32.20 Scientific Computing
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32.20.1 Administrative Committee
The Administrative Committee, appointed by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies on the recommendation of the Dean of the Faculty of Science, consists of at least one representative of each participating academic unit, and one member external to the University.
32.20.2 Participating Departments and Organizations
This interdisciplinary program offers the Master of Science Degree in both Scientific Computing and Scientific Computing (Co-operative). The departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics and Physical Oceanography and the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science are participants in this program. Other departments and faculties may be involved, depending on the nature of the thesis or project. External organizations may provide placements for co-op students, jointly supervise students, share computing resources and participate in teaching courses.
32.20.3 Admission Criteria and Procedures
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The criteria for acceptance of an applicant are: the applicants' anticipated successful and timely completion of the program, and the willingness of a participating faculty member to supervise the applicant.
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Students will be expected to hold a B.Sc. (Honours) or B.Eng. Degree with honours standing, or equivalent, with a strong computational orientation. At the time of application, the student is expected to provide evidence (for example, transcripts of completed courses) of the student's knowledge of a modern computer language such as Fortran, and/or C and/or C++, and/or Matlab, and/or Python. Evidence of knowledge of differential equations; and/or linear algebra and/or computer graphics would be an asset. Students with an inadequate background may be encouraged to take certain undergraduate courses.
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Admission decisions will be made by the School of Graduate Studies on the recommendation of the Chair of the Administrative Committee.
32.20.4 Program of Study
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The goal of Scientific Computing is to solve technical problems, in science and engineering, using computers and computational methods. Our program is designed to educate students to apply computational, numerical and programming concepts and tools to solve and model complex problems in science and engineering.
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The Program is offered in thesis and project (non-thesis) versions, with the option of a co-operative education program. It is intended that the overall level of student effort and performance required in each version will be comparable. The normal length of time to complete each option is 24 months.
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The work for the thesis or project will be carried out under the guidance of a supervisor (or joint supervisors). The home department of the student will be the same as that of the Supervisor. Upon completion of the work for the thesis or project, each student is required to present a seminar suitable for the interdisciplinary audience of Scientific Computing program students.
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All students are required to complete a minimum of 3 core courses (9 credit hours) selected from the list of Core Courses listing below. All students are also recommended to complete CMSC 6950. Additional courses are required in accordance with the program options as outlined below and will normally be selected from the student’s discipline of specialization. The course requirements for each student are approved by the Program Chair on the recommendation of the student’s supervisor(s), and should reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the program. Students are expected to attend research seminars in their home department as well as those relevant to Scientific Computing, when advertised.
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The thesis option requires the completion of a minimum of four graduate courses (12 credit hours) numbered 6000 or higher, which must include three courses (9 credit hours) from the Core Courses listing below. Equivalent courses may be considered for substitution with approval of the Program Chair. The additional course(s) will normally be chosen from the Additional Courses listing below in the same discipline as the thesis work. The submission of an acceptable thesis is required. The thesis is to contain an original scholarly contribution which must be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies for final examination. The thesis must be written in a format according to procedures outlined in Guidelines for Theses and Reports by the School of Graduate Studies at www.mun.ca/sgs/go/guid_policies/theses.php.
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The project option requires the completion of a minimum of eight graduate courses (24 credit hours) numbered 6000 or higher, which must include CMSC 6009 and at least three courses (9 credit hours) from the Core Courses listing below. Equivalent courses may be considered for substitution with approval of the Program Chair. The additional courses will normally be chosen from the Additional Courses listing below in the same discipline as the project work. An acceptable project report is also required that is based on research performed with the guidance of the student’s supervisor. The project, which will include an in-depth written report, shall require the equivalent of at least one and no more than two semesters of full time work. The project report must be written in a format according to procedures outlined in Guidelines for Theses and Reports by the School of Graduate Studies at www.mun.ca/sgs/go/guid_policies/theses.php. The report will be evaluated by the student’s supervisor, by the Chair of the Board of Study (or delegate), as well as by one other faculty member. Acceptance of a final version of the report (and a passing grade for CMSC 6009) requires the agreement of the three examiners.
