Postgraduate Studies in Computer Science

Postgraduate Programs
The Department of Computer Science offers Postgraduate programs leading to the degrees: Licentiate and/or Doctor of Technology. A postgraduate degree consists of a course part and a thesis part. The Licentiate can be completed in two years with a course part of 40 credit points (60 hp) and a thesis part of 40 points (60 hp). The Doctoral program nominally takes four years of fulltime studies to complete. Its course part is 60 credit points (90 hp) while the thesis part is 100 points (150 hp). There is no postgraduate program for a Master of Science.

Admission
A student may apply to the postgraduate program if s/he has obtained either 60 points (90 hp) in computer science and 20 additional points (30 hp) in mathematics and an undergraduate degree, or a degree in Computer Engineering, or another degree in Engineering with extra courses in computer science, or the corresponding knowledge. For a foreign student these requirements correspond to a Master of Science degree, or equivalent, from a recognised university.

From spring 2008 the admittance is to postgraduate studies at the technical faculty part (LTH) of the Computer Science department only.

The normal case is that admission is open only for students that obtain a designated graduate student position that will grant the financial support for the full time studies expected. In special cases admittance may be allowed for students that have other corresponding financial support, i.e. such as a personal scholarship. The basis for selection among eligible applicants is the degree of ability to assimilate the postgraduate education. This assessment shall primarily be based on the results of independent work, such as exam projects, or in-depth courses.

The acceptance rate depends on the supervision capacity and the overall study conditions at the department.

On admission the student is assigned one main supervisor and at least one assistant supervisor. Based on an annual activity report the student shall consult with the main and assistant supervisors and the director for postgraduate studies to make a plan of study for the coming year. The plan of study is then approved by the principal of the department.

Financial Support
There are no education fees for studies at Swedish universities. The standard way of financing the living expences is by obtaining a designated postgraduate student position, PhD position, (sw. "doktorandtjänst"). These positions are announced at www.lth.se/omlth/ledigatjanster/. A postgraduate position is held for a maximum of four years of fulltime studies. However, most postgraduate students will take part in the undergraduate education and other tasks at the department of an average of 20% each year which will extend the position to five years.

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