In this age of information, it’s no surprise that a field like Data Science has turned out to be one of the most sought-after and lucrative career options in the world. Analysts predict that the demand for skilled professionals in this multi-disciplinary field will keep increasing exponentially in the foreseeable future. So, getting a professional degree in Data Science can only increase your chances of being happily employed for a long time. If Australia is the place where you want to get such a degree, you should check out our list of the five best universities offering a Master’s degree in Data Science in Australia.

Universities in Australia that offer a Master’s Degree in Data Science

1. Monash University

Monash University is recognized as one of the top 100 universities in the entire world by multiple major university rankings. It also has one of the best Master’s programs in Data Science in Australia. Founded in 1958, the public research university has eight campuses, with the largest two located in the Melbourne suburbs of Clayton and Caulfield. It is the alma mater of ten percent of Australia’s top 50 CEOs. Its total student enrolment currently stands north of 78,000. Over 33,000 of them are international students.

Monash offers a Master of Data Science program at its Clayton campus. It is a full-time program that may take one to two years, depending on a student’s prior qualifications. It is structured in three parts: foundation studies, core studies, and advanced studies. Students who have qualifications in a related field may choose to exempt themselves from the foundation studies. The core studies help students in gaining a critical understanding of Data Science issues, both theoretical and practical. At the advanced studies level, students are provided with two options: they can either write a minor-thesis research project or participate in an Industry Experience team project.

 

2. RMIT University

RMIT University started off as a night school in 1887, and it wasn’t until 1992 that it gained university status. It has three campuses in Australia, with the original and main one, known as the City campus, lying in the heart of Melbourne, Victoria. The other two campuses are sited in the Melbourne suburbs of Brunswick and Bundoora. The public research university currently has over 86,000 students. The percentage of international students is 39, and they come from as many as 214 countries.

RMIT offers its Master of Data Science program at the City campus. In general, it takes a full-time student two years to complete the program, while a part-time student needs around four years to do so. The first year of the program deals with the development of a solid foundation in computer science and statistics. The second year, on the other hand, deals with the advanced core courses and electives. It also includes a major project that can be undertaken in any of the two ways: working from the campus on an industry or research project or working off-campus as an intern data scientist in the industry. RMIT’s Master’s degree is considered one of the best data science programs in Australia.

RMIT also offers a Master of Analytics program at the same campus. The duration of this second program is also the same as the first one. The program includes seven core courses in statistics and operations research and nine electives that allow students to either specialize in a field like computer science, economics, or marketing or acquire a broader understanding of every field.

 

3. University of Sydney

The University of Sydney (USYD) was the first university to be established in the Land Down Under in 1850. It has multiple campuses, with the main and largest one sited in the western Sydney suburb of Camperdown. The public research university has a student population of over 61,000, including over 22,000 international students. It is ranked first in the country and fifth in the world for graduate employability by the 2019 QS Graduate Employability Rankings. Also, the University of Sydney’s data science programs is considered top in Australia. Its notable alumni include Nobel laureates John Cornforth and John Harsanyi, as well as seven Prime Ministers of Australia.

USYD’s Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies is in charge of its Master of Data Science program. The program is offered at the Camperdown campus in evening sessions. A full-time student can complete it in one year, while a part-time student can do so in two years. The program consists of four core units, two elective units, and a capstone project that finds students applying their skills to a real-world problem in the field of Data Science.

 

4. University of Melbourne

Founded in 1853, just three years after USYD, the University of Melbourne is the second oldest university in Australia. Among its several campuses across Melbourne, the Parkville campus is the primary one. The public research university currently has over 50,000 students, with 36 percent being international students, hailing from over 130 countries. It is the alma mater of several Nobel laureates, including Elizabeth Blackburn and Sir John Eccles. According to the 2019 QS World University Rankings, the university is the best in Australia for Computer Science and Statistics.

The University of Melbourne offers its Master of Data Science program at its Parkville campus. It is a two-year program for a full-time student and a four-year program for a part-time student. For successful completion of the program, a student must gain 200 credit points, which includes 50 points each from core statistics subjects and core computer science subjects, 75 points from elective subjects, and 25 points from the Data Science capstone project. The capstone project finds a student working on a practical research question in the field for over 12 months, either independently or as part of a team.

The university Australia also offers a Master of Business Analytics program that focuses on quantitative methods as well as the role of data in decision-making. The one-year, full-time program is administered by the Melbourne Business School. In addition to the Personal Effective Program that runs the whole time, the program comprises five modules: Introduction to Business Problems, Foundations of Business Analytics, Advanced Business Analytics, Industry Practicum, and Business Analytics Applications.

 

5. University of Adelaide

The final university in Australia that offers a Master’s in Data Science is the University of Adelaide. It came into being in 1874 as Australia’s third university. Although it has four main campuses, the vast majority of students and staff are based at the North Terrace campus, sited in the Adelaide city center. Its total student enrollment is over 21,000, which includes nearly 8,000 international students from more than 100 countries. The public research university is ranked as one of the top 150 universities in the world by almost every major university rankings.

The University of Adelaide offers its Master of Data Science program at its North Terrace campus. It is administered by the Faculty of Engineering, Computer, and Mathematical Sciences. The 48-unit program normally takes two years or four semesters of full-time study. As part of the 48 units, students have to take on a research project, which is normally completed over two consecutive semesters. Delivering a public presentation, and writing a report on the particular research is also part of the project.

 

We hope that this article on the universities in Australia with a Master’s in Data Science was helpful. Make sure to also check out our Data Science Programs for International Students for some of the currently open data science courses around the world!

About the Author: Hyun Lee

Hyun is the founder at Global Scholarships. He has received a full-tuition scholarship at Birmingham-Southern College as well as $1,000 Burger King Scholarship for his undergraduate degree and has been offered a fully funded scholarship consisting of tuition, living stipend, and health insurance for computer science Ph.D. program at North Carolina State University. Read more about his scholarship journey here.

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