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Postgraduate Degree in Information Technology: Masters and PhD

We are committed to advancing the field of ICT by means of quality research. The core focus of our research is developing contemporary and futuristic ICT innovations for foreseeable real world problems and opportunities.

Quick info
  • Master and PhD students that register full time do not pay fees
  • The minimum and maximum duration of the Masters and PhD Degrees are (1 year and 3 years) and (2 years and 4 years) respectively
  • Masters and PhD Degrees are done as full research projects and the associated thesis. There is no coursework.
  • Full time students may apply for University accommodation
  • International students who plan to reside in South Africa for the duration of their Degree will need to procure and pay for medical insurance (medical aid)

The Department of Information Technology is the primary organizer of the IEEE ICTAS conference. Visit: http://www.ictas.org for more information.

Masters and PhD students can carry out their research in recently opened state of the art labs specially equipped to support high end research in IoT, Cloud Computing, Data Science, Big Data, Deep Learning, Image Processing and other areas.

 

Our research interests

We are interested in research in aspects of Big Data, Data Analytics, Data Streaming, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, NLP, IoT, Edge Computing, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, UX, HCI, Software Engineering, IT project management and Image Processing.

We support quality research within the greater Computing discipline and multi-disciplinary Masters and PhDs. Our department is often home to visiting Professors and Post Doctorate fellows. Their research and projects supplement the above areas and sometimes introduce new areas of interest. Both national and international students enjoy success in our Masters and PhD Degrees.

 

Research project: Carbon Literacy for Youth Employability and Job Creation in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Carbon Literacy for Youth Employability and Job Creation (CL4YEJC) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Project is a British
Council funded research and innovation project under its Innovation for African Universities Programme. The CL4YEJC
in SSA is a transdisciplinary Network Partnership project, which the Durban University of Technology (DUT) (South
Africa) is undertaking in partnership with the Sheffield Hallam University (UK), Kisii University (Kenya), Ladoke Akintola
University of Technology (Nigeria) and Innovate Durban (South Africa).

The DUT and its partners seeks to recruit serious and hardworking Masters and Doctoral students who are interested in conducting interdisciplinary research and innovation in any of the following areas:

  1. Natural Language Processing Pipeline Tasks and lexical resources generation for Climate Change applications
  2. Technology-enabled Climate Change Engagement (Chatbots, IoT, Carbon Footprint modelling etc.)
  3. Environmental Literacy Contextualisation
  4. Language Translation and Transcreation Technologies
  5. Environmental Indigenous Knowledge Systems
  6. Gamification in Climate Change Engagement
  7. Ontology Engineering and Management
  8. Knowledge Management (KM) for Climate Change and Sustainable Development
  9. E-Learning Technology and Learning Management Systems for Environmental Literacy-Framework, Models, Tools and Applications

The ethos of research and innovation-driven entrepreneurship is integral to the strategic thrust of the mission of the DUT and its partners in the CL4YEJC project network partnership. Therefore, in furtherance of the objectives of the CL4YEJC project, the training and mentorship of successful applicants for postgraduate studies will include a series of workshops and vacation schools to enhance their capacity for successful research, innovation, and entrepreneurship endeavour.

For more details of this project. click here.

 

ICT for Inclusivity

Inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities and the DUT Focus Area of ICT and Society, the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics is undertaking research into the use of ICT for Inclusivity. Working closely with the DUT Deaf Centre, the Team is recruiting postgraduate students to work towards the development of a real-time South African Sign Language-to-Speech (SASL2S) translation system. Provisional topics to be covered include:

  • Computer vision non-verbal communication (i.e. recognising hand signs and facial expressions). This can also include feature extraction using image processing techniques, as well as artificial intelligence techniques for recognising and interpreting.
  • Design and development of an IoT smart-glove for capturing signals that indicate different hand signs.
  • Design and development of a comprehensive SASL database to be used for translation. This will include optimising the database and may include elements of compression, data normalisation and data query design.
  • Digital literacy assessment for the Deaf Community. This will involve developing and performing a digital literacy assessment amongst a sample of the Deaf Community to determine perceptions towards an ICT-based SASL2S translation system. The study will inform non-technical requirements of the SASL2S translation system related to elements such as user experience.
  • Meta-analysis and systematic review of assistive technologies for Deaf communities, focussing on sign language to speech translation systems.
  • Augmented and virtual reality assistive technologies for an SASL2S translation system.

 

The ideal candidates for these topics should be passionate about making a difference to humanity,  and be willing to expand their horizons and step outside their comfort zones. Depending on the topic chosen, candidates may require one or more of the following skills: computer programming (including Python, Matlab or C), a strong mathematical/statistical background, knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative research methodology designs, a foundational knowledge of electronic circuits and/or a foundational knowledge of cloud technologies. Students will be considered at both Masters and Doctoral level and be supervised by a diverse team of technical experts with backgrounds in ICT, computer and information science and electronic engineering.

 

Candidates may apply for the Masters or PhD program from 1 November until 31 January. Application documents are available using the links below

Application For: Master of Information and Communications Technology

Application For: PhD in Information Technology PhD IT application