The new programmes will teach students the integral skills required to be a part of the digital revolution.

Exeter launches new undergraduate programmes in Data Science

The University of Exeter has launched a range of Data Science programmes for undergraduates that will teach students the integral skills required to be a part of the digital revolution.

The new programmes, available for students attending university in September 2019, include BSc Data Science and BSc Mathematics and Data Science as well as MSci Data Science and MSci Mathematics and Data Science. These programmes make Exeter the 3rd Russell Group University and the first in the South of the UK to deliver undergraduate programmes in Data Science. 

Each programme will teach students how to analyse and draw insights from data, as well as learn how to understand complex systems and predict patterns of behaviour. These skills are increasingly being sought across the sectors, particularly by the finance and accounting industries, supermarkets, online retailers such as Amazon, and the NHS. Some of the areas graduates could develop a career in include international banking, social media and customer behaviour and marketing.

To develop these programmes, Exeter has been awarded HEFCE Catalyst funding to facilitate a high level of industry involvement in the creation of the curriculum. Business and organisations contributing to these courses include IBM, the Met Office, South West Water, Black Swan and Oxygen House. Through this detailed consultation Exeter will ensure that these new programmes include the skills most valued and in demand by business.

The programmes will be taught by academics from the University’s new Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (IDSAI), which provides a hub for data-intensive science and artificial intelligence activity within the University and the wider region.

Senior lecturer for Data Science, Dr Hywel Williams, said: “Data Science sits at the intersection between mathematics, statistics, computer science, and real world knowledge. It is a great time to be a data scientist as the demand for people who have these skills is just exploding.

“Here at Exeter, we're sending people out into industry with a great skillset to get involved in the digital revolution.”

The University already has three Data Science programmes available to postgraduates including; MSc Data Science, MSc Data Science with Business and MSc Policy Analytics. A new postgraduate course, MSc Applied Data Science and Statistics, is also being launched for 2019 students. Exeter will be the only university to offer a course this specialised.

Find out more about the new undergraduate programmes, including course content and entry requirements, on the course finder section of our website.

Date: 11 October 2018