Who can apply for an EGS honours degree?

To apply for an EGS honours programme, applicants are expected to have completed a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Geographical Science (or equivalent) with an aggregate mark of at least 65%. 

Three different degrees are offered at the honours level, depending on the applicant’s specialisation and faculty of registration. Students registered through the Science Faculty can register for either an honours degree in Environmental and Geographical Science or Atmospheric Science, and those registered through the Faculty of Humanities can register for an honours degree in Environmental and Geographical Studies.  

We offer information sessions on our Honours programme in the second semester. Please contact Honours convenor, Phindile Sabela-Rikhotso (phindile.sabela-rikhotso@uct.ac.za) for more information on these sessions.

What does an EGS Honours degree involve?

In order to be awarded an Honours degree you are required to complete four courses and a supervised research project leading to a dissertation of 10,000 words.

Coursework

Each course comprises 20% of your final mark. Subject to approval from the Honours programme convenor, up to two courses may be taken in other departments at UCT. Your choice of courses must be formally approved by the Honours programme convenor. You may not take more than three courses in the first semester.

Your progress will be assessed in July, at the beginning of the second semester, and if you are not considered to be meeting the required standard, the department may advise that you discontinue the programme. This is not something to be unduly worried about, but may help to focus the mind. If you feel you need help at any point, please ask, as early assistance is preferable to emergency action later in the year. Your supervisor will be able to help you to meet the required standards, and UCT has many additional resources to support you when needed.

Research Project

The dissertation counts 20% of your final mark. The research project must be carried out under the supervision of an academic based in EGS. The dissertation is an integral component of the Honours degree programme and it is not possible to be awarded an Honours degree without passing this component of the course. The topic and research design must be approved by your supervisor before starting work on the project. The research project provides an introduction to research in your chosen field.

Before embarking on the research project you will prepare a project proposal in collaboration with your supervisor and present it before the department. The nature of the research project, its aims, objectives, conceptual/theoretical context, and methodology should be outlined. EGS staff and students will offer constructive critical comment and EGS staff will grade both the verbal and written proposal. Projects that involve the collection of data from human subjects are required to undergo an ethical review by the Science Faculty’s Ethics Committee. The ethics application process should be scheduled into the project’s overall timeline.

Both the proposal and the dissertation should demonstrate an appreciation of research design, be set in a relevant philosophical and theoretical context, propose appropriate methodologies, analytical procedures and techniques, and strive for the highest standards of description, discussion, interpretation and presentation.

Prior to submitting the final dissertation, you will be required to present your project and its findings at the Annual EGS Postgraduate Colloquium. In your presentation, you should outline the focus of your research topic, state your argument clearly, explain your methodology and arrive at a clearly stated conclusion. The use of visual aids is encouraged.

It is important that the scale of the research project be contained to an appropriate level. Dissertations should be between 7000 and 10 000 words. In the assessment of the project, emphasis is placed upon the conceptual framework and literature survey, problem formulation and research design, application of theory/concepts in empirical analysis and interpretation, data collection, manipulation and interpretation, and the quality and style of presentation.

 

What is the application process for an EGS Honours degree?

To apply applicants must submit:

1.      Please complete the UCT online application form (please read the relevant information if you are a foreign student).

2.      Please complete the departmental application online only once you have all the items ready as required for this application.

3.      Please submit a cover letter that includes a statement of interest that explains why you are interested in doing the Honours degree (maximum 700 words).

4.      Students who have completed their degrees elsewhere are required to ask two referees to submit reference reports through the departmental reference form. If you are an EGS student and have requested EGS staff to be your referee, then you only need to list the names on your application and we will contact them internally.

For general application queries, please contact pgapplications.egs@uct.ac.za. Course content queries can be directed to the course convenor, Dr Phindile Sabela-Rikhotso (phindile.sabela-rikhotso@uct.ac.za).