The Bachelor of Science in Data and Cyber Security (B.Sc. DCS) is a four year program which provides students with the applied knowledge and skills needed for a dynamic career in the field of Data and Cyber Security (DCS). The program includes DCS courses alongside various foundational computing discipline courses, enabling graduates to contribute to the operational context of DCS functions. The interdisciplinary nature of cyber security includes elements of data security. It focuses on how hardware and software systems can be designed and operated to ensure business or institutional security by reducing the threat of unauthorized access or intervention. The B.Sc. DCS program develops students’ abilities to design, implement, and maintain advanced security mechanisms, policies and procedures within information technology environments. This is supported by exposure to data security techniques offering students a solid understanding of cyber risk assessment and safe data management strategies. These skill sets, when consolidated through the completion of an industry work placement and a capstone project, will prepare graduates for an exciting career in modern-day DCS.
Program Duration:
Four years
Admission Requirements:
1. High school graduation certificate or equivalent approved by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education with a minimum average of 60%, plus two courses: one final year Mathematics, and one final year Science(Biology, Physics, Chemistry) or Technology (Algorithms, Programming, Network, Computer Science, or equivalent);
OR
2. Two-year Information Technology Diploma or equivalent approved by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
1. The required score on the University English Placement Test or a passing score from another approved internationally recognized English language test, as validated by the Admissions & Registration Directorate;
OR
2. A valid (within two years) IELTS Academic Test Report Form with an overall band of 5.0 with no individual band score (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) below 5.0;
OR
3. Successful completion of Foundation Program requirements.
1. Must achieve the required score on the University Math Placement Test; OR
2. A valid SAT Report Form with minimum score of 480; OR
3. Successful completion of Foundation Program requirements.
1. Admission is competitive. Eligible applicants are ranked based on their overall final year (Grade 12 or equivalent) high school percentage, placement tests rankings, and admission priority category.
To see the 2022-2023 Study Plan pages, please CLICK HERE!
To see the 2023-2024 Study Plan pages, please CLICK HERE!
2024-2025 Study Plan:
| COURSE NUMBER |
COURSE TITLE | requisite | HOURS/WEEK | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRE-req | CO-req | CR | LEC | LAB | ||
| SEMESTER 1 | ||||||
| COMM1010 |
English Communication I |
- | - | 3 | 3 |
0 |
|
INFS1101 |
Introduction to Computing & Problem Solving | - | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| MATH1030 | Calculus l | MATH1020 OR AMPII Score of 85% | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Effective & Experiential Learning Elective: Select 1 of 2 | ||||||
|
EFFL1001 |
Effective Learning |
- | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| EFFL1002 | Applied & Experiential Learning | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Semester 1 Total: | 12 | 11 | 3 | |||
| SEMESTER 2 | ||||||
| COMM1020 | English Communication II | COMM1010 | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
|
INFS1201 |
Computer Programming |
INFS1101 | - | 4 | 3 | 3 |
|
INFT1201 |
Computer Hardware |
- |
- | 4 | 3 | 3 |
|
MATH1040 |
Statistics |
- |
- | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Semester 2 Total: | 14 | 12 | 7 | |||
| SEMESTER 3 | ||||||
| INFS1301 | Computing Ethics & Society | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Elective: Select 1 of 2 | ||||||
| SCIE1001 | Science & Its Applications | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| SCIE1002 | Science & the Environment | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Semester 3 Total: | 6 | 6 | 0 | |||
| Year 1 Total: | 32 | 29 | 10 | |||
| COURSE NUMBER |
COURSE TITLE | requisite | HOURS/WEEK | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRE-req | CO-req | CR | LEC | LAB | ||
| SEMESTER 4 | ||||||
| DACS2101 | Discrete Structures | INFS1101 | - | 3 | 2 |
3 |
|
INFS2101 |
Web Technologies I |
INFS1201 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| INFT2101 | Networking I | INFS1201 OR Min 16 Credits | - | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| MATH1050 | Linear Algebra | - | - | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Semester 4 Total: | 13 | 10 | 10 | |||
| SEMESTER 5 | ||||||
| DACS2201 | Introduction to Data & Cyber Security |
INFT2101 |
- | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| DSAI2201 | Introduction to Data Science & AI | INFS1201 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| INFS2201 | Database Management Systems | INFS1201 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| INFS3102 |
Object Oriented Programming |
INFS1201 |
- | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Semester 5 Total: | 12 | 8 | 12 | |||
| SEMESTER 6 | ||||||
| SOFT2301 | Software Project Management | Min 50 Credits | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Social Sciences, Humanities, & the Arts Elective: Select 1 of 6 | ||||||
