What's the "sexiest job of the 21st century"? According to Harvard Business Review, it's data scientist. A job devoted to giving structure to large quantities of formless data. Ever-changing, ever-challenging big data. The Master of Data Science (MDS) teaches you how to explore data and discover its potential – how to find innovative solutions to real problems in science, business and government, from technology start-ups to global organisations. With a degree in science, engineering, arts or computing, you can pursue a Master of Data Science, gaining skills in data management, data analytics and data processing – skills needed in this fast-growing field. Start of expanded content The MDS expands your knowledge of the analytical, organisational and computational aspects of data. You learn to manage data and gain an understanding of its impact on society. The MDS caters to students from a variety of backgrounds by including foundation units in programming, databases and maths or statistics. However, if you have this background from previous studies or work experience, you may accelerate your study with an exemption from these units, or choose to take more data science electives. The core coursework covers data science objectives, data analysis and data management. You then select data science electives such as applied data analysis, visualisation, data pre-processing, big data handling and data in society. You can also choose to take the Advanced Data Analytics stream where you build deeper skills in data analytics and machine learning. Our highly regarded faculty takes great pride in developing the most up-to-date material while maintaining a solid core of established theory and platforms, including Python and R (two of the most popular open-source programming languages for data analysis), Hadoop and Spark (for distributed processing). You also gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art tools and get exposure to key industry players. In your final semester, you will take part in an Industry Experience team project, working with industry mentors to develop data-driven IT solutions. Or you will undertake a minor-thesis research project, investigating cutting-edge problems under the supervision of internationally recognised researchers. Students wishing to exit early can complete with a Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma of Data Science