Master of Science Program

The Masters program is a two-year, eight-quarter program whose core covers the fundamentals of modeling and simulation. Students with knowledge in the core competences can complete the program in as little as 12 months. For students who have not been in an academic environment for an extended period or who lack a technical undergraduate degree with above-average performance, a twelve-week refresher is offered and highly recommended.

The degree content is guided by the Educational Skill Requirements (ESR) which are approved by the degree sponsor, the Navy Modeling and Simulation Office.

MOVES Master of Science Degree Requirements

Twelve-week refresher quarter (optional)

Overview of Beginning Programming
Logic and Discrete Mathematics
Single Variable Calculus
Matrix Algebra
A detailed list of courses is found in the first-year matrix.

Course requirements

Core courses are required of all students. Most are taken in the first year, two in the second year.
Concentration Blocks are three-course sequences that provide specialization within the broad category of M&S topics.

Students may take at most two Group A concentration blocks and at most two concentration blocks from Group B

Service-specific course requirements

USN students who have not attained Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) Phase 1 certification must take the JPME concentration block from Group B. Details including a complete description of the requirements for completing Phase I Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) and course descriptions can be found in the academic policy manual, node 459.
USMC students must take MV3331 Principles of Systems Acquisition and Program Management (currently part of the core course requirements).
USA (Army) students must take the Systems Engineering concentration block from Group B.

Thesis requirement

A written thesis is the capstone achievement of every graduate.
Thesis topics vary from theoretical research to applications of M&S to topical issues within the DoD. Many student theses are conducted in conjunction with funded research projects. Students typically have a vested interest in the topic, be it to improve operations, existing procedures or to investigate novel technologies and their application to relevant military challenges.

Typical 24-month M&S degree program

This course matrix is not meant to restrict student flexibility. Contact the MOVES Program Officer or Academic Associate for additional information.

Validation of core courses is encouraged. To validate courses, contact the course coordinator (this is listed in Python). Students who validate classes have the opportunity to take additional elective courses and/or directed study. A directed study is a course which covers material not found in a regular course and is not related to the student's thesis.

First-year matrix

COURSES					SEMINARS
Refresher Summer (Winter)	CSR-100 (2-2) Refresher for Beginning Programming	MA-2025 (4-1) Logic and Discrete Mathematics I	MA-1113 (4-0) Single Variable Calculus I¹	MA-1114 (4-0) Single Variable Calculus II with Matrix Algebra¹
Quarter 1 Fall (Spring)	CS-2071 (4-2) Fundamental Object-Oriented Programming in C++	OS-3111 (4-0) Probability & Statistics for HSI and MOVES²	MA-3042 (4-0) Linear Algebra	MV-3101 (4-0) Introduction to Department of Defense Modeling and Simulation	MV-2921 (2-0) Introduction to MOVES
Quarter 2 Winter (Summer)	CS-2173 (4-2) Java as a Second Language	OS-3113 (4-1) Data Analysis for HSI and MOVES²	MV-3202 (3-2) Introduction to Computer Graphics	MV-4002 (4-1) Simulation and Training	MV-3922 (2-0) Introduction to Virtual Environment Technology
Quarter 3 Spring (Fall)	CS-3004 (3-2) Human-Computer Interaction	OS-3112 (4-2) Statistics & Design of Experiments²	MV-3203 (3-2) Graphical Simulation	CS-3310 (4-1) Artificial Intelligence	MV-3923 (0-2) Introduction to Research in MOVES
Quarter 4 Summer (Winter)	OA-3302 (4-0) Simulation Modeling	OS-3311 (4-0) Probability Models for Military Applications²	MV-3500 (3-2) Internetwork Communications and Simulation	OA/MV-4655 (4-0) Introduction to Joint Combat Modeling	MV-4924 (0-2) Research Seminar in MOVES

NOTES

For students entering with a recent calculus background, MA1115 "Multivariable Calculus" and MA1116 "Vector Calculus" will be taken in the refresher quarter
For students entering with a recent calculus background, OA3101, OA3102, OA3103 and OA3301 are taken for the probability, statistics and stochastic models sequence

Second-year matrix

Courses in the second year (other than the two Core Courses) should be tailored around completing concentration block requirements and other thesis requirements. Concentration blocks should be selected based on anticipated future assignments, thesis requirements and student interest. The thesis advisor should serve as the primary source for recommending concentration blocks and tailoring the matrix as needed.

