Jan Buys

Lecturer in Computer Science, University of Cape Town

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Information for prospective students

Please read the information on this page as well as the relevant information on the UCT School of IT website before contacting me. This will maximize the chances that I will reply to your inquiry and that I will be able to assist you. Generic inquiries which don't give any information about yourself or your research interests will be ignored (this has to be more specific than just Computer Science or Data Science). If you are unsure about which programme to apply to I may be able to advise, but only if you provide me with the necessary information. A number of other UCT Computer Science faculty members also work on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or Natural Language Processing.

I primarily supervise projects involving both Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning. Please look at my research profile to get an idea of the kind of projects I work on. I am currently particularly interested in supervising students interested in (1) low-resource NLP applied to African languages, (2) text generation, and (3) modelling the semantic structure of text, but I may also supervise other topics.

How to apply

To inquire about doing research under my supervision, please email me the following:

Suitable candidates may be contacted for an interview. A longer research proposal may also be requested. I do my best to acknowledge all complete applications, but I may not be able to tell you immediately whether I am able to accept you as a student.

I supervise students through the following programmes at UCT:

PhD in Computer Science: This is a 3- to 4-year research degree for doing substantial original research. Applicants should have a Masters degree that included a research dissertation. Prior research experience in Machine Learning or Natural Language Processing is required - this could be through a research dissertation or through publication(s). If you are interested in doing this degree under my supervision you should contact me before applying to the university, as only candidates who already have an agreed supervisor will be admitted. Part-time candidates will be accepted only in exceptional circumstances.

Funding: I will advise candidates I agree to supervise on options for obtaining funding. I am a faculty member of the HPI Research School at UCT which offers PhD scholarships to students from the African continent. This requires a separate application. In all cases candidates are encouraged to apply for multiple scholarships.

Masters in Computer Science by Dissertation: This is a 2-year research degree with no coursework requirement. It involves completing a larger research project (and corresponding dissertation) than the Coursework and Dissertation programmes (see below). Applicants should have a strong 4-year Bachelor's or Honours degree in Computer Science that included a research project. Prior experience in Machine Learning or Natural Language Processing is required - this could be through coursework, self-study, work experience or doing a research project in the area. If you are interested in doing this degree under my supervision you should contact me before applying to the university, as only candidates who already have an agreed supervisor will be admitted. Part-time candidates will be accepted only in exceptional circumstances.

Funding: I will advise candidates I agree to supervise on options for obtaining funding. In some years I may have funding available, but this cannot be guaranteed. In all cases candidates are encouraged to apply for scholarships.

Masters by Coursework and Dissertation: The second option for doing a Masters at UCT is through coursework and dissertation. There are a number of different programmes that each have their own entrance requirements and structure. The first year usually consists primarily of coursework and in the second year a research dissertation is completed. For all of these programs you need to apply directly to the university. Students who have already started their studies are welcome to contact me to discuss doing their dissertation under my supervision.

Honours in Computer Science projects: All Computer Science honours (4th year) students do a substantial research project as part of their degree. The list of projects is released early in the academic year; after that students are welcome to contact me to discuss the projects I proposed.

Undergraduate research: CSC2005Z (Independent Research in Computer Science): Academically strong second- or third-year undergraduates at UCT may apply to do this course, which involves doing a research project. Students interested in Natural Language Processing are welcome to contact me to discuss potential projects. Prior experience in NLP or Machine Learning is helpful but not required.