Graduate Certificate in Computing Foundations
About the Programme
The Graduate Certificate in Computing Foundations (GC in CF) is an essential certification programme that is pivotal in meeting the needs of the working professionals who wish to embark on conversion to the computing field.
This certification programme provides a systematic pathway for applicants with insufficient computing background to acquire the core competencies in computing. By completing the Graduate Certificate in Computing Foundations, candidates can also better prepare themselves before formally joining the regular computing master’s degree programme. These candidates can acquire the necessary fundamental computing skills by reading a set of foundation courses that would serve as bridging courses. The courses offered in this graduate certificate programme are instrumental in either conversion to a computing career or career advancement even without embarking on the MComp programme.
In this programme, courses will be conducted by our faculty members who are scholars, researchers, and thought leaders in their field of expertise. Computing Foundation courses will be taught at an accelerated pace.
Certificate for Enrolment
Candidates who enrol in the Graduate Certificate in Computing Foundations I & II will need to complete three courses for each respective programme as indicated below. Candidates should complete the GC-CF I programme before they can continue with the GC-CF II.
Admission Requirements
The programme is open to those with a bachelor’s degree. Candidates with other qualifications and related work experience may also apply for the programme. Each application will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee. The above are minimum requirements and do not guarantee admission.
Duration
Candidates who enrol for the certification programme must complete the programme within 36 months from the point of admission.
Workload
Courses Offered and Schedule of Classes
All lectures, labs, tutorials, assessments/examinations will be held in campus and all students are required to attend in-person.
For details of the January 2024 intake (AY2023/2024, Semester 2) course schedule, please refer to the following Annex (SoC GC-CF).
Award of Graduate Certificate
To be awarded the graduate certificate, the candidate must complete three courses (12 unit) listed in the respective graduate certificate course listing, and obtain at least a GPA of 2.5.
Students who have completed the certification programme may wish to apply for admission to the Master of Computing (General Track) programme.
Graduate Certificate in Computing Foundations I (GC-CF I)
Complete three courses listed here:
- IT5001 Software Development Fundamentals
Students must pass IT5001 in order to continue with the other CF I courses.
Choose any two of the following courses:
- IT5002 Computer Systems and Applications; or
- IT5003 Data Structures and Algorithms; or
- IT5004 Enterprise Systems Architecture Fundamentals
Graduate Certificate in Computing Foundations II (GC-CF II)
Upon completion of GC-CF I, students may proceed to enrol for GC-CF II.
Complete three courses listed here:
- Choose one (not taken in GC-CF I):
- IT5002 Computer Systems and Applications; or
- IT5003 Data Structures and Algorithms; or
- IT5004 Enterprise Systems Architecture Fundamentals
- Choose at least two courses from:
- IT5005 Artificial Intelligence
- IT5006 Fundamentals of Data Analytics
- IT5007 Software Engineering on Application Architecture
Course Description
IT5001 Software Development Fundamentals
This course aims to introduce non-computing students to the principles and concepts of software development at an accelerated pace. Students will be introduced to the basics of programming (control flow, code and data abstraction, recursion, types, OO), development methodology (ensuring correctness, testing, debugging), simple data structures and algorithms (lists, maps, sorting), and software engineering principles. Through hands on assignments and projects, students will learn good software development practices (documentation, style) and experience a typical software engineering cycle (waterfall and agile workflow).
IT5002 Computer Systems and Applications
This course aims to introduce non-computing students to (a) the common principles and concepts in computer systems: abstraction, layering, indirection, caching, hierarchical naming, prefetching, pipelining, locking, concurrency; (b) the inner workings of a computing device, including hardware (CPU, memory, disks), operating systems (kernels, processes and threads, virtual memory, files), and applications (Web, databases).
IT5003 Data Structures and Algorithms
This course introduces non-computing students to efficient computational problem solving in an accelerated pace. Students will learn to formulate a computational problem, identify the data required and come up with appropriate data structures to represent them, and apply known strategies to design an algorithm to solve the problem. Students will also learn to quantify the space and time complexity of an algorithm, prove the correctness of an algorithm, and the limits of computation. Topics include common data structures and their algorithms (lists, hash tables, heap, trees, graphs), algorithmic problem solving paradigms (greedy, divide and conquer, dynamic programming), and NP-completeness.
IT5004 Enterprise Systems Architecture Fundamentals
This course aims to equip non-computing students with fundamental knowledge in architecting and designing modern Enterprise Systems in organisations that can be reasonably complex, scalable, distributed, component-based and mission-critical. Students will develop an understanding of high-level concepts such as enterprise architecture and software architecture. They will them move on to acquire fundamental systems analysis and design techniques such as object-oriented requirements analysis and design using the Unified Modelling Language.
IT5005 Artificial Intelligence
The study of artificial intelligence, or AI, aims to make machines achieve human-level intelligence. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamental components of AI, including how problem-solving, knowledge representation and reasoning, planning and decision making, and learning. The course prepares students without any AI background to pursue advanced courses in AI.
IT5006 Fundamentals of Data Analytics
Prerequsite: IT5001 Software Development Fundamentals
This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts in business analytics. They can learn how to apply basic business analytics tools (such as R), and how to effectively use and interpret analytic models and results for making informed business decisions. The courses prepares students without any analytics background to pursue advanced courses in business and data analytics.
