Data Science Master of science degree
Data Science
Master of science degree
585‑475‑4901, laura.watts@rit.edu
585‑475‑2991, tjdvse@rit.edu
Overview
Demand is high for professionals skilled in both analytics and computing. Enhance your skill set by learning to manage large-scale data sets in this highly applied program.
One of the hottest fields in computing, the data science masters gives you the practical and theoretical skills to handle large-scale data management and analysis challenges that arise in today's data-driven organizations. This program appeals to professionals looking to enhance their skill set, and includes opportunities for customized course work within the broad field of data science and its various application areas.
In response to the growing need to generate and analyze meaningful data across all industries, demand is on the rise for a new breed of professionals skilled in both analytics and computing. By 2020, data science job openings are projected to grow by 15 percent. The MS in data science encourages students to work with faculty experts in the field of data science, analytics, and infrastructure who provide hands-on experience solving real problems. The curriculum includes opportunities for students to choose elective courses to pursue a variety of career paths within the broad field of data science and its various application areas. The program prepares students—regardless of their scientific, engineering, or business background—to pursue a career in data science.
The MS in data science is a collaborative program hosted by Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences and College of Science. You'll take courses that provide deep learning taught by RIT faculty who are experts in the field of data science. You’ll learn the skills that are recognized by employers for their real job relevance. The program is available both online and on-campus.
Curriculum
Data Science, MS degree, typical course sequence (on-campus program)
| Course | Sem. Cr. Hrs. | |
|---|---|---|
| First Year | ||
| DSCI-601 |
Applied Data Science I
This is the first of a three course applied data science seminar series. Students will be introduced to the data science masters program along with potential projects which they will develop over the course of this series in conjunction with the applied data science directed studies. Students will select a project along with an advisor and sponsor, develop a written proposal for their work, and investigate and write a related work survey to refine this proposal with their findings. Work will be presented in class for peer review with an emphasis on developing data science communication skills. This course will keep students up to date with the broad range of data science applications.
|
1 |
| DSCI-602 |
Applied Data Science II
This is the second of a three course applied data science seminar series. Students will design an implementation plan and preliminary documentation for their selected applied data science project, along with an in class presentation of this work. At the end of the semester students will present preliminary demos of their project and write a preliminary project report. Writing and presentations will be peer reviewed to further enhance data science communication skills. This course will keep students up to date with the broad range of data science applications.
|
1 |
| DSCI-633 |
Foundations of Data Science
A foundations course in data science, emphasizing both concepts and techniques. The course provides an overview of data analysis tasks and the associated challenges, spanning data preprocessing, model building, model evaluation, and visualization. Major families of data analysis techniques covered include classification, clustering, association analysis, anomaly detection, and statistical testing. The course includes a series of programming assignments which will involve implementation of specific techniques on practical datasets from diverse application domains, reinforcing the concepts and techniques covered in lectures.
|
3 |
| DSCI-644 |
Software Engineering for Data Science
This course focuses on the software engineering challenges of building scalable and highly available big data software systems. Software design and development methodologies and available technologies addressing the major software aspects of a big data system including software architectures, application design patterns, different types of data models and data management, and deployment architectures will be covered in this course.
|
3 |
| STAT-614 |
Principles of Statistics
Statistical tools for modern data analysis can be used across a range of industries to help you guide organizational, societal and scientific advances. This course is designed to provide an introduction to the tools and techniques to accomplish this. Topics covered will include continuous and discrete distributions, descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, power, estimation, confidence intervals, regression, one-way ANOVA and Chi-square tests.
|
3 |
Electives |
9 | |
| Second Year | ||
| DSCI-603 |
Applied Data Science III
This is the final course in the three course applied data science seminar series. Students will complete the implementation of their projects under guidance of their advisor and sponsor. Students will present a mid-term and final demo, and participate in a project poster session. Students will complete their final project report or thesis in the case of thesis track students. Peer reviews will be made of presentations, posters and final reports/theses for mastery of data science communication skills. This course will keep students up to date with the broad range of data science applications.
|
1 |
| Choose one of the following: | 3 |
|
| DSCI-799 |
Graduate Capstone
This non-class-based experience provides the student with an individual opportunity to explore a project-based or a research-based project that advances knowledge in an area of data science. The student selects a problem, conducts background research, develops the system or devises a research approach, analyses the results, and builds a professional document and presentation that disseminates the project. The report must include a literature review. The final report structure is to be determined by the capstone advisor.
