MSc Data Science and its Applications

University of Essex

Our MSc Data Science and its Applications is a conversion course specifically designed for students wanting to be part of our fast-growing digital economy but do not have the sufficient programming and statistics skills. This course you will place you at the core of data science with the application of theory and methods to real-world problems, specifically to use and exploit big data.

At Essex, the techniques we use to model and manipulate data guide the political, financial, and social decisions that shape our modern society and are the basis of growth of the economy and success of businesses.

The course introduces you to programming with the R language and as well as text analytics. Relational databases and SQL are developed and used for relevant applications from humanities, life sciences, linguistics, marketing, and social science. The course encourages statistical thinking by data visualisations and guides you to develop your creativity within a scientific framework.

You cover topics such as:

• Modelling experimental data
• Machine learning and decision making
• Applied statistics
• Combinatorial optimisation
• Statistical methods
• Stochastic processes

The leading department on this course, our Department of Mathematical Sciences, is genuinely innovative and student focused. Our research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues. The Department of Mathematical Sciences and our School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering are working together with other departments across the University to deliver optional modules and summer projects with Essex Business School, the Department of Language and Linguistics, the School of Life Sciences, the School of Philosophy and Art History, and the Department of Psychology. Our course also benefits from many Knowledge Transfer Partnerships which support students through placements and an interdisciplinary outreach culture.

Your future

With a predicted shortage of data scientists, now is the time to future-proof your career. A successful career in data science requires you to possess truly interdisciplinary knowledge and our staff ensure that you graduate with a wide-ranging, yet specialised, set of skills in this area.

Data scientists are required in every sector, carrying out statistical analysis or mining data on social media. Our graduates are highly sought after by a range of businesses and organisations and find employment in financial services, scientific computation, decision making support and government, risk assessment, statistics, education, and other areas. Our recent graduates have gone onto work as data scientists and data analysts in both the private and public sectors.

We also offer supervision for PhD, MPhil, and MSc by Dissertation.