Master of Philosophy in Computer Science

at The University of Waikato - Hamilton Campus New Zealand

Studying Social Policy involves examining the issues that affect people and society. It analyses the policies and practices of politicians, public servants, governments and non-governmental agencies, and how they impact on communities and wider society. It takes a broad and encompassing approach, because social policy impacts on all parts of everyday life – from health and education to families, transport and housing, plus the systems and institutions that support them.

Your Social Policy studies at Waikato will cover why and how societies respond to problems such as poverty and unemployment. You'll take part in popular and recurring social policy debates, and gain an in-depth understanding of why social problems arise. You'll investigate and evaluate different ways of responding to those problems.

Engineering professionals are solving the world's problems and leading the way in innovation by improving infrastructure, building smarter technologies and finding alternative energy sources. This research-focused degree is designed for graduates who wish to do further research and develop an innovative solution to an engineering question. Excellence in advanced engineering design, research and development skills are core features of the degree.

Engineering professionals are solving the world's problems and leading the way in innovation by improving infrastructure, building smarter technologies and finding alternative energy sources.As a trained engineer, you will be in-demand and essential for New Zealand’s growth in technology-related enterprises. Our close links with the New Zealand industry ensures you will be work-ready and able to apply your engineering skills and scientific knowledge to solve real-world, industrial and societal problems.

Education and Society involves critical inquiry into the social, political, cultural, and economic policies, theories and practices of education in New Zealand society. Its origins are in humanities and social science disciplines such as History, Philosophy, and Sociology, and it has close affinities with contemporary interdisciplinary fields exploring social policy, culture, gender, and work. Education and Society raises questions about the role of education in addressing issues of social justice, power and inequality.

Studying Design means you will apply theory and practice to research in areas related to how designers think, how they practice and what they produce. Design at Waikato is unique in New Zealand as a specialist design qualification that offers an integration of design and computer science.

You’ll become a designer who can code – making you highly desirable. Waikato also trains design students to problem-solve, and to apply an aesthetic edge, while seeing the full range of creative design possibilities.

Finance is all about achieving the best return relative to risk, and helping organisations add value for their shareholders. Studying Finance at Waikato University will prepare you for highly paid positions in the financial and business sectors anywhere in the world.

Practical assignments will prepare you for exactly what you'll encounter in your financial career. For example, students get to work on a funds simulation project using real data, and prepare a report on a publicly listed New Zealand or Australian company, while playing the role of a trainee investment analyst.

You also have the opportunity to do a practical workplace internship or applied research project as part of your degree.
If you enjoy mathematics, accounting, economics, and using analytical tools to find the meaning behind numbers, than finance may be the right fit for you.

The Political Science program will ask you why some crises lead to armed conflict while others resolve peacefully - why democracy thrives in some countries while it dies in others. We challenge you to learn lessons from international politics and to consider political solutions to international crises. We push you to consider tough questions like those involving equality and freedom - must one be sacrificed for the other to flourish?

Political Science is a highly flexible program and will give you job opportunities from local to national government, media, education, industry, business, labour organisations and social services. We also offer minors in Public Policy and in International Relations and Security Studies which further allows you to investigate relevant contemporary issues.

A major in Theatre Studies at Waikato can be a rich and challenging pathway within an Arts degree. It has a wide range of vocational applications within the Performing Arts.  This suite of papers leads the student through processes of performance-making.

Waikato's Theatre Studies program takes a practice-led approach to teaching and learning different aspects of theatre. We encouraging students to explore and develop their performance practice, while thinking through what theatre does and can do in the world.

The papers in the program provide opportunities for the practical study of performance, although all are underpinned by relevant critical theory. The program focuses on Theatre as an evolving, living, breathing practice, and places emphasis on the processes of performance, as well as public performances.

Practical tutorials, seminars, and rehearsals take place in the theatre laboratory space, and the Playhouse Theatre within the University's purpose-built Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, which is also the venue for many of the public performances.

Careers for Theatre Studies graduates include employment within the creative community, such as community and professional theatres, local arts councils, schools, film production companies, and arts agencies such as Creative New Zealand and New Zealand On Air.

Chemical and Biological Engineering uses process engineering, science and maths principles to transform chemical and biological materials into high value products and services, in a safe and cost-effective way.

As a chemical or biological engineer, you could play a vital role in the creation and production of new medicines, nutritious foods, novel materials, new energy sources, better waste treatment methods and a sustainable global future.

Research into bioprocess engineering is a major part of the wider Chemical and Biological Engineering program at the University of Waikato. Current research being carried out by the University's bioprocess engineering research group includes fermentation of functional foods, production of high value pharmaceuticals, and bioconversion of food waste into value-added chemicals. This research work involves strong industrial collaborations across a wide range of sectors, especially in food, agriculture and energy.

Writing Studies at Waikato offers a writing-intensive learning experience that will enable you to grow as a writer no matter where your interest lies. It will give you the research skills needed to write convincingly about the past, or create a vivid sense of the contemporary world. It will develop the reading and analytical skills essential for effective writing.

You can structure your Writing Studies program to suit your interests and needs. There are papers offered in:

• Creative writing
• Literary non-fiction, including food writing
• Business communication
• Professional speaking and speech writing
• Public relations writing
• The philosophy of language and communication
• Understanding the requirements of specific audiences and readers
• Science communication
• Writing for screen media
• Theories of reading
• Academic writing and research.

Writing Studies graduates seek employment opportunities working for newspapers and magazines, central and local government, schools, the media, theatres, and publishing houses. Writing Studies also lends itself to a freelance career.

Physics aims to understand the entire physical world, from the sub-atomic to the cosmological.

In the School of Science, Physics is taught at a postgraduate level. By studying with us you will develop a thorough understanding of theoretical physics and gain advanced knowledge in areas such as quantum theory and biophysics.

Many famous scientists, such as Einstein and Newton were physicists. Physicists are versed in mathematics, computer programming, experimental science and the design of complex instruments. They are among the most versatile scientists, able to easily cross boundaries into other disciplines such as chemistry, biology, medicine, Earth and planetary sciences. There are biophysicists, geophysicists, astrophysicists and neurophysicists.