For a research masters degree

The degree of MSc (Wildlife Management) is directed at candidates wanting to pursue a research project (aligned with one of our research interests) within the CWM. Candidates must be in possession of a suitable 4 year BSc Honours degree, or equivalent 4-year Science Honours, to qualify for admission. The candidate will be expected to undertake independent, full-time research, that will be written up as a dissertation and one or two scientific papers.

Two MSc (Wildlife Management) options are available:

1. The first option is a traditional field-based project where the candidate plans the work, collects the field data, and then writes up the work. This type of MSc typically takes 24 months of full-time work.

2. As is the trend in MSc courses worldwide we now offer a second option. This is a shorter MSc (typically 12 - 14 months of full-time work) where data are provided either by us or by a third party organisation. There is limited or no field work done by the student. The student will still write a proposal, get any needed data sharing ethics approvals, etc. and write up the work into an MSc thesis.

For a research doctoral degree

The degree of PhD (Wildlife Management) is directed at candidates wanting to pursue a novel research project (aligned with one of our research interests) within the CWM. Candidates must be in possession of a suitable MSc degree to qualify for admission and will be expected to undertake independent, full-time research, for 3 years that will be written up as a dissertation and several papers in good quality peer-reviewed international journals. Some of us will not take on any PhD students unless they have at least one first author paper in a quality journal, besides fulfilling all the other requirements.

For a post-doctoral fellowship

Please e-mail your preferred supervisor along with your CV (with a complete list of publications) and an outline of your academic interests.

Application procedure

You should check the university and faculty yearbooks to make sure you qualify for the degree you would like to do. After this, you must write to us (as mentioned above) asking for a supervisor. Only then, you should apply to the University of Pretoria. That a potential supervisor has accepted you does not mean the university has accepted you, and you may still not be allowed to register. This may be a result of your previous degree not being suitable or you not having high enough grades (so check first!). As such, applications are received by the University of Pretoria admissions office, processed and evaluated. On acceptance, the University will send you an official admission letter and your provisional student number. You may then proceed to the University for registration during January of your intended year of study. Please refer to the university website for prospective students for more information and the relevant forms.

International students

South African law requires an international student to meet some conditions before they are accepted to study at university, including a valid study permit and medical insurance. Further details are available on the University website. Prospective international students must not proceed to South Africa without a valid study permit. As university qualifications vary considerably between countries, you should make an initial enquiry to the CWM before proceeding. You may need your previous qualifications to be verified by the South African Qualifications Authority (at your cost).