Data Science

How are we transitioning into an energy efficient and zero waste society? How do we detect and analyze fraud schemes and money laundry in an increasingly complex economy? How do we improve healthcare by developing personalized medicine? Data Science will play a pivotal role in solving the global challenges of the 21st century. 

Institutions across the whole spectrum of human activity, from banking to healthcare, and from government transportation and insurances, are nowadays racing to become data-driven. They have realized that in order to survive and excel in the 21^st century, they need to tap on the value of data. This allows them to better understand the world and take informative decisions that drive their ventures into offering better services. Data Science is the science of converting data into knowledge by data-driven decision making.

Data Science is the science of converting data into knowledge. It deals with all those challenges related to the management and processing of the data. It is called to find answers to critical questions like how can we efficiently store and access the massive volumes of data we collect? How can we use machine learning to help us understand data? How do we develop advanced visualization techniques that are going to explain what data looks like?

The two-year Research Master’s Data Science teaches the principles and core fundamentals of data science and how specific data science theories, tools, techniques and methodologies are designed, developed and used. While the Data Science Master’s programme primarily aims to prepare you for a career in academia (PhD), it also acknowledges diverse career paths including managerial roles or entrepreneurship in data science. 

Data Science: the essential component for AI

Data Science is also playing a pivotal role in the materialization of AI. It is the central pillar that sustains AI by providing all the necessary tools to manage the data from which the Intelligence is derived.  It delivers the systems to make data processing and machine learning effective and efficient, and the machine learning algorithms that enable computers to represent knowledge and reason.

Related Master’s Programmes

This programme operates in parallel to the 1 year Master’s programme in Applied Data Science, that instead aims on how to apply existing data science tools and solutions in different application domains. The two-year Research Master’s programme in Artificial Intelligence focuses specifically on the design and development of algorithms, techniques and models to analyze and build intelligent systems.  

Why in Utrecht

• We offer a unique, holistic approach to all the research domains in the data processing pipeline, from data preparation to analysis and visualisation.
• Focus on algorithm development, system building, and architectural design, advancing the field of data science to new levels, creating novel, innovative solutions. 
• The courses are taught by distinguished researchers in the respective research communities. 
• The programme is part of a rich ecosystem that includes the Utrecht AI Labs, organisations like TNO, the UMC, and other private businesses. This allows students to experience interactions with respected organisations in the field, e.g., through internships, specialize, and also apply their research to specific real-life domains.