| SSHA1001 | Islamic & Arab Civilization | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| SSHA1002 | Introduction to Sociology | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| SSHA1003 | Introductory Psychology | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| SSHA1004 | Ethical Reasoning | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| SSHA1005 | Law & Society | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| SSHA1006 | Introduction to the Arts | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Semester 6 Total: | 6 | 5 | 3 | |||
| Year 2 Total: | 31 | 23 | 25 | |||
| COURSE NUMBER |
COURSE TITLE | requisite | HOURS/WEEK | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRE-req | co-req | CR | LEC | LAB | |||||
| SEMESTER 7 | |||||||||
| DACS3101 | Applied Cryptography |
DACS2101 |
- | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||
| INFT3101 | Networking II | INFT2101 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||
| INFT2201 | Introduction to Operating Systems |
INFS1201 & (INFT1201 OR SOFT2301) |
- | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Global Awareness and Regional Challenges Elective: Select 1 of 4 | |||||||||
| ECON1001 | Global Economic Concepts | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| GARC1001 | Qatar History & Society | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| GARC2001 | Human Development in Qatar | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| GARC2002 | Globalization & Environment | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Semester 7 Total: | 12 | 9 | 9 | ||||||
| SEMESTER 8 | |||||||||
| DACS3201 | Network Security | INFT3101 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||
| DACS3202 | Cyber Security Analytics & Visualization | DSAI2201 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||
| DACS3203 | Secure Software Development | INFS3102 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||
| INFS3201 | Web Technologies II |
INFS2101 INFS2201 INFS3102 |
- | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Semester 8 Total: | 12 | 8 | 12 | ||||||
| SEMESTER 9 | |||||||||
| DACS3301 | Privacy in the Digital Era | DACS2201 | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Global Awareness and Regional Challenges Elective: Select 1 of 4 | |||||||||
| ECON1001 | Global Economic Concepts | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| GARC1001 | Qatar History & Society | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| GARC2001 | Human Development in Qatar | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| GARC2002 | Globalization & Environment | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Semester 9 Total: | 6 | 6 | 0 | ||||||
| Year 3 Total: | 30 | 23 | 21 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||||
| COURSE NUMBER |
COURSE TITLE | requisite | HOURS/WEEK | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRE-req | CO-req | CR | LEC | LAB | ||
| SEMESTER 10 | ||||||
| COMP4101 | Practicum | Min 80 Credits | - | 3 | 1 |
6 |
| DACS4101 | Security Engineering Principles | DACS3101 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| DACS4103 | Scripting for Cyber Security | INFS3102 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Elective: Select 1 of 3 | ||||||
| DACS4102 | Web Security |
INFS3201 |
- | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| DACS4105 | Cyber Physical Architectures & Protocols | INFT3101 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| DACS4210 | Cyber Security Policies, Strategies & Procedures | DACS3301 | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Semester 10 Total: | 12 | 8 | 12 | |||
| SEMESTER 11 | ||||||
| COMP4201 | Capstone Project | COMP4101 | - | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| DACS4206 | Security Monitoring & Incident Response | DACS3202 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Elective: Select 2 of 6 | ||||||
| DACS4202 | Penetration Testing | DACS3203 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| DACS4203 | IoT & OT Hacking | DACS2201 INFS3102 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| DACS4204 | Cloud Security | DACS3201 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| DACS4205 | Digital Forensics | DACS3203 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| DACS4208 | Industrial Control Systems Security | DACS4105 | - | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| INFT4208 | Governance & Management of IT | INFT3101 | - | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Semester 11 Total: | 12 | 7 | 15 | |||
| SEMESTER 12 | ||||||
| COMP4301 | Work Placement | COMP4201 | - | 9 | 360 Total HRs | |
| Semester 12 Total: | 9 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Year 4 Total: | 33 | 15 | 27 | |||
| B.Sc. DC Program Total: | 126 | 90 | 83 | |||
Graduate Future Pathways:
Graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Data and Cyber Security (B.Sc. DCS) program may choose to further specialize or pursue graduate studies in their area.
Graduate Career Opportunities
The Bachelor of Science in Data and Cyber Security (B.Sc. DCS) is an applied program with learning outcomes closely linked to the labor market. A wide range of career opportunities in the field currently exist, and include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Computer Systems Security Analyst
• Cyber Security Analyst
• Information Security Analyst
• Information Security Risk Analyst
• Data Security Manager
• IT Auditor
• Penetration and Vulnerability Tester (Ethical Hacker)
• Digital Forensic Specialist
• Governance, Risk and Compliance Officer