COURSES					SEMINARS
Quarter 5 Fall (Spring)	MN-3331 (5-1) Principles of Acquisition and Program Management³	Concentration Area I	Concentration Area II	Concentration Area III	MV-4924 (0-2) Research Seminar in MOVES
Quarter 6 Winter (Summer)	Concentration Area I	Concentration Area I	Concentration Area II	Concentration Area III	MV-4924 (0-2) Research Seminar in MOVES
Quarter 7 Spring (Fall)	MV-0810 Thesis Research	Concentration Area II	Elective⁴	Concentration Area III	MV-4924 (0-2) Research Seminar in MOVES
Quarter 8 Summer (Winter)	MV-0810 Thesis Research	MV-0810 Thesis Research	MV-4460 (4-0) Management of Modeling & Simulation Development	Elective⁴	MV-4924 (0-2) Research Seminar in MOVES

NOTES

Non-DoD students will instead take GB3031 "Principles of Acquisition Management"
For USN taking JPME, one elective will be one of the four required JPME courses.

Concentration Areas

Students are required to take three Concentration Blocks, no more than two from either Group A or B. All Concentration Blocks consist of three courses, typically two required and one elective chosen with assistance from the thesis advisor. A course may only count towards one block. The JPME Concentration Block is only available to Navy students and has four required courses. All US Army students must take the Systems Engineering block. The thesis advisor is the primary point of contact for selecting blocks and electives.

Check Projected MOVES Course Offerings for when MV courses are projected to be offered. The quarter a course has historically been offered follows the course name (1 - Fall, 2 - Winter, 3 - Spring, 4 - Summer).

Group A

A1. Combat Modeling - Coordinator: Tom Lucas

Required courses

MV4302 - Advanced Discrete Event Simulation (1, 3)
MV4657 - Modeling and Simulation for Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) Operations (1)

Recommended electives

OA4602 - Joint Campaign Analysis (2, 4)
OA4604 - Wargaming Applications (1, 3)
OA4656 - Advanced Combat Models (2)

A2. Visual Simulation - Coordinator: Mathias Kölsch

Choose any three:

MV4205 - Adv. 3D Modeling with X3D/VRML (1)
MV4471 - Computer Animation (2)
MV4472 - Physics for Game Developers and Virtual Environments (?)
CS4330 - Computer Vision (2)

A3. Agents & Cognitive Modeling - Coordinator: Chris Darken

Required courses

MV4025 - Cognitive and Behavioral Modeling for Simulations (1)
MV4100 - Cognitive Engineering (2)

Recommended electives

CS4330 - Computer Vision (2)
MV4015 - Agent-Based Autonomous Behavior for Simulations (2)

A4. Discrete Event Modeling & Analysis - Coordinator: Arnie Buss

Required courses

MV4302 - Advanced Discrete Event Simulation Modeling (1, 3)
OA4333 - Simulation Analysis (2, 4)

Recommended electives

OA4108 - Data Mining (1, 3)
OA4308 - Time Series Analysis (?)

Group B

B1. Human Factors & Training - Coordinator: Mike McCauley

Required courses

OA3401 - Human Factors in System Design (1, 3)
MV4001 - Human Factors of Virtual Environments (1)

Recommended electives

MV4xxx - Advanced Topics in Training Systems (?)
OA4407 - Human Anthropometry and Biomechanics (3)
OA3402 - Research Methods for Performance Assessment (2)

B2. Systems Engineering & Acquisition - Coordinator: Gene Paulo

Note: Required of all US Army students - Available to others
Required courses

SE3100 - Fundamentals of Systems Engineering (1)
SI3400 - Fundamentals of Engineering Project Management (2, 4)

Recommended electives

OS4680 - Naval Systems Analysis (3)
SE3302 - System Suitability (3)

B3. JPME (Joint Professional Military Education)

Note: Required for non-JPME-qualified US Navy students - Not available to others
Required courses (all four are required)

NW3230 - Strategy and Policy (All)
NW3275 - Joint Maritime Operations, Part I (All)
NW3276 - Joint Maritime Operations, Part II (All)
NW3285 - National Security Decision Making (All)