Announcement of enrolment for courses taught in Semester 1, 2024-25
(For MSc(CompSc) students admitted in 2024)
1. Important items to note:
a. Degree Regulations & Syllabuses
- The MSc(CompSc) online enrolment system (https://msccs.cs.hku.hk/) contains the degree
regulations and syllabuses, including the course titles and brief descriptions of all courses, of the
MSc(CompSc) programme. We recommend you to go through the degree regulations and syllabuses
in detail.
- To know more about the courses, we recommend you to browse the Courses section for more
information about the courses, including topics, teaching format and assessment methods, etc. Kindly
note that these are the tentative teaching plans and may subject to adjustments by the instructors.
- The following major points are highlighted.
1. Length of Study
- For the full-time mode, the normative study period is 1 year and *maximum registration
period is 2 years.
- For the part-time mode of study, the normative study period is 2 years and *maximum
registration period is 3 years.
*Students who have to extend their study period beyond the normative study period are
required to pay an additional fee.
2. Mode of Enrolment
- To complete the programme and be granted the degree, a candidate are required to complete
72 credits to graduate by studying in one of the following enrolment modes:
10 Courses^ + Project (equivalent to 12 credits)
OR
8 Courses^ + Dissertation (equivalent to 24 credits)
^ Each course normally carries 6 credits.
3. Minimum study progress requirement
- To study in the programme and proceed to the next year of study, a candidate must pass at
least 12 credits, which is equivalent to two 6-credit courses, in each academic year.
4. CGPA requirement
- Students are required to achieve a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 1.0 or higher
for two consecutive semesters with course enrolment.
b. Programme structure
i. Streams of Study
The MSc(CompSc) curriculum offers four streams, a general one and three specialized ones, as
follows:
- Cyber security stream
- Financial computing stream
- General stream
- Multimedia computing stream
Cyber Security / Financial Computing / Multimedia Computing streams
- Students of Cyber Security / Financial Computing / Multimedia Computing streams are required to
complete a minimum of 24 credits of courses, which is equivalent to four 6-credit courses, in the
corresponding Subject Group, undertake a dissertation or a project in the area of the corresponding
stream, and take any courses in the curriculum to obtain the remaining credits. Students may select
more than 4 courses in the corresponding subject group.
General stream
- Students opted for the General stream can choose any discipline courses from any subject groups in
the curriculum and undertake a dissertation or a project in any area in computer science.
ii. Discipline courses
- All courses with prefix COMP and some selected courses with prefix DASC and FITE courses listed
in the MSc(CompSc) programme syllabus are considered as your Discipline courses.
- The courses are classified into Subject Groups: Cyber Security, Financial Computing, Multimedia
Computing and others. Please refer to the syllabus and also the table of Courses Offered in section 2.
iii. Other non-discipline elective courses
- MSc(CompSc) students may in exceptional circumstances be permitted to select at most two non-
discipline courses (at most 12 credits in total), which are taught-postgraduate level courses offered by
the Departments of the Faculty of Engineering, as electives, subject to the approval of the
MSc(CompSc) Programme Director and the Head or Course Co-ordinator of the department
concerned.
2. Courses offered in 2024-25 academic year:
Subject
Course code
Course title
Semester
group
FC
COMP7103 Data mining
1
COMP7104 Advanced database systems
2*
COMP7106 Big data management
2*
COMP7107 Management of complex data types
1
COMP7308 Introduction to unmanned systems
1
COMP7309 Quantum computing and artificial intelligence
COMP7310 Artificial intelligence of things
1
2*
COMP7311 Legal issues in artificial intelligence and data science
COMP7404 Computational intelligence and machine learning
COMP7408 Distributed ledger and blockchain technology
COMP7409 Machine learning in trading and finance
COMP7412 Banking in Web 3.0 – Metaverse, DeFi, NFTs and beyond
COMP7415 Mastering the markets: Financial analytics and algorithmic
S*
1, 2* & S*
FC
FC
FC
FC
2*
1 & 2*
1
2*
S*
1
MC COMP7502 Image processing and computer vision
MC COMP7503 Multimedia technologies
MC COMP7506 Smart phone apps development
MC COMP7507 Visualization and visual analytics
MC COMP7508 Data-driven computer animation
COMP7607 Natural language processing
2*
1 & S*
1
1
FC
CS
CS
CS
CS
COMP7802 Introduction to financial computing
COMP7901 Legal protection of digital property
COMP7903 Digital investigation and forensics
COMP7904 Information security: attacks and defense
COMP7905 Reverse engineering and malware analysis
1
2*
2*
2*
1
CS / FC COMP7906 Introduction to cyber security
DASC7606 Deep learning
1
1
FC
FC
FITE7405 Techniques in computational finance
FITE7407 Securities transaction banking
2*
1
CS / FC FITE7410 Financial fraud analytics
FITE7411 RegTech in Finance
1
2*
2*
2*
FC
FC
FITE7413 Smart banking and innovative finance
FITE7414 Generative AI in financial services
* Tentative
Please note that some courses may not be offered every year.
