence to refine the topic if they are interested in the topic and student.

To learn about the research interests in the Information Science department, please refer to our research and staff profiles.

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