HN Explorer

Ask YC: What are the best computer science universities in Canada?

6 points by buss ↗ HN
I'm considering a move to Canada sometime in the next year or two, but I plan on going to grad school (I'm on track to finish my BS in CS in the next two years). If I do decide to make the move, what are the best computer science schools, preferably with significant research in security? I like the Vancouver area, but I don't think the University of British Columbia would be a good pick for CS. Opinions?

Also, it would be nice, but not necessary, for there to be some amount of startup activity in the area.

16 comments

[ 5.0 ms ] story [ 52.7 ms ] thread
amichail
Univ of Toronto is the top one overall for grad school though I don't know how much security research is done there.
ozzieg
University of Waterloo has always ranked at the top of all CS programs, and is the most sought after school with respect to university recruiting. Security is thoroughly covered in the combinatorics department of the math faculty
cperciva
Can you be a bit more specific than "security"? Are you interested in cryptography? Protocol analysis? Formal security proofs? Automatic analysis of source code to detect bugs (think Coverity)? Also, from a general point of view, do you consider Computer Science to be a branch of mathematics, or a field of engineering?

If you like Vancouver, I'd certainly recommend considering SFU -- as a whole, SFU is smaller than UBC, but the CS departments are almost exactly the same size.

buss
By security, I mean cryptography, intrusion detection systems, firewalls, and web-based attacks (like SQL injection, XSS, and the like). I consider computer security to be equal parts mathematics and engineering (even the best cryptosystems can be engineered poorly and introduce weak points).

I'm taking a course (in the mathematics department) on elliptic curve cryptography, and I am a new member on UF's infosec team. I'll be competing in this year's iCTF, so that should help give you an idea of what I mean by security and what I'm interested in researching.

mmp
I'm a CS grad student at the Universite de Montreal. It's probably not what you're looking for (what's security?), since it's francophone and concentrates mainly on operations research, but if there's any interest feel free to email me.

If you do come to Montreal, check http://montrealtechwatch.com/ for local startup activity. In any case, it's a great city to live in.

hello_moto
The head of CS department has a PhD from MIT with strong Math background and a fellow AT&T researcher specializing in security.

http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2005/05mar03/defe...

UBC has won ACM Pacific Northwest Programming Contest for 4 years in a row beating Stanford, Berkeley and the rest. The other 2 UBC teams usually place within top 10 (3rd, 4th place)

neilk
In Canada, Waterloo is head and shoulders above the rest for almost anything. Ian Goldberg teaches there now, so there's at least one world-class security researcher. I believe there are plenty of startups in the area, but I don't have first-hand knowledge. I can tell you that a Waterloo degree is looked on very favorably at Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo.

In Vancouver, your picks are UBC or Simon Fraser University. I don't know enough about their grad programs to say anything useful, but I know SFU has a very good undergrad degree, and they really mentor their students to be entrepreneurs. There is a startup scene in Vancouver but it's a bit lightweight, with a few notable exceptions.

neilk
Cryptography, Security and Privacy research group at Waterloo:

http://crysp.uwaterloo.ca/

buss
I had no idea that Waterloo was so into security research. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that some of the people in the department help develop OTR, which I've been using for just over a year (it was especially comforting while I was studying in China). As it stands now, Waterloo is at the top of my list of places I'll apply for grad school. Thanks for the great recommendation!
hello_moto
Keep in mind that a lot of UBC graduate students actually come from Waterloo. While Waterloo (and maybe SFU) have a good/strong CS department, they're strong in undergraduate.
paulgb
Waterloo has a pretty good reputation for CS. The area has an active and friendly start-up community as well.
aarontait
CS or Software Engineering at Ontario's newest and most high tech university is, in my opinion, beyond what Waterloo can deliver. Check out UOIT http://uoit.ca/

buss
Is there a list of the current research? I can't find anything.
aarontait
UOIT has a great CS and Software Engineering program. They are also the only school in Canada to offer a masters in information technology security. UOIT is also Ontario's newest, and most wired university. http://uoit.ca