Subject Groups:
CS - Cyber Security
FC - Financial Computing
MC - Multimedia computing
3. Enrolment for Semester 1
The following MSc(CompSc) classes are offered in Semester 1:
Course code
COMP7103A Data mining
COMP7103B Data mining
Course title
Professor
Ben Kao
Mauro Sozio
Schedule
Daytime
Evening +
Weekend
Daytime
COMP7103C Data mining
Chao Huang
COMP7107 Management of complex data types
Nikos Mamoulis Daytime +
Weekend
COMP7308 Introduction to unmanned systems
J. Pan
Evening
COMP7309 Quantum computing and artificial intelligence Daniel Ebler
Weekend
COMP7404A Computational intelligence and machine
learning
Dirk Schnieders Evening
COMP7409A Machine learning in trading and finance
H.F. Ting Evening
COMP7412 Banking in Web 3.0 – Metaverse, DeFi, NFT’s Juergen Rahmel Evening
and beyond
COMP7503A Multimedia technologies
COMP7503B Multimedia technologies
Bill Luo
Bill Luo
Loretta Choi
Taku Komura
Lingpeng Kong Evening
C.D. Shum
Peter Ng
C.D. Shum
Frankie Li
K.P. Chow
Russell Yiu
Evening
Evening
Evening
Evening
COMP7507A Visualization and visual analytics
COMP7508 Data-driven computer animation
COMP7607 Natural language processing
COMP7802A Introduction to financial computing
COMP7802B Introduction to financial computing
COMP7802C Introduction to financial computing
COMP7905 Reverse engineering and malware analysis
COMP7906A Introduction to cyber security
COMP7906B Introduction to cyber security
DASC7606B Deeping learning
Daytime
Weekend
Evening
Evening
Daytime
Evening
Francis Chin & Evening
Bethany Chan
DASC7606C Deeping learning
Mauro Sozio
Daytime +
Weekend
FITE7407
Securities transaction banking
Juergen Rahmel Weekend
Vivien Chan & Evening
Annie Chan
Vivien Chan & Evening
Annie Chan
FITE7410A Financial fraud analytics
FITE7410B Financial fraud analytics
FITE7410C Financial fraud analytics
Vivien Chan & Daytime
Annie Chan
Before you decide what courses you are going to take, we would like to suggest the following:
a. Read the up-to-date timetable for Semester 1 courses as well as the course webpages for syllabuses,
pre-requisites, compatibility and other class information. The lectures and lab attendance might be
around 30 hours, but you will realistically need time to prepare, review and work on assignments. As
a rule of thumb, you will need a total of 120-150 hours for deep and fruitful learning.
b. The examination period is 7-23 December 2024. The examination schedule with the exact
examination date of each course uses to be released only after the add/drop period by the
Examinations Office in around late Oct to early Nov. Please note that all students are obliged to
follow the schedule. You should not enrol in a course if you are not certain that you will be available
to attend the quizzes and examination in Hong Kong, as we do not have supplementary examinations.
Absent from examination may result in failure in the course.
c. Students taking technical courses must make sure that they have the prior knowledge of the course
(if any). The instructors are not going to lower the technical entry requirement if you are not up to it.
Email instructors directly if you are not sure about the course technical knowledge requirements, if
listed.
d. Students are discouraged from selecting too many courses, even if they may plan to drop some of
them afterwards. If a full-time student requests to take more than 5 courses, or a part-time student
requests more than 3 courses, their priority to enter a class will be LOWERED. If the class quota
exceeds, they will not be allocated the place.
e. Part-time students are reminded that some courses are scheduled in daytime.
f. Students are not allowed to select/enrol in more than the maximum number of courses they can
take, i.e. TEN 6-credit courses plus a project or EIGHT 6-credit courses plus a dissertation, unless
prior approval has been granted. ALL enrolment requests will be REJECTED if students select extra
courses.
g. Students are also reminded of the stream requirements. ALL enrolment requests will be
REJECTED if their selections have violated the rules.
h. A student can only take at most 2 non-MSc(CompSc) discipline courses (in total of 12 credits). If
extra non-MSc(CompSc) discipline courses are selected, ALL of them will be REJECTED.
i. For the courses which have 2 (or 3) classes, please choose one class only. Two (or three) quotas are
used if both classes are selected. If one class is full, students will be randomly moved to another class.
j. Students are not allowed to enroll in the courses that have time conflict. ALL enrolment requests
will be REJECTED if there is any timetable clash for the proposed course of study.
k. All classes have quotas, which are shown on the course summary webpage on the MSc(CompSc)
online enrolment system. When the applications for a course exceed quota, the warning will be
shown. However, you can still submit the request via the system. If such case happens, some requests
may be rejected finally if no alternative could be made.
l. Courses may not be offered if the enrolment number is low. If such case happens, enrolled students
will automatically be dropped out.
