Masters to tackle skills gap in Data Science
Wednesday 16 March 2016
THE UNIVERSITY of Salford is taking the lead in closing the UK skills gap in data science.
Demand for graduates in the analysis of data and statistics has grown by 350% over the past five years with job openings in everything from scientific institutes to accountancy and law enforcement.
From September 2016, a new Masters in Data Science will be available to graduates of ANY discipline with a degree and a good level of Mathematics.
The ‘conversion’ course in the only one of its kind in the North West of England and is funded to £50,000 as part of a £1.7 million grant scheme from the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE).
'Sexiest job'
Dr Mohamad Saraee, from the School of Computing, Science and Engineering, who won the bid, is designing the course with help from one of the world’s leaders in data analysis – SAS.
He said: “Data Scientist has been described as the sexiest job of the 21st century probably because everybody from big corporations to government needs them.
“Organisations are producing vast quantities of data and they need to know how best to exploit it. You don’t need to be a computer expert to do so, but you do need the sort of skills we are teaching on this course.”
The course covers data mining, advanced statistics and databases and incorporates training materials from SAS – a global provider of analysis software – and a partner of the University of Salford.
Industry certification
Students can earn SAS certification on top of their Masters degree.
Dr Saraee added: “We are inviting applications from students from any discipline with demonstrable mathematical aptitude, who have enquiring minds, a practical and analytical approach to problem solving and an ambition for a career in this area.”
The course, which starts in September, will be officially launched at a launch event of the Student SAS Academy which allows the University to teach the use of SAS platforms for data mining and big data analysis.
Further details of the Masters in Data Science can be obtained by contacting Programme Leader Dr Mo Saraee m.saraee@salford.ac.uk 0161 295 7099
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