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32.20.5 Co-operative Education Option
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A co-operative education option will be available to students who are accepted into the M.Sc. program. Students in this option may follow the thesis or non-thesis version of the program. It is expected to take up to 24 months to complete.
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Students will normally declare their intention to complete the co-operative education option at the start of the second semester of their academic program.
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Students will complete two work terms consecutively, normally following the successful completion of a minimum of four courses (12 credit hours).
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The dates for starting and finishing each work term are shown at www.mun.ca/coop.
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A competition for work term employment is organized by Co-operative Education in cooperation with a designated faculty member from Scientific Computing. Students may also obtain their own work term jobs outside the competition. Such jobs must be confirmed by letter from the employer and approved by the Chair of Scientific Computing and by Co-operative Education on or before the first day of the work term. Work term jobs may be outside St. John’s and possibly outside Newfoundland and Labrador. Students who do not wish to accept a work term job arranged by Co-operative Education shall be responsible for finding an acceptable alternative. By entering the competition, students give permission for Co-operative Education to supply their Memorial University of Newfoundland transcripts and resumes to potential employers.
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Each work term placement will be supervised by the student's program supervisor, the on-site supervisor assigned by the employer and Co-operative Education. The overall evaluation of the work term is the responsibility of the program Supervisor, on-site Supervisor, and Co-operative Education. The work term shall consist of two components:
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On-the-job Student Performance as evaluated by the on-site supervisor and Co-operative Education, in consultation with the program supervisor.
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A Work Report graded by Co-operative Education and the program supervisor in consultation with the on-site supervisor.
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Evaluation of the work term will result in the assignment of one of the following final grades:
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Pass with Distinction: Indicates OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE in both the work report and work performance.
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Pass: Indicates that PERFORMANCE MEETS EXPECTATIONS in both the work report and work performance.
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Fail: Indicates FAILING PERFORMANCE in the work report and/or the work performance. If a student fails to achieve a final grade of Pass or Pass with Distinction, and provided the student has not failed to achieve a grade of 'B' or better in any program course, the student may request to repeat the work term component. The request will be considered by the Chair of Scientific Computing in consultation with the program supervisor and Co-operative Education. Only one repetition of a work term will be permitted in the student’s program.
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Following the completion of the two work terms, each student must complete any remaining course requirements and project report or thesis. Assuming that prior written authorization of the employer and the supervisory committee was obtained and submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, students may include material from the work terms in their reports or theses. For students following the non-thesis version of the program, the two work-term reports may be combined into a single, integrated report for this purpose. All other students must write a thesis on a research project which may be based on research completed during the work terms.
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Students who are accepted into the co-op option are not guaranteed placements. In the event that a student fails to obtain two semesters of placements, but successfully completes all other requirements of the Degree, the student will still be eligible for graduation, but without the designation of a co-op degree.
32.20.6.1 Core Courses
- Computer Science 6731 Topics in Numerical Methods
- Mathematics 6201 Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations
- Mathematics 6210 Numerical Solutions of Differential Equations
- Scientific Computing 6009 Master’s Project
- Scientific Computing 6910 Matrix Computations and Applications or Computer Science 6931 Matrix Computations and Applications (credit may be obtained for only one of the CMSC 6910, COMP 6732, and COMP 6931)
- Scientific Computing 6920 Applied Scientific Programming
- Scientific Computing 6930 Algorithms for Distributed and Shared Memory Computers
- Scientific Computing 6950 Computer Based Tools and Applications (credit may be obtained for only one of CMSC 6950 and the former CMSC 6940)
32.20.6.2 Additional Courses
The following courses are identified as suitable for students in this program. Other courses may be permitted with the approval of the Program Chair.