4. Dates for enrolment
a. Enrolment via the on-line enrolment system for Semester 1 courses starts now and closes on 23
August 2024 noon. Late enrolment will not be entertained except in special circumstances.
b. You can check your enrolment result on the MSc(CompSc) online enrolment system on 31 August
2024.
c. We strongly recommend you to submit your enrolment request before the deadline. This is because
all courses have class quotas. We cannot give places to late enrolees.
5. Project / Dissertation
a. Project / Dissertations will start in Semester 2, and enrolment will take place in January 2025.
There will be announcements in due course.
b. Students are required to complete the following Language Workshops offered by Centre for
Applied English Studies (CAES): (Full-attendance is required)
Expected enrolment semester
for Full-time students
Expected enrolment semester
for Part-time students
Workshop
1st & 2nd Sem, 2024-25
2nd Sem, 2024-25
1st & 2nd Sem, 2025-26
Dissertation writing
1st & 2nd Sem, 2024-25 (for students taking 2nd Sem, 2024-25
Project)
1st & 2nd Sem, 2025-26
Presentation skills
2nd Sem, 2024-25 & 1st Sem, 2025-26 (for
students taking Dissertation)
c. To enhance the technical knowledge and skills, students are also required to complete the technical
workshops (e.g. Python, Research methodology).
d. Timetable of the workshops offered in Semester 1 will be available on the MSc(CompSc) online
enrolment system and on Moodle soon. Student should avoid enrolling in courses which have time-
conflict with the workshops they will choose. For enrolment for the workshops, please refer to the
Moodle page at https://moodle.hku.hk/course/view.php?id=121735. Separate email announcement
will also be sent to all students.
6. Cross department / curriculum enrolment
a. Our students may in exceptional circumstances be permitted to select at most two non-discipline
courses (at most 12 credits in total), which are taught-postgraduate level courses offered by the
Departments of the Faculty of Engineering, as electives, subject to the approval of the MSc(CompSc)
Programme Director and the Head or Course Co-ordinator of the department concerned.
b. The links to the webpages containing the timetable and course information for the
MSc(ECom&IComp) and MSc(Eng) programmes are available on the online enrolment system.
c. But approval to enrol is not automatic. The directors of the home programme and the destined
programme will have to agree first, and it also depends on the quota restriction of the destined
courses.
d. The enrolment for Semester 1 courses starts now and closes on 23 August 2024 noon.
e. You can check your enrolment result on the system on 31 August 2024.
f. These programmes may have different add-drop deadlines.
7. Add / Drop courses
a. The add-drop procedure is to be used after students have been notified of the result of their
enrolment applications, but then have a change of mind.
b. It is acceptable to add/drop within the add-drop period of each course (see below). This can be done
through on-line enrolment system.
Add/drop period:
- MSc(CompSc) and MSc(Eng) courses not listed below: 2 September - 15 September 2024
- COMP7103B, COMP7107, COMP7309, COMP7412, DASC7606C, FITE7407: from 2 September
2024 to the date of the second session
- MSc(ECom&IComp) courses: from 2 September 2024 to the date of the second session of that
course
c. No late-drop is allowed normally. Application on dropping of a course after the second class will
not be considered except for extremely important and unavoidable circumstances, for example, a
severe health problem. Such application is subject to approval by the Programme Director,
Department and Faculty concerned. Reasons such as busy work, unable to cope with the assignments,
getting a cold, etc. would not be accepted and therefore students are advised to read the course
summary and think carefully before enrolling in a course.
d. Please check the online enrolment system regularly for revisions to the timetable and check your
enrolment record before you make any request to add or drop courses.
e. Results will normally be released within three working days after we receive your request. Please
check your enrolment record and read the online note by clicking the ! icon or the letter icon under the
Message column for any remarks (if any).
8. Continuing Education Fund
Some courses have been included in the list of reimbursable courses for Continuing Education Fund
(CEF), which was set up by the HKSAR Government. For students who apply for CEF for the first
time are only required to complete Application Form [SFO 313 (2022)], which is a combined
application form for both account opening and fee reimbursement, on successful completion of a
reimbursable course (i.e. passing the course and attending more than 70% of the classes on campus).
For details, please refer to CEF website: https://www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/en/ce/cef/overview.php
9. Enrolment for Semester 2 and 3 courses
Enrolment application for Semester 2 and 3 courses will begin about 1 month before each semester
starts. Please watch out for latest enrolment announcement, confirmed syllabuses and timetable
information on the online enrolment system.
10. Enquiries
Should you have any enquiries on enrolment, please do not hesitate to contact Miss Ellen Lam
(wylam2@cs.hku.hk, 3917-1828).
MSc Programme Office
18 August 2024