DATA SCIENCE
City University London observes that “The next generation of scientific discovery and technological innovation will be data-driven. Deriving value from all the data now available, for economic growth and to benefit society, requires a transformation in data analysis. Data Science is an emerging area of work concerned with this task of extracting insight from large collections of data”. According to them, “The demand for Data Scientists has grown by 350% in the past five years, and is predicted to continue to rise sharply. Salary levels are also increasing, with an average salary for permanent jobs citing “Big Data” of £60,000 per annum in the London area”. Data Science Central, an online resource, says: A frequently cited study by McKinsey predicts that by 2018, the United States could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 “people with deep analytic skills” as well as 1.5 million “managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.” It is no surprise then that many reputed universities offer postgraduate programmes in this field, although the name and the emphasis differ.
Some universities combine data science with innovation as there is the growing recognition that innovation should be guided by analysis of relevant data. There are some who make the link between data science and computational intelligence. Some offer a programme in big data science. Some call in Business Analytics where the focus is more practical than academic.
City University London offers an MSc in Data Science, with a focus on research supported by links with industry. (https://www.city.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/data-science-msc)
UTS Sydney offers a Master of Data Science and Innovation as a two-year full-time or a four-year part-time course. It claims to follow a transdisciplinary approach to enable students to convert their knowledge into practice. (http://www.uts.edu.au/future-students/find-a-course/courses/c04293)
Coventry University in the UK offers an MSc Data Science and Computational Intelligence. It says that “The course has a carefully designed set of options that allows the individual to customise their programme of study according to their preferences, strengths and future plans”. (http://www.coventry.ac.uk/course-structure/2014/faculty-of-engineering-and-computing/postgraduate/data-science-and-computational-intelligence-msc/)
Queen Mary University of London offers a one-year MSc in Big Data Science. This course focuses on machine learning and IT tools such as cloud computing and Hadoop
(http://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/coursefinder/courses/121386.html).
Imperial College Business School offers an MSc in Business Analytics which focuses on helping students make business decisions, using the latest academic thinking and analytical tools (http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/programmes/msc-business-analytics/).
Data Science Central, an online resources, has published its list of top five courses in the US – Harvard Data Science Course, UC Berkeley: Master of Information and Data Science, Stanford University: Master of Science in Statistics: Data Science, Carnegie Mellon University: Master of Information Systems Management and North Carolina State University: Master of Science in Analytics (http://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/top-five-data-science-masters-programs).