Nov 27, 2024  
2020-2021 Graduate Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Data Science, M.S.


The plan in Data Science leads to the Master of Science (M.S.) degree. This plan is designed to equip students with the capability of integrating a wide spectrum of interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to uncover and utilize data in order to produce, apply, and communicate value-adding intelligence for organizations and the society, in various key technical, analytical, architectural, and managerial positions.

Requirements


Data Science Basic Preparation


Students entering the MS in DS program should hold a Bachelor degree with background in programming in Python or equivalent, data structures, and probability and statistics. Students without the necessary background can take the following three foundation courses
Additional Information

None of the above courses may apply to the graduate degree.

Students may select from the thesis option or the extended course work option. The thesis option requires 33 credit hours of graduate work and the extended course work option requires 36 credit hours.

Core Requirements (21 hours)


The following courses, or approved substitutions, are required for both the thesis option and extended course work options

Additional Information


With the approval of the faculty adviser, students who have taken an equivalent course of a core required course in their undergraduate study will not need to retake the course. Instead, the required course will be replaced by an additional 3 credit hours of elective courses.

Data Science Thesis Option (12 hours)


6 hours of approved related courses

Additional Information


Students interested in pursuing the thesis option are encouraged to take DASC 5939  (Independent Study in Data Science) during their first year, in order to write up their thesis proposals (with the sponsoring of a faculty adviser). All electives must be approved before enrolling.

Data Science Extended Course Work Option (15 hours)


Students desiring to follow the extended course work option must successfully complete the capstone project course (DASC 6838 ) and 12 hours of approved electives.

Additional Information


DASC 6838  must be taken after completion of the required core and during last 12 hours. All electives must be approved before enrolling.

Data Science Specializations


Data Science students pursuing the extended course work option should select 9 to 12 credits of courses in one of the following three specialization areas.
Additional Information

Other approved business electives

Cloud and Big Data Solutions Specialization


Bioinformatics Specialization


Additional Information

BIOL 4341  and BIOL 4361 have other BIOL courses as prerequisites. Student who have already taken this course in their undergraduate study should take an additional elective course below.