|
3 |
| or | ||
| DSCI-681 |
Applied Data Science Directed Study I
This course provides an opportunity for a student to perform a research and/or development of an applied data science project under the supervision of a data science advisor and project sponsor, which will have been proposed and selected during the Applied Data Science I course. Students will have regular meetings with the project advisor and sponsors who will guide the students initial project design and development.
|
1 |
| DSCI-682 |
Applied Data Science Directed Study II
This course provides will have a student complete a research and/or development of an applied data science project under the supervision of an data science advisor and project sponsor, which will have been begun during the Applied Data Science II and Applied Data Science Directed Study I courses. Students will have regular meetings with the project advisor sponsors who will guide the students final project design, development and provide feedback on the student’s final report or thesis.
|
2 |
| STAT-641 |
Applied Linear Models - Regression
A course that studies how a response variable is related to a set of predictor variables. Regression techniques provide a foundation for the analysis of observational data and provide insight into the analysis of data from designed experiments. Topics include happenstance data versus designed experiments, simple linear regression, the matrix approach to simple and multiple linear regression, analysis of residuals, transformations, weighted least squares, polynomial models, influence diagnostics, dummy variables, selection of best linear models, nonlinear estimation, and model building.
|
3 |
Elective |
3 | |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 30 |
|
Data Science, MS degree, typical course sequence (online program)
| Course | Sem. Cr. Hrs. | |
|---|---|---|
| First Year | ||
| DSCI-623 |
Introduction to Data Science: Management
This course introduces students to the problems and issues in managing large sets of data, focusing on modeling, storing, searching, and transforming large collections of data for analysis. The course will cover database management and information retrieval systems, including relational database systems, massively parallel/distributed computation models (e.g., MapReduce/Hadoop) and various NoSQL (e.g., key-value, document, column, and graph) systems that are designed to handle extremely large-scale and complex data collections. Emphasis is placed on the application of large-scale data management techniques to particular domains. Programming projects are required.
|
3 |
| DSCI-644 |
Software Engineering for Data Science
This course focuses on the software engineering challenges of building scalable and highly available big data software systems. Software design and development methodologies and available technologies addressing the major software aspects of a big data system including software architectures, application design patterns, different types of data models and data management, and deployment architectures will be covered in this course.
|
3 |
| STAT-641 |
Applied Linear Models - Regression
A course that studies how a response variable is related to a set of predictor variables. Regression techniques provide a foundation for the analysis of observational data and provide insight into the analysis of data from designed experiments. Topics include happenstance data versus designed experiments, simple linear regression, the matrix approach to simple and multiple linear regression, analysis of residuals, transformations, weighted least squares, polynomial models, influence diagnostics, dummy variables, selection of best linear models, nonlinear estimation, and model building.
|
3 |
edX Micromasters Courses |
6 | |
| Second Year | ||
| DSCI-799 |
Graduate Capstone
This non-class-based experience provides the student with an individual opportunity to explore a project-based or a research-based project that advances knowledge in an area of data science. The student selects a problem, conducts background research, develops the system or devises a research approach, analyses the results, and builds a professional document and presentation that disseminates the project. The report must include a literature review. The final report structure is to be determined by the capstone advisor.
|
3 |
edX Micromasters Course |
3 | |
Electives |
9 | |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 30 |
|
Admission Requirements
To be considered for admission to the MS in data science, candidates must fulfill the following requirements:
- Complete a graduate application.
- Hold a baccalaureate degree (or equivalent) from an accredited university.
- Have prior knowledge or professional experience in computer programming and statistics.
- Submit transcripts (in English) of all previously completed undergraduate and graduate course work
- Submit a minimum of two recommendations from individuals who are well-qualified to assess the applicant’s potential for success.
- Submit a current resume or curriculum vitae.
- Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (or equivalent).
- International applicants whose native language is not English must submit scores from the TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE. A minimum TOEFL score of 88 (internet-based) is required. A minimum IELTS score of 6.5 is required. The English language test score requirement is waived for native speakers of English or for those submitting transcripts from degrees earned at American institutions.
Please note: Certain countries are subject to comprehensive embargoes under US Export Controls, which prohibit virtually ALL exports, imports, and other transactions without a license or other US Government authorization. Learners from Syria, Sudan, North Korea, the Crimea region of the Ukraine, Iran, and Cuba may not register for RIT online courses. Nor may individuals on the United States Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the United States Commerce Department’s table of Deny Orders. By registering for RIT online courses, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.
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