| Qualification stream: | Police Science, Forensic Science and Technology |
| Qualification code: | 90039 - PFS |
| Qualification type: | Full Research |
| NQF level: | 10 |
| Total credits: | 360 |
| SAQA ID: | 111052 |
A Master's/ Magister Technologiae Degree in Police Science; Forensic Investigation; Corrections Management; Security Management; Criminal Justice; Criminology; or an appropriate Master's Degree.
All students with foreign qualifications, including those with qualifications from African countries, must have their qualifications evaluated at SAQA. (www.saqa.org.za)
In addition to the above requirements, applicants must submit a transcript or an academic record, as well as a document describing their intended research. Candidates may also apply for admission via RPL. Candidates will be accepted on the following criteria: suitability and viability of the intended research; adequate supervisory capacity and research expertise in the discipline or department; and an approved selection procedure, which is in line with Unisa's policies on equality and diversity in the discipline or department
All master's and doctoral qualifications are structured over a defined period. Refer to sections 4.12 and 4.13 in the Procedures for master’s and doctoral degrees.
A student registered for a research doctoral programme must complete the study programme within six years. A student may make application to the Registrar for one additional year of study who will only consider the application if it is recommended by the Executive Dean of the College in which the student is registered.
A doctoral degree will require you to undertake research at the most advanced academic levels culminating in the submission, assessment and acceptance of a thesis. Coursework may be required as preparation or value addition to the research, but does not contribute to the credit value of the qualification. The defining characteristic of this qualification is that you will be required to demonstrate high-level research capability and make a significant and original academic contribution at the frontiers of the discipline or field. This work must be of a quality to satisfy peer review and merit publication.
Click here to view a list of departments and research focus areas for the College of Law.
Unisa’s admission policy has changed and you are now required to submit a detailed research outline for the qualification for which you apply. No application submitted without a detailed research outline will be considered. Although this research outline may differ for each qualification or academic department, the basic information required is as follows:
Your research outline must align with one of the departmental research focus areas. Please also take note of Unisa's Catalytic Niche Areas; you should strive to incorporate at least one of the Catalytic Nice Areas (CNAs) into your research. These include the following:
You can join the CGS-facilitated CNA working groups for the next series of meetings. For more information, visit www.unisa.ac.za/cgs
Click here for the guidelines on how to prepare a research outline.
Plagiarism of any form is unacceptable. Please take note of Unisa's Policy for Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism.
Pay the online application fee of R140,00 once you have received your Unisa student number.
Please note:
An application for a student number does not constitute an application for admission. After you receive your student number, you must still complete the online application for admission process and upload the compulsory supporting documents.
Click here for the 2024 student fee information. The fee information for the 2025 academic year will be available at the time of registration.
Students registering for qualifications through the Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) should visit the SBL website for fee information, as the SBL uses a different fee structure.
Click here for student funding/bursary opportunities.
Application are online only! Applications for admission to master's and doctoral degrees to be open from 2 September to 22 November 2024.
Applications for the following qualifications will, however, remain open until the end of June 2025:
Click here to apply for a student number and apply for admission.
Please ensure that you apply for a Unisa student number (if applicable), apply for admission and upload all the supporting documents during the application period. If you already have a Unisa student number, you proceed to apply for admission and upload all the supporting documents.
You have 10 working days to upload all the supporting documents during the application period. If you do not comply with this requirement, your application will be declined and you will have to re-apply for admission during the current/next application period.
Only students whose application for admission was approved and re-registering students (who made sufficient progress during the current academic year) will be allowed to register online within the approved registration period for the 2025 academic year. Coursework master's degree students must await the official approval of their research proposal module, before attempting to re-register for the next academic year. Students with outstanding fees or a Library block on their accounts, will not be able to register online until these issues have been resolved. No printed registration forms will be accepted.
Click here for registration information.