10 Postgraduate programmes 1 on offer At postgraduate level, the University offers coursework programmes and research programmes. Postgraduate education at UCT commonly results in one of four qualification outputs: a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD); a Master s degree; an Honours degree; or a Postgraduate Diploma. Postgraduate Diploma programmes, Honours and Master s programmes are usually a combination of coursework and a research-based dissertation. Some Master s and all PhD programmes are by research-based dissertation only. The duration of Postgraduate programmes Postgraduate Diplomas vary in duration but usually do not exceed one year s study; Honours programmes are one year; Master s programmes that combine coursework and a research dissertation usually span over two years (although it can be completed within one year); Master s degrees by research dissertation only are usually completed within 2 years; and PhD programmes are usually 3 to 4 years. Research-linked programmes UCT has a large number of postgraduate programmes that are linked to research groups or collaboration frameworks, briefly described below. These include the Centres of Excellence, the SARChIs (see below), the university s over 70 accredited research units, centres or institutes as well as a number of research signature themes. Centres of Excellence and SARChIs The Department of Science and Technology s South African Research Chair Initiative (SARChI) was designed to strengthen the production of high quality research and innovation, and through this to increase the quality of training of postgraduate students. These SARChI programmes and the Centres of Excellence and Competence Centres conduct cutting-edge research, train postgraduate students and are of specific interest to PhD students and Postdoctoral Research Fellows. The University of Cape Town has 33 SARChI chairs, 2 Centres of Excellence, 1 Centre of Excellence node and 1 Competence Centre which make UCT the frontrunning university on the African continent in terms of research production. The following lists UCT s flagship SARChI, Centre of Excellence and Competence Centre programmes for postgraduate students: postgate Commerce Economic Growth, Poverty and Inequality: Exploring the Interactions for South Africa Poverty and Inequality Engineering & the Built Environment Bioprocess Engineering Broadband Networks and Applications Catalysis C* Change (Centre of Excellence) Hydrogen Catalysis (Competence Centre) Minerals Beneficiation Reaction Engineering Urban Policy Health Sciences Brain Imaging Cancer Biology Centre for Biomedical TB Research (Centre of Excellence Node) Clinical Neurosciences Health and Wealth in South Africa Immunology and Infectious Diseases in Africa Infection and Immunity of Poverty-related Diseases Humanities Archive and Popular Culture Islam, African Publics and Religious Values Land Reform and Democracy in South Africa Migration, Language and Social Change Law Customary Law Security and Justice Science Animal Evolution and Systematics Astrophysics and Space Science Birds as Keys to Biodiversity Conservation (Centre of Excellence) Climate Change Computational Mechanics Drug Discovery Environmental and Social Dimensions of the Bio-Economy Marine Ecology and Fisheries Multi-wavelength Astronomy Scientific Computing 1 In keeping with international trends, we refer here to programmes of study. For administrative purposes, the UCT application form does not refer to programmes, but uses the term qualification to refer to the type of degree (e.g. BSc, MA, PhD) and stream to refer to the specialisation (e.g. Archaeology, Transport Studies, African Languages). 9