Master of Science - Data Science and Analytics (Including an Industrial Year)

The importance of Big Data grows year on year, with sectors including healthcare, manufacturing, retail, administration and others reliant on the insights that accurate data capture and analysis can provide. Study Data Science and Analytics with a Year in Industry at Royal Holloway, University of London and students will develop the practical skills needed to handle and analyse data in a wide variety of fields, preparing them for a rewarding career in Big Data.

This flexible programme gives students the chance to tailor their learning to their own strengths and interests, with a broad range of optional modules including Online Machine Learning, Methods of Bioinformatics and Microeconometrics providing academic scope and variety. Students will be well-equipped to continue their studies at PhD level, which will place them in a strong position to pursue more advanced, research-based roles upon graduation.

Skills that students will acquire include the ability to:

• work with methods and techniques such as clustering, regression, support vector machines, boosting, decision trees, and neural networks • work with structured, unstructured, and time-series data • work with software packages such as MATLAB and R • design data processing solutions for data-intensive analytics problems • work with modern tools for massively distributed data processing, such as Hadoop and Pig, and Cloud Computing tools such as Amazon S3, EC2 and Elastic MapReduce • design Extract-Transfer-Load (ETL) pipelines • design Data Warehousing and Decision Support System (DSS) solutions • work with highly-scalable data-storage solutions, such as MongoDB, Cassandra, HBase, and other NoSQL Data Stores • work with data-intensive computing technologies, such as Hadoop MapReduce, Spark, Hive, and Pig • work with Cloud Computing tools, such as Amazon S3, EC2 and Elastic MapReduce

Students are encouraged to follow their passion for Data Science and Analytics at Royal Holloway and they will graduate with a desirable Masters degree from a highly regarded department, as well as transferable skillset that’s both in short supply and in high demand by employers. Royal Holloway's location near the M4 corridor – also known as ‘England’s Silicon Valley’ – means students can develop their skills and experience with a year in industry at some of the country's leading technology institutions.

• By electing to spend a year in business, students will also be able to integrate theory and practice and gain real business experience. In the past, students have secured placements in blue-chip companies such as Centrica, Data Reply, Disney, IMS Health, Rolls Royce, Shell, Sociéte Générale, VMWare and UBS, among others. • Benefit from strong industry ties, with close proximity to ‘England’s Silicon Valley’. • Graduate with a Master's degree leading to excellent graduate employability prospects. • Tailor their learning with a wide range of engaging optional modules. • Gain invaluable knowledge, experience and contacts with a year in industry.