Programs of Study

The Cybersecurity CREATE graduate programs are specializations of existing graduate programs at RMC or Queen’s University. To be accepted into the cybersecurity graduate specialization, students must first be accepted into the underlying degree program at the relevant university. See the section on Applying to CREATE for procedures and contact information.

The Cybersecurity CREATE program offers an intensive experience in all aspects of cybersecurity training, including specialized cyber security courses; professional development training in leadership, presentation, commercialization, and social responsibility; a variety of technical courses; an education on the cultural aspects of cybersecurity; and specialized training exercises where you will compete in teams against your fellow students. You will also participate in an internship with one of our industry or government partners—including Irdeto Canada, IBM Canada Ltd., the Communications Security Establishment, the Department of National Defence, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Treasury Board of Canada, and Public Safety Canada—where you will apply your skills to a real-world setting and gain an understanding of potential research avenues to pursue.

As a graduate of this program, you will have the technical skills and knowledge base to help improve Canada’s digital security, and a deeper understanding of how cybersecurity concerns line up with other organizational and governmental priorities. The program integrates these skills with the social, legal, and political understanding required to provide needed context for modern cybersecurity concerns.

The Cybersecurity CREATE program includes a broad perspective on cybersecurity in today’s society, and is designed to prepare you for a career in the field. It may also be taken on a part-time basis, for industry professionals who are looking for a way to upgrade their skills.

Course Lists

Three course groups are referenced in the following program descriptions:

  • Social Science (SS) courses: MPA535 The Cyber Challenge, MPA591 Cyber Statecraft and Cyber Security, MBA503 Advanced Topics in Management II: Cyber Security.
  • Core cybersecurity (CORE) courses: EE579 Computer Systems and Network Security, CISC866 Introduction to Cybersecurity.
  • Other cybersecurity (CYBER) courses: CISC848 Software Reliability and Security, MATH818 Number Theory and Cryptography, EE547 Digital Forensics, EE569 Malware Analysis, EE593 Advanced Network Traffic Analysis, EE595 Cyber Threat and Attack Techniques, EE597 Operational Technology Cybersecurity.

PhD by Research Thesis at RMC

Under development.

PhD by Research Thesis at Queen’s

The cybersecurity specialization PhD consists of the four steps outlined in the School of Computing’s PhD program, augmented with a specialization in cybersecurity. The four steps are breadth, topic proposal, comprehensive examination, and thesis. See the School’s graduate website for procedural and scheduling details and overall requirements.

Breadth: In the breadth step, students accumulate breadth “tokens” (graduate-level courses or equivalent experience) in the three core areas of computer science, Theory, Applications and Systems (plus potentially an Interdisciplinary token). The School requires a total of ten tokens, with at least two in each of the three core areas. A previous MSc thesis normally counts as a token, as does industrial experience on a topic equivalent to a graduate course.

In the cybersecurity specialization, breadth tokens must include at least one course from CORE, one course from SS (interdisciplinary token), and two courses from CYBER. Professional development activities must also be taken.

The breadth step should be completed by the end of the third term (first year) in the program. See the School’s graduate website for details.

Internship: Students should normally complete a two-term internship with one of our industrial or government partners.

Topic Proposal: In the topic proposal step, a six-page research topic proposal document is submitted for approval. The document gives a description of a proposed subject area and research topic to be pursued, including a brief outline of the key and most pertinent literature contributions for the proposed topic. The PhD supervisory committee provides feedback on the document, including expected weights of the literature survey and research plan components of the PhD comprehensive examination. This step is to be completed by the end of the third term after initial registration in the PhD program. See the School’s graduate website for details.

Comprehensive Examination: In the comprehensive examination step, students must show that they are well-versed of the state of the art in the area in which they intend to pursue research, that they have a critical perspective of the area, and that they are able to formulate a research plan to explore open problems and research opportunities. A formal PhD research proposal paper is submitted, presented and defended at an oral examination. The research proposal paper is a 40-page maximum document to be submitted before the end of the sixth term after initial registration in the PhD program. It should normally cover background material (e.g. motivation and literature survey), the problem to be tackled, methods to be used (e.g. research plans and experimental design), results sought, evaluation metrics (i.e. how research success will be measured), and milestones (including progress to date). The proportions of text for the literature survey and for the research plans will have already been communicated to the student through the feedback received on their topic proposal step. See the School’s graduate website for details.

Thesis: In the thesis step, the proposed research is conducted and completed, and a formal dissertation is written and formally defended at an oral thesis examination. See the School’s graduate website for details.

All cybersecurity CREATE PhD students are eligible for financial support from the CREATE program.

MASc by Research at RMC

The research pattern MASc in cybersecurity is a specialization of the MASc program of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering , combining six graduate courses with an MASc research thesis. The course selection must include professional development, one course from SS, one course from CORE, and two courses from CYBER. Students should normally complete a one-term internship with one of our industrial or government partners.

All cybersecurity CREATE research MSc students are eligible for financial support from the CREATE program.

We plan to make it possible to take this program part-time by offering some courses online or in short formats, so that proximity to Kingston is not essential.

MSc by Research at Queen’s

The research pattern MSc in cybersecurity is a specialization of the MSc program of the School of Computing , combining four graduate courses with professional development and an MSc research thesis. Students should normally complete a one-term internship with one of our industrial or government partners.

All cybersecurity CREATE research MSc students are eligible for financial support from the CREATE program.

We plan to make it possible to take this program part-time by offering some courses online or in short formats, so that proximity to Kingston is not essential.

MSc by Courses and Project at Queen’s

The project pattern MSc in cybersecurity is a specialization of the Project MSc program of the School of Computing , combining six graduate courses with a one-term research project. For the cybersecurity specialization, the course selection must include professional development, one course from SS, one course from CORE, and two courses from CYBER.

Project MSc students are self-funded, and normally receive no financial support from the cybersecurity CREATE program.

Master’s of Public Administration at RMC

Either the Research Pattern or Project Patterns version may be taken, with a research topic on social, legal, or political aspects of cybersecurity.

The MPA specialization is a specialization of the MPA program offered by RMC. As well as the requirements for that program, for students taking the cybersecurity specialization, course selection must include professional development and two courses from SS.