IT5007 Software Engineering on Application Architecture
Prerequsite: IT5003 Data Structures and Algorithms
To meet changing business needs, this course focuses on flexible and agile software development on modern application architecture. Students learn to design and develop modern applications that support multiple clients across different platforms such as desktop, mobile devices and cloud. The course covers designing (1) website-based front-end software and (2) mobile app front-end that interacts with a common cloud-based backend. The final part involves engineering software for higher-level objectives such as security and performance. Tools and techniques for writing modern software, such as, HTML5, CSS3, React.js, Node.js, MySQL/MongoDB, and Git will be taught.
Application Information
There are two application cycles in each Academic Year:
| Intake | Application Period | Outcome | Semester Period |
| January 2024 (AY2023/2024 Semester 2) | 1 Oct – 31 Oct 2023 | Mid – End Nov 2023 | 15 Jan to 11 May 2024 |
| August 2024 (AY2024/2025 Semester 1) | 1 May – 31 May 2024 | Mid – End June 2024 | 12 Aug to 7 Dec 2024 |
^Please refer to the University’s Academic Calendar for details on the semester and examination period.
To apply, please submit your application via the Online Applications Portal. Candidates are required to upload the following supporting documents when submitting their online application:
- A copy of bachelor’s degree certificate
- A copy of official transcript for bachelor’s degree
- A copy of identification document/ citizenship certificate/ passport/ documentary proof of permanent residence status as well as valid work pass
- Any other supporting documents such as CV or professional certificates
- Brief statement/short paragraph of objective/purpose for applying to this programme
- A copy of the Graduate Certificate in Computing Foundations I (GC-CF I) e-certificate and/or transcript (applicable to students who have completed GC-CF I programme)
Note:
- All supporting documents must be in English or with English translation.
- Candidates are required to produce originals of the submitted documents for the School’s verification during enrolment upon successful admission.
For enquiries, please contact socgradc@comp.nus.edu.sg.
Programme Fees
The fee for the following courses below is $5,014 each (inclusive of prevailing GST):
- IT5001 Software Development Fundamentals
- IT5002 Computer Systems and Applications
- IT5003 Data Structures and Algorithms
- IT5004 Enterprise Systems Architecture Fundamentals
Eligible Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents enrolled may be given tuition fee subsidy by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).
Per Course Basis | International Participants | Singapore Citizens | Singapore PRs | Enhanced Training Support for SMEs2 | |
39 years old or younger | 40 years old or older1 | ||||
Per Course Fee, excluding prevailing GST | $4,600.00 | $4,600.00 | $4,600.00 | $4,600.00 | $4,600.00 |
Less: SSG Funding | $0.00 | $3,220.00 | $3,220.00 | $3,220.00 | $3,220.00 |
Nett Per Course Fee | $4,600.00 | $1,380.00 | $1,380.00 | $1,380.00 | $1,380.00 |
9% GST on Nett Per Course Fee | $414.00 | $124.20 | $124.20 | $124.20 | $124.20 |
Total Per Course Fee Payable, including prevailing GST | $5,014.00 | $1,504.20 | $1,504.20 | $1,504.20 | $1,504.20 |
Less Additional Funding, if eligible under various schemes | $0.00 | $0.00 | $920.00 | $0.00 | $920.00 |
Total Per Course Fee Payable, including prevailing GST, after additional funding from the various funding schemes | $5,014.00 | $1,504.20 | $584.20 | $1,504.20 | $584.20 |
The fee for the following courses below is $6,322 each (inclusive of prevailing GST):
- IT5005 Artificial Intelligence
- IT5006 Fundamentals of Data Analytics
Eligible Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents enrolled may be given tuition fee subsidy by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).
Per Course Basis | International Participants | Singapore Citizens | Singapore PRs | Enhanced Training Support for SMEs2 | |
39 years old or younger | 40 years old or older1 | ||||
Per Course Fee, excluding prevailing GST | $5,800.00 | $5,800.00 | $5,800.00 | $5,800.00 | $5,800.00 |
Less: SSG Funding | $0.00 | $4,060.00 | $4,060.00 | $4,060.00 | $4,060.00 |
Nett Per Course Fee | $5,800.00 | $1,740.00 | $1,740.00 | $1,740.00 | $1,740.00 |
9% GST on Nett Per Course Fee | $522.00 | $156.60 | $156.60 | $156.60 | $156.60 |
Total Per Course Fee Payable, including prevailing GST | $6,322.00 | $1,896.60 | $1,896.60 | $1,896.60 | $1,896.60 |
Less Additional Funding, if eligible under various schemes | $0.00 | $0.00 | $1,160.00 | $0.00 | $1,160.00 |
Total Per Course Fee Payable, including prevailing GST, after additional funding from the various funding schemes | $6,322.00 | $1,896.60 | $736.60 | $1,896.60 | $736.60 |
For details of the various schemes, please refer to:
1Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy (MCES)
2Enhanced Training Support for SMEs (ETSS)
- Eligible applicants may use SkillsFuture Credit to pay for the programme and eligible organizations (excluding government entities) may apply for the absentee payroll funding via SkillsConnect. For more information, visit absentee payroll funding. Please note that SkillsFuture Credit may not be used to pay for Student Services Fee.
- Only courses taken on graded-basis are eligible for SSG funding.
- SSG will only fund a course once per eligible student. In the event that a student wishes to retake a course, the student will not be eligible for SSG funding for that course.
The fee for the following course below is $6,322 (inclusive of prevailing GST):
- IT5007 Software Engineering on Application Architecture
All enrolled candidates will also be required to pay the Student Services Fee of $25.70 (inclusive of prevailing GST) per semester.
The University reserves the right to review and adjust the course fees and make changes to the programme structure and requirements as necessary and accordingly without prior notice.
