Master of Science/Master of Philosophy (coursework & minor dissertation) Specialization in Biostistics
Entry Requirements:
A mark of at least 65% for an honours degree in Statistics of equal standard to the UCT honours degree in Statistical Sciences or a mark of at least 65% for an honours degree in a Biological or Medical discipline that involved a substantial component of quantitative training, as assessed by Head of Statistical Sciences Department, plus successful completion of pre-courses including, introductory calculus, linear algebra and statistical inference, and R programming, as deemed necessary.
Prescribed curriculum
The curriculum comprises four compulsory core courses, elective courses and a minor dissertation.
Compulsory courses:
| Design of Clinical Trials | STA5063Z | 15 credits |
| Longitudinal Data Analysis | STA5067Z | 15 credits |
| Multivariate Statistics | STA5069Z | 15 credits |
| Survival Analysis | STA5072Z | 15 credits |
Students will choose elective courses to bring the total number of coursework credits to a minimum of 90 NQF credits. Students may choose to take electives from other departments with prior approval of the Programme Convener.
Elective Courses:
| Bayesian Decision Modelling | STA5061Z | 15 credits |
| Ecological Statistics | STA5064Z | 15 credits |
| Mathematical Modelling for Infectious Diseases | STA5066Z | 15 credits |
| Machine Learning | STA5068Z | 15 credits |
| Simulation & Optimisation | STA5071Z | 15 credits |
| Advanced Topics in Regression | STA5090Z | 15 credits |
| Bioinformatics for high-throughput biology | IBS5004Z | 15 credits |
Students who do not hold a qualification in Statistics at the Honours level will be required to take pre-courses (STA5014Z) before being allowed to register for the degree. These could include Introductory Calculus, Matrix Methods, Introductory Inference and R-programming.
The minor dissertation component (90 NQF credits) is a research project based on a selected research topic.
| Biostatistics Minor dissertation | STA5058W | 90 credits |
Progression Rules:
Students are required to pass modules adding up to 90 credits to qualify for the course work component of the degree. All core courses must be passed. Students are allowed to repeat a failed module once. Students should pass at least 3 modules in their first year of registration to be allowed to continue with the degree. Students may not progress to elective modules unless they have passed at least 3 core modules. By the end of their second year of registration, students should have passed at least 4 modules to be allowed to continue with the degree. Students may take a maximum of three years to complete their coursework requirement. Students may register for the dissertation components of the degree if they have passed 3 modules. They may, however, not submit their dissertations for examination before they have passed all required modules