Computer Science Study Plan #

Students are warmly advised to carefully read the Study plans section of the guidelines and recommendations website managed by the course programme council.

All the information given here can be found on the official webpage dedicated to Computer Science (if it seems outdated modify the year in the link to the current one). You might have to check the webpage in case rules change, as it happened in the 2024/25 academic year when the recommended curriculums were added.

In the Computer Science Study Plan Telegram section you can discuss, compare and ask for advices regarding your plan.

Study Plan Basics #

Students of the Master’s Degree in Computer Science must submit a valid study plan (“percorso formativo”) for approval to be able to book and take exams. A study plan defines the set of teachings a student plans to attend and complete during his/her first and second year.

A study plan for the Master Programme in Computer Science must comprise 120–123 credits, split as follows:

66 credits chosen from those offered within the course programme (with some restrictions, see below);
12–15 credits of elective teachings, chosen (in principle) from the entire Sapienza catalogue (must be justified to be approved, you can’t simply insert Philosophy 3);
6 credits of a supplementary educational activity (in Italian: “Attività Formativa Complementare”, in short “AFC”), which might be a seminary, a side project with a professor or a recognized work activity related to Computer Science (check here for further information);
36 credits of Master thesis work and defense.

A study plan already in force can be revised by submitting for approval a new plan which includes all teachings whose exams have already been cleared.

Submission and Revision Dates #

You can submit your study plans at most once per year during the following period:

From October 1 of each year until February 28 of the following year.

The committee will evaluate submitted plans periodically as follows:

Plans submitted by October 10 will be evaluated by October 30;
Plans submitted after October 10 and by November 30 will be evaluated by December 31;
Plans submitted after November 30 and by January 15 will be evaluated by January 31;
Plans submitted after January 15 and by February 28 will be evaluated by March 31.

Study plans still pending evaluation cannot be changed. For this reason, you are strongly advised to submit their study plans only when you have a clear idea about which teachings to attend, especially for their next academic year.

How to Submit a Study Plan #

Study plans must be submitted using the online submission system called “Percorsi Formativi”, accessible from within Infostud.

When and How does an Approved Study Plan Come into Effect? #

Students whose study plans are approved will receive a notification to their institutional email address.

Study plans come into effect starting from the Academic Year in which they were submitted and remain in effect until a new substitute study plan is eventually submitted and approved.

Study plans approved between October and December will come into force from January 1 of the following year. This means that, to take any exams in the session held from September to December (which, in fact, belongs to the previous academic year), the associated teachings must be part of a study plan approved in the previous academic year.

The Infostud system forbids students from booking or taking any exam that is not included in their study plan currently in force.

The consequence of this rule is that students without an approved study plan cannot book or take any exam.

Exams Ahead of Schedule
Once your study plan is approved you can virtually book all the exams and finish your Master’s Degree in one semester. In practice if you book and pass an exam of a semester that you didn’t attend yet, the administration might remove it from your career record. The dangerous part is the “might” because if they notice right before your graduation, you might have to delay it; or, worse, if they notice it after you graduated they can legally invalidate your degree.

What happens if a study plan is rejected? #

Students whose study plans are rejected will receive a notification to their institutional email address with the reasons for rejection and further recommendations on how to correct the problem.

Such students will need to submit a new study plan by the deadlines mentioned above.

Their previously approved study plan (if any) will remain in force and can still be used to book and take exams

How to avoid rejection? #

Students are strongly advised to carefully read the “How to submit a valid study plan” of the guidelines and recommendations website managed by the course programme council.

Special Cases for Erasmus Programme #

Students participating in the Erasmus programme may request assistance from the study plans evaluation committee for immediate changes to their study plan, should they encounter serious administrative problems at the hosting institution.

Study Plan Options #

The committee warmly recommends you to strictly follow the recommendations and guidelines in the Study plans section of their dedicated website to neutralise the risk of your study plan being rejected.
What follows is a purely introductory outline, devoid of many useful details.

There are two types of study plans for the 2024/2025 academic year (you can check here for the appendices and PCCs combinations):

Recommended Study Plan ("PERCORSO FORMATIVO CONSIGLIATO", Based on PCCs)
Automatically approved if correctly compiled:
- Choose two specialization areas (PCCs) according to your interests from the following list:
  - Algorithms
  - Artificial Intelligence
  - Computational Models for Systems Design
  - Data Science
  - Multimedia Computing and Interaction
  - Networks
  - Security
  - Software Engineering
  - Systems
- Select all courses from the two chosen PCCs, as they’re specified in “ALLEGATO 3”;
- Include related courses ("Insegnamenti Affini") taken exclusively from “ALLEGATO 2” until all CFUs (including free-choice ones) are completed;
- Include an AFC;
- In the study plan notes, include the phrase: “PERCORSO CONSIGLIATO”, specifying the names of the two selected PCCs.
Custom Study Plan ("PERCORSO FORMATIVO INDIVIDUALE")
Must be reviewed by the Academic Committee:
- Choose 54 CFUs from any core courses listed in the PCCs ("ALLEGATO 1");
- Add 12 CFUs of related courses ("Insegnamenti Affini") taken exclusively from “ALLEGATO 2” and 12 CFUs of free-choice courses, ensuring that all required CFUs are completed.
- Include an AFC;
- Include justifications in the study plan notes for deviating from the recommended PCC-based structure, adding the phrase: “PERCORSO INDIVIDUALE”.

A recommended plan is highly encouraged as it guarantees automatic approval. Custom plans may require additional evaluation and are not guaranteed to be accepted.

Contacts #

You can open a support ticket on the dedicated support page for the Master programme or have it automatically opened by sending an e-mail to: mastercs_studyplans@di.uniroma1.it. The committee invites students not to ask questions whose answers are already present in the dedicated section of their website.

You will receive a response within about 30 days. Typically, the committee responds much faster when the study plan submission deadline approaches.