The University of Washington (UW) is the latest institution to add a Master of Science program in data science, following approval by its Board of Regents. The curriculum will provide students with advanced technical expertise in managing, modeling and visualizing big data to meet the growing needs of industry, government, nonprofits and research institutions, according to the university.
The 45-credit program, which will launch in fall 2016, will be offered at the UW Seattle campus, with full- and part-time options available in the evening to suit the schedules of working professionals. Faculty from the university’s departments of Applied Mathematics, Biostatistics, Computer Science & Engineering, Human Centered Design & Engineering, Statistics and the Information School joined with the UW eScience Institute to develop the master’s program to address the pressing demand for skilled data scientists.
“This new master’s program was designed not only by six leading UW departments, but also with direct input from top data science hiring managers in Seattle and nationwide,” Bill Howe, associate director and senior data science fellow at the UW eScience Institute and chair of the UW Data Science Master’s Development Committee, said in a statement. “The level of technical expertise from both industry and academia that went into designing this program makes it unique in the country.”
