Curriculum

At the graduate level, the goal of the curriculum is to prepare advanced professionals that can play a transformational role in African industry/business and academia. Since the students come from a diverse background across Africa, the first year of the curriculum is designed to provide the foundation in the core subjects, as well as introduction to basic skills in computing/computer use, petroleum, and mathematics. This will be followed by a second year of specialized courses and exposure to research that will lead to the award of Masters Degrees in engineering science or applied mathematics and computational science.

About half of the students are expected to leave after the two year Masters program to pursue successful careers in industry/business. The remaining half will then be expected to work for another two to three years on a PhD program within the departments and the major interdisciplinary institutes on campus (Gulf of Guinea Institute, African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, etc...). The PhD students will be encouraged to explore the frontiers of knowledge that could lead to new discoveries and/or innovation. As such, their focus will be on research. However, they would also be required to take a modest number of additional graduate courses that will explore the frontiers of knowledge in a given subject or provide balance in their academic preparation.

The PhD courses will be selected based on the student’s area of specialization and will be determined by the student’s supervisory committee. The PhD students will also be required to work as Assistants in Instruction (AIs) in three courses. Such AI opportunities would be used to develop teaching skills that could prepare them for future careers in academia. No student will be encouraged to take more than 4 years to complete the PhD degree after the Masters degree.