- 6000-6009 Special Topics in Biochemistry
- 6010-6019 Special Topics in Nutrition and Metabolism
- 6020-6029 Special Topics in Food Science
- 6400 Control of Intermediary Metabolism
- 6460 Structural Biochemistry
- 6520 Nutritional Biochemistry
- 6530 Food Biochemistry
- 6590 Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology (credit restricted with Biology 6590 and Medicine 6590)
- 6630 Marine Biochemistry
- 6680 Processing and Quality of Foods
- 6201 Bioinorganic Chemistry
- 6204 Mechanisms in Catalysis
- 6205 Photochemistry of Transition Metal Complexes
- 6210 Organometallic Chemistry
- 6300 Quantum Chemistry I
- 6301 Quantum Chemistry II
- 6302 Molecular Spectroscopy
- 6304 Computational Chemistry I
- 6310 Electronic Structure Theory
- 6323 Chemical Thermodynamics I
- 6324 Chemical Thermodynamics II
- 6340 Biophysical Chemistry
- 6350 Electrochemical Kinetics
- 6360 Solid State Chemistry
- 6380 Adsorption on Surfaces
- 6381 Surface and Interface Science
- 6382-6389 Selected Topics in Physical Chemistry
- 6390-6398 Selected Topics in Physical Chemistry
- 6399 Chemical Kinetics and Dynamics
- 6401 Organic Spectroscopic Analysis I
- 6402 Organic Spectroscopic Analysis II
- 6470 Physical Organic Chemistry
- 6590-6599 Selected Topics in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry
- 6600 Applications of Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry to Toxicology
- 6904 Advanced Computer Architectures (credit may be obtained for only one of 6904 and the former 6722)
- 6905 Software Engineering (credit may be obtained for only one of 6905 and the former 6713)
- 6906 Numerical Methods (credit may be obtained for only one of 6906 and the former 6731)
- 6909 Fundamentals of Computer Graphics (credit may be obtained for only one of 6909 and the former 6752)
- 6918 Digital Image Processing (credit may be obtained for only one of 6918 and the former 6756)
- 6931 Matrix Computations and Applications (credit may be obtained for only one of 6931, the former 6732, and CMSC 6910)
- 6141 Rotation of the Earth
- 6142 Theory of Global Geodynamics
- 6171 Advanced Exploration Seismology
- 6172 Borehole Seismic
- 6175 Gravity and Magnetic Methods
- 6177 Mathematical Formulations of Seismic Wave Phenomena
- 6918 Airborne and Borehole Electromagnetic Methods
- 6994 Special Topics in Earth Sciences - Geophysical Inversion and Applications
- 7110 Physics of the Solid Earth
- 7120 Crustal Geophysics
Engineering and Applied Science
- 9015 Ocean Engineering Hydrodynamics
- 9052 Ice Properties and Mechanics
- 9501 Finite Element Analysis with Engineering Applications
- 9713 Stochastic Hydrology
- 9815 Electromagnetic Propagation
- 9821 Digital Signal Processing
- 9826 Advanced Control Systems
- 9861 High-Performance Computer Architecture
- 9865 Advanced Digital Systems
- 9869 Advanced Concurrent Programming
- 9871 Information Theory and Coding
- 6112-6119 Special Topics in Applied Mathematics
- 6201 Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations
- 6210 Numerical Solution of Differential Equations (required course for Scientific Computing)
- 6212 Numerical Methods for Initial Value Problems
- 6588 Selected Topics in Statistics and Probability - Generalized Additive Models with Applications in Scientific Visualization
Physics and Physical Oceanography
- 6000 Condensed Matter Physics I
- 6200 Nonlinear Dynamics
- 6308 Ocean Dynamics I
- 6309 Ocean Dynamics II
- 6310 Physical Oceanography
- 6316 Ocean Measurements and Data Analysis
- 6317 Ocean Acoustics
- 6318 Numerical Modelling
- 6320 Turbulence
- 6321 Coastal Oceanography
- 6323 Stability Theory
- 6400 Statistical Mechanics
- 6402 Theory of Phase Transitions
- 6800 Group Theory
- 6850 Quantum Mechanics I
- 601W Work Term 1
- 602W Work Term 2
- 6910 Matrix Computations and Applications (credit may be obtained for only one of CMSC 6910, the former COMP 6732, and 6931) (cross-listed with COMP 6931)
- 6920 Applied Scientific Programming
- 6925 Tools of the Trade for Programming High Performance Computers (2 credit hours)
- 6930 Algorithms for Distributed and Shared Memory Computers
- 6950 Computer Based Tools and Applications (credit may be obtained for only one of CMSC 6950 and the former CMSC 6940)