Computer Science at UBC's Vancouver campus | UBC Undergraduate Programs and Admissions

Learn how to use and improve computers while you explore topics such as databases and operating systems, software engineering, security, web development, and numerical methodology. Computer Science gives you a thorough grounding in computer software design, and a broad choice of other studies in computing. You’ll take courses like “Machine Learning and Data Mining,” “Parallel Computation,” and “Advanced Algorithms Design and Analysis.”

This program is also offered at UBC's Okanagan Campus

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Why this program?

Study in one of Canada’s top Computer Science departments with internationally renowned professors.
Build your career through experiences in Science Co-Op and Tri-Mentoring, and network with Vancouver’s tech community.
Take classes in the state-of-the-art Institute for Computing Information and Cognitive Systems/Computer Science building.
Choose streams and specializations that reflect and accommodate your interests.

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Program information

Campus: Vancouver
Faculty: Faculty of Science
Degree: Bachelor of Science

Length 4 yrs
Co-op Yes
You can combine your studies with full-time, paid work at top local and international organizations.
Honours Yes
You can study intense specialization in a single field.

The Computer Science BSc program includes the general Science requirements, with further choices in mathematics courses, a thorough grounding in computer software design, and a broad choice of other studies in computing. It gives you the freedom to pursue interests both within and outside Computer Science. You may select your electives from many departments, from Psychology to Commerce, and Music to Electrical Engineering. Options include Software Engineering, or combined honours with sciences, mathematics, or statistics.

Experiential learning and research

As an undergraduate, you can attend reading groups offered by various departmental labs, take directed studies courses, and attend the Distinguished Lecture Series, faculty talks, and honours seminars.

Campus features

In addition computing resources, the ICICS (Computer Science) building houses the ICICS/CS Reading Room which supports the education, research, and development needs of faculty and students.

CPSC 110 - Computation, Programs, and Programming
Fundamental program and computation structures. Introductory programming skills. Computation as a tool for information processing, simulation and modeling, and interacting with the world.
CPSC 121 - Models of Computation
Physical and mathematical structures of computation. Boolean algebra and combinations logic circuits; proof techniques; functions and sequential circuits; sets and relations; finite state machines; sequential instruction execution.
MATH 100 - Differential Calculus with Applications to Physical Sciences and Engineering
Derivatives of elementary functions. Applications and modeling: graphing, optimization. Consult the Faculty of Science Credit Exclusion List: www.students.ubc.ca/calendar/index.cfm?tree=12,215,410,414.
MATH 101 - Integral Calculus with Applications to Physical Sciences and Engineering
The definite integral, integration techniques, applications, modeling, infinite series.

CPSC 210 - Software Construction
Design, development, and analysis of robust software components. Topics such as software design, computational models, data structures, debugging, and testing.
CPSC 213 - Introduction to Computer Systems
Software architecture, operating systems, and I/O architectures. Relationships between application software, operating systems, and computing hardware; critical sections, deadlock avoidance, and performance; principles and operation of disks and networks.
MATH 200 - Calculus III
Analytic geometry in 2 and 3 dimensions, partial and directional derivatives, chain rule, maxima and minima, second derivative test, Lagrange multipliers, multiple integrals with applications.
STAT 241 - Introductory Probability and Statistics
Probability models, random variables and vectors, estimation, testing, regression, analysis of variance, goodness of fit, quality control. (Consult the Credit Exclusion list within the Faculty of Science section of the Calendar).

CPSC 310 - Introduction to Software Engineering
Specification, design, implementation and maintenance of large, multi-module software systems. Principles, techniques, methodologies and tools for computer aided software engineering (CASE); human-computer interfaces, reactive systems, hardware-software interfaces and distributed applications.
CPSC 313 - Computer Hardware and Operating Systems
Instruction sets, pipelining, code optimization, caching, virtual memory management, dynamically linked libraries, exception processing, execution time of programs.
CPSC 320 - Intermediate Algorithm Design and Analysis
Systematic study of basic concepts and techniques in the design and analysis of algorithms, illustrated from various problem areas. Topics include: models of computation; choice of data structures; graph-theoretic, algebraic, and text processing algorithms.
CPSC 340 - Machine Learning and Data Mining
Models of algorithms for dimensionality reduction, nonlinear regression, classification, clustering and unsupervised learning; applications to computer graphics, computer games, bio-informatics, information retrieval, e-commerce, databases, computer vision and artificial intelligence.

CPSC 402 - Numerical Linear Algebra
Investigation of the practical techniques of computational linear algebra. Orthogonal transformations and their application to the solution of linear equations, the eigenproblem, and linear least squares. Complete solution of the symmetric eigenproblem, including bisection and the QR method. Refinements of these techniques for sparse matrices.
CPSC 406 - Computational Optimization
Formulation and analysis of algorithms for continuous and discrete optimization problems; linear, nonlinear, network, dynamic, and integer optimization; large-scale problems; software packages and their implementation; duality theory and sensitivity.
CPSC 425 - Computer Vision
Introduction to the processing and interpretation of images. Image sensing, sampling, and filtering. Algorithms for colour analysis, texture description, stereo imaging, motion interpretation, 3D shape recovery, and recognition.
CPSC 426 - Computer Animation
Motion in computer graphics for characters and their environments. Keyframing, inverse kinematics, particle systems, rigid body dynamics, contact and collision, controller-based active motion, motion capture.

Life at UBC's Vancouver campus

Study in an internationally renowned department that consistently ranks among the top computer science departments in Canada, and learn from faculty with a commitment to interdisciplinary research in state-of-the-art computing facilities.

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Your future

A BSc in Computer Science can lead to careers in information technology, software development, analytics, genomics, medicine, robotics, finance, gaming, marking, e-commerce, web technologies, environmental technology, and more.

Program graduates

Machine learning developer, IBM
Software engineer intern, Amazon
Software development intern, Microsoft
Computer scientist, Simba Technologies
Data scientist, Google

Program requirements

Canadian high schools
International high schools
International baccalaureate

English-language requirements

English is the language of instruction at UBC. All prospective students must demonstrate English-language competency prior to admission. There are numerous ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

IB Diploma Programme

Completed IB Diploma, including at least three Higher Level courses.

IB Certificate Courses

IB Certificate courses (Standard and Higher Level) may be used in an admissions average if you are graduating from a recognized high school curriculum that can be used as your basis of admission.
IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, do not satisfy the math requirement for admission to UBC’s science-based programs, the Faculty of Management, the UBC Sauder School of Business, or the Vancouver School of Economics.

Degree-specific requirements: Science

IB Math Analysis and Approaches SL or HL, or IB Math Applications and Interpretations HL (IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, are not acceptable)
One of IB Biology, IB Chemistry, or IB Physics
Grade 11 or equivalent Chemistry, and
Grade 11 or equivalent Physics (may be waived with grades of 5 in IB Chemistry and in your IB Mathematics course)

Note: Grade 11 Chemistry and Physics requirements listed are only relevant to students who are not completing the equivalent IB Diploma Chemistry and/or Physics courses.

For students studying outside of Canada, some examples of courses that may be accepted as Grade 11 equivalents are junior-level courses for American students, and IGCSE and O Level for those following British-patterned curricula.

Related courses

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for this degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in your junior year and senior year.

Language Arts
Mathematics and Computation
Sciences