General Admission Criteria:

Applications for admission to the program will be considered only from candidates that fulfill the minimum entrance criteria as described below:

• A Bachelor Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or any other related field from a recognized university (i.e. American, European, or another recognized equivalent qualification) with a CPA of at least 2.0. Applicants with lower CPA will be considered on an individual basis. Applicants with a non-computer science background may be admitted into the program but they may have to take preparatory foundation courses (the list of courses depends on the applicant’s background).
• Proficiency in the English Language: Students satisfy the English requirements if their first degree was taught in English. Otherwise, they would need to present at least a TOEFL score of 550 paper-based or 213 computer-based, or GCSE “O” Level with “C” or IELTS with a score of 6.0 or score placement at the ENGL-100 level of the University of Nicosia Placement Test.

Specific Admission Criteria:

• A completed application form
• A Curriculum Vitae indicating the student’s education, academic and professional experience, any publications, awards, etc.;
• Letters of Recommendation: Two recommendation letters from academic or professional advisors.
• Personal Statement: A letter highlighting the applicant’s individual competences and strengths and providing his/her reflections regarding the expectations and value of the program as well as to his/her personal advancement and career development.

Course assessment usually comprises of a comprehensive final exam and continuous assessment. Continuous assessment can include amongst others, mid-terms, projects etc.

Letter grades are calculated based on the weight of the final exam and the continuous assessment and the actual numerical marks obtained in these two assessment components. Based on the course grades the student’s semester grade point average (GPA) and cumulative point average (CPA) are calculated.

The student must complete 90 ECTS and all programme requirements.

A minimum cumulative grade point average (CPA) of 2.0 is required. Thus, although a ‘D-‘is a PASS grade, in order to achieve a CPA of 2.0 an average grade of ‘C’ is required.

Upon successful completion of this program, the students should be able to:

1. Critically evaluate computer-based systems, processes and programs, and apply theory, practices and tools for their specification, design, implementation and maintenance;
2. Critically analyze and evaluate software solutions from the perspective of software architecture and design patterns;
3. Demonstrate initiative and originality in the specification, design and implementation of computer-based systems, processes, and programs, as well as in the implementation of software project management to meet desired functional and quality requirements;
4. Critically analyze and evaluate the security risks that may be involved in the operation of computing equipment within a given context;
5. Deploy effectively the tools used for the construction and documentation of software, and in particular in the process involved in using computers to solve practical problems;
6. Communicate clearly and analytically using techniques derived from scientific practice in group meetings, presentations, lectures, written reports, and research papers;
7. Exhibit such skills that are required to participate in research and development work or to independently work in other qualified areas as well as be able to continue studies towards a doctoral degree

Specific Learning Outcomes per Specialization

Cyber Security

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the students should be able to:

1. Employ advanced skills to conduct attacks on networks and systems in a controlled setting to gain practical experience with attack methodologies;
2. Integrate complex key technologies to formulate a set of strategic approaches to defend and countermeasure attacks on networks and systems;
3. Critically analyze and evaluate the cyber warfare landscape, including targets, attack techniques and tools, defense tactics, legislations, and ethical dilemmas;
4. Innovatively practice security as an integral part in the system development lifecycle rather than an add-on feature.

Mobile Systems

1. Upon successful completion of this concentration, the students should be able to:
2. Act with initiative in decision-making for the most appropriate methodology in analyzing and critically assessing existing Services and Protocols in Mobile environments;
3. Employ critical thinking for the key issues in designing applications in cross-platform operating systems and achieve a deep and systematic understanding of the technical aspects for platform dependent and platform independent applications;
4. Synthesize novel implementations for the efficient utilization of components across platforms, which facilitates scalability and extensibility of mechanisms and applications on different platforms;
5. Design and undertake substantial investigations to address significant areas of theory and/or practice, synthesize and construct new knowledge for various Mobile and Wireless networking issues and assess the key methodologies for monitoring Mobile Systems’ performance;
6. Build, test, and critically evaluate Mobile software solutions collaboratively (in a group) or autonomously, in order to develop a project in the area of Mobile Systems.

Blockchain Technologies

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the students should be able to:

1. Systematically analyze decentralized digital currencies and the underlying blockchain technology;
2. Analyze and critically assess the architecture of the bitcoin system, including the data structure used for the bitcoin blockchain;
3. Use the Bitcoin Script language to develop different type of scripts using the provided API;
4. Systematically analyze the horizontal and vertical application areas of blockchains, beyond digital currencies;
5. Envision the disruptive potential of blockchains in combination with other technological developments (IoT, AI, etc.), in the field of money and commerce;
6. Provide a deep understanding of smart contracts and their role in the emergence of decentralized applications;
7. Critically assess and develop innovative DApps (Decentralized application development).

Section: A Major Requirements
ECTS: Min. 34 Max. 34

Section: B Concentration 1: Cyber Security
ECTS: Min. 26 Max. 36

Notes: Concentration course credits: 26 ECTS for THESIS option or 36 ECTS for NONTHESIS
option

Section: C Concentration 2: Mobile Systems
ECTS: Min. 26 Max. 36

Notes: Concentration course credits: 26 ECTS for THESIS option or 36 ECTS for NONTHESIS option.

Section: D Concentration 3: Blockchain Technologies
ECTS: Min. 26 Max. 36

Notes: Concentration course credits: 26 ECTS for THESIS option or 36 ECTS for NONTHESIS option.

Section: E Elective Courses
ECTS: Min. 0 Max. 56

Section: F Unallocated Courses
ECTS: Min. 0 Max. 0

Semester 1

Semester 2

Semester 3