Quick answer
A good computer science dissertation has a clear problem, a project you can finish in time and a way to measure success, such as comparing model accuracy against a baseline. This guide lists 40 topics for 2026 across AI, cyber security, data science, software engineering, cloud, UX and Saudi digital services.
Computer science and IT dissertations come in two main types. Some are build-and-evaluate projects, where you create an artefact such as a model, an app or a tool and test how well it works. Others are research projects, where you survey users, analyse data or review the literature on how a technology is adopted. Either way, a good topic has a clear question and a way to measure the answer.
Below are 40 computer science and IT dissertation topics for 2026, grouped by area, for undergraduate and Master's students in the UK and Saudi Arabia. After the list you will find how to choose datasets, evaluate your work and structure a technical dissertation.
AI and machine learning dissertation topics
- Comparing transformer-based and traditional models for sentiment analysis of product reviews.
- Detecting fake news headlines with machine learning: accuracy and explainability.
- Bias in facial recognition models across demographic groups: measurement and mitigation.
- Predicting student dropout from learning platform data using classification models.
- Explainable AI for loan approval decisions: do explanations increase user trust?
Cyber security dissertation topics
- Detecting phishing emails with machine learning: comparing feature-based and language-model approaches.
- Security awareness training and employees' ability to recognise phishing in UK SMEs.
- Vulnerability of smart home devices and practical steps to secure them.
- Password manager adoption among university students: barriers and motivations.
- Intrusion detection using public network traffic datasets: comparing classifiers.
Data science and analytics dissertation topics
- Forecasting retail demand with time series models: ARIMA versus machine learning.
- Analysing public transport usage data to identify patterns of congestion.
- Customer churn prediction for a subscription service.
- Data quality issues in open government datasets and their effect on analysis.
- Visualising air quality data for public understanding: a dashboard evaluation.
Software engineering dissertation topics
- The use of AI coding assistants by student developers: productivity and code quality.
- Comparing automated testing approaches for web applications.
- Technical debt in student software projects: causes and prevention.
- Agile practices in small UK software companies: what works and what does not.
- Developing an accessible mobile app and evaluating it with users who have visual impairments.
Cloud computing and networks dissertation topics
- Cost and performance comparison of serverless and container-based deployments.
- Cloud adoption barriers among UK small businesses.
- Energy efficiency of data centre workloads and scheduling strategies.
- Edge computing for low-latency Internet of Things applications.
- Network performance of home broadband for remote working.
Human-computer interaction and UX topics
- Usability evaluation of a university virtual learning environment using the System Usability Scale.
- Dark patterns in online shopping and their effect on user trust.
- Designing a mental health support app for students: user needs and evaluation.
- Older adults' experiences of online banking interfaces.
- The effect of interface design on cookie consent choices.
IT management and information systems topics
- Adoption of ERP systems in medium-sized companies: critical success factors.
- Employees' acceptance of generative AI tools at work, using the UTAUT model.
- Digital transformation in the NHS: staff experiences of new electronic records.
- IT project failure: causes reported by project managers.
- Data protection compliance (UK GDPR) in small businesses.
Saudi Arabia digital transformation topics
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in digital government and smart services as part of Vision 2030, from e-government platforms to digital payments. These topics suit students with access to Saudi users or data.
- User satisfaction with Saudi e-government services such as Absher.
- Cyber security awareness among employees in Saudi organisations.
- Adoption of cloud services by Saudi SMEs.
- Arabic natural language processing for customer service chatbots.
- Digital payment adoption among small merchants in Saudi Arabia.
Datasets and evaluation
- Public datasets: the UCI Machine Learning Repository, Kaggle and government open data portals
- Model evaluation: report accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score, and compare against a simple baseline
- Usability evaluation: the System Usability Scale (SUS) and short task-based user tests
- Adoption research: surveys based on TAM or UTAUT, analysed in SPSS or Python
- User testing needs approval from your university before you recruit participants
- Keep your code in version control and document how to reproduce your results
Tip: Pick a dataset before you commit to a topic. Many machine learning projects stall because the data turns out to be too small, too messy or not available.
How a technical dissertation is usually structured
- 1Introduction: the problem, aims and objectives
- 2Literature review: existing approaches and the gap your project addresses
- 3Requirements and design: what you built and why
- 4Implementation: the key technical decisions, not every line of code
- 5Testing and evaluation: how well it works, measured against your objectives
- 6Discussion and conclusion: limitations and future work
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