Data Science MSc

The MSc Data Science provides training in data science methods, emphasising statistical perspectives. You will receive a thorough grounding in theory, as well as the technical and practical skills of data science.

Your theoretical learning will be at a high mathematical level, while the technical and practical skills you will gain will enable you to apply advanced methods of data science and statistics to investigate real world questions.

The compulsory courses on the MSc Data Science programme will provide you with comprehensive coverage of some fundamental aspects of data, computational techniques and statistical analysis. You will then choose courses from a number of options ranging from Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning, Bayesian Machine Learning and Distributed Computing for Big Data, to Financial Statistics and Computational Data Science. The programme will combine traditional lectures with computer lab sessions, in which you will work with data to complete hands-on exercises using programming tools.

The MSc Data Science Capstone Project will provide you with a unique opportunity to apply knowledge gained from the programme by working on a real-world data science project in cooperation with a company. The Capstone Project company partners in the academic year 2018/19 included Adobe Research, Alpha Telefonica, Facebook, Microsoft, and Tesco. The Capstone Projects have covered a wide range of data science problems involving analysis of various types of data such as social media data, customer behaviour data, and company network data. Working on a Capstone Project will enable you to gain valuable hands-on experience and interact with industry.

Programme structure and courses

You will take four compulsory courses, including a Capstone Project. You will also select optional courses to the value of one full unit from a list of options.

The Capstone Project will provide you with the opportunity to study in depth a topic of specific interest. The topic may be identified from a list supplied by the Department or may be proposed by you. The topic will normally relate to a specific data source or sources and will require the use of data science skills learnt on the programme. The topic for a Capstone Project will be similar to that for the kinds of data-based issues faced in practice by private or public sector organisations. The focus is likely to be practical and there may be the opportunity to liaise with such an organisation during the project to ensure the project has practical relevance. A Capstone Project will be more academic; it will refer to a research literature and address a research question, building on that literature and using the data source(s).