Data scientist was No. 2 on Glassdoor’s list of the “50 Best Jobs in America for 2021,” thanks to the rise of big data and the growing demand for empirical-based decision making across many industries. To help meet this demand, the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences launched its new Master of Data Science (MDS) professional graduate program in the fall of 2021.
“Industry is learning very quickly that a lot of people can scrape and analyze data,” says Daniel Gillen, chair of the Department of Statistics, “but to do something truly meaningful with data — to make decisions that will drive the industry forward — you need the foundations of data science and an understanding of statistics and computing methods.”
The Best of Both Worlds
“We see lots of demand coming from individuals who were trained in computer science, for example, without rigorous statistical training,” says Gillen. “We also see demand coming from individuals who were trained in mathematical sciences and statistics but don’t have the computing background,” he continues. “And then there are a lot of individuals coming from other disciplines as well … from business analytics backgrounds [and] from political and social science backgrounds.”
The MDS program is designed to advance students’ data science skills, regardless of whether they’re in the tech industry, at a financial institution, in a domain such as education or
healthcare, or recent graduates. The goal is to fill certain gaps in training while providing practical, hands-on experience.
“What makes this program unique is that it is taught and delivered by world-renowned experts in the foundations of data science, meaning both statistics and computing,” says Gillen. The courses cover applied probability and mathematical statistics, statistical modeling and computing, machine learning, data management and visualization, and artificial intelligence. More importantly, they are evenly split between faculty from the Department of Statistics and the Department of Computer Science, both of which are housed in ICS.
Welcoming the Inaugural Cohort
On Sept. 17, 2021, the MDS program welcomed 25 students. Notably, 32% of this first cohort is domestic, female students. “These numbers are high for STEM degrees and more notably for data science degrees,” says MDS Program Director Bryan Muñoz. “Our goal is to diversify the field of data science and break the mold — we want to increase female representation in tech and also help improve social mobility for underrepresented groups in the U.S.”
The 15-month program spans five quarters, with the first three quarters comprising coursework in both statistics and computer science. The summer quarter is available for internships or additional courses. To accommodate working professionals, all courses are offered in the late afternoon or evening, and for those in need of financial assistance, scholarships and financial aid are available. The final quarter is the capstone course, where students work on industry-derived projects, gaining real-world, hands-on experience.
“Nestled in the Tech Coast of Orange County, MDS is in the unique position to empower innovation through data science,” says Muñoz. “We are looking to leverage UCI’s powerhouse ecosystem to generate incredible talent that will feed into the greater economy.”
Growing Portfolio of ICS Programs
The MDS program adds to the list of high-demand professional graduate programs already offered through ICS:
The Master of Computer Science (MCS) program had 91% of its 2020 cohort secure full-time employment within three months of graduation, breaking the industry standard rate of within six months of graduation.
The Master of Human-Computer Interaction and Design (MHCID) is one of the top 10 HCI master’s programs in the country, boasting a 100% graduation rate among its five graduating classes.
The more recent Master of Software Engineering (MSWE) program, now in its third year, is a hands-on program that gives students in a variety of STEM fields the skills to become software engineers.
The Master of Embedded and Cyber-Physical Systems (MECPS) is a joint program with the Samueli School of Engineering and was one of the first in the U.S. to focus on both embedded and cyber-physical computer systems, which integrate hardware and software.
MDS students will be able to leverage resources and events available through these already established graduate programs, such as dedicated career counselors and showcase events. This will further help ensure students are ready to thrive as data scientists as soon as they graduate, applying their new skills whether their goal is to work in the tech industry, government or anywhere in between.
