Master's Degree Programme in Computing Science – Statistical Data Analytics

Make big sense of big data

Big data and data-driven methods are at the centre of modern computer science, statistics and computer engineering and hold great promise for the future.

Experts in analysing data are needed for solving challenging data-driven problems such as understanding of text documents, conversation and social media; creating intelligent search engines; finding data-driven insights into phenomena of society, economy and culture; creating data-driven solutions for medical and biological problems, and enabling self-driving cars and autonomous robots.

Tampere University offers three related study tracks that involve analysis, modeling, prediction, and computation with big data: the Data Science (M.Sc.) track and Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.) track focus on computational and statistical algorithms for data mining and machine learning, with differing emphases, and the Machine Learning (M.Sc. Tech) track focuses on engineering accurate predictive machine learning models.

Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.) track features several similar topic areas as the Data Science (M.Sc.) track but Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.) track places more emphasis on aspects of data science where statistical understanding and modelling of data variation and uncertainty is a crucial advantage.

Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.) teaches you to understand data analysis and master necessary skills, such as data cleansing, integration, modelling and prediction, and interactive exploration of data and models. You will learn methods ranging from probabilistic approaches through efficient data mining algorithms to flexible deep learning with neural networks. You will also learn to present data analysis results to decision-makers with descriptive summaries and visualisations.

Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.) track is one of the seven tracks in the Master’s degree programme in Computing Sciences, a new degree programme starting in August 2020.

Information about studies

• Type: Master's degree
• Degree earned: Master of Science
• Planned duration: 2 years
• Extent of studies: 120 ECTS credits
• City: Tampere
• Campus: Central Campus
• Tuition fee for non-EU/EEA citizens: 12000 €

Study objectives

After completing the Statistical Data Analytics track you will have the skills and knowledge to

• Choose suitable data analysis methods for the analysis tasks at hand from a reasonably wide selection of methods, including methods that are necessary for integrating data from different data sources during data preprocessing and/or analysis.
• Apply these methods to analyse data.
• Use efficient computational and statistical methods to manage and analyse big data.
• Visualise the data/analysis results.

You will also have the theoretical knowledge, which allows you to

• Apply the analysis methods in previously unknown situations.
• Understand in which situations the methods may perform well.

Study contents

The analysis of data has a central role in modern information society. Organisations in both the public and private sector are collecting vast data sets, and an increasing amount of public sector data is made open. However, data - assumed to be an important asset for organisations - is useless unless it is analysed. Analysis is required to find regularities, such as trends or groupings, and to relate the data to other data sets within an organisation or in scattered online repositories.

Analysis needs activities such as data cleansing, data integration, modelling and prediction, interactive and iterative visualisation of data, and models for the refinement of hypotheses and models. The presentation of intermediate and final results to decision-makers requires mastery of visualisation and reporting methods. Successful analysts need skills in both computational and statistical topics.

This track educates top-level experts in computational and statistical data analysis who possess knowledge and skills for the aforementioned tasks and understand the overall processes of data analysis.

Tuition fees

The tuition fee of the track is 12,000 euros per academic year for non-EU/EEA students with a scholarship system for fee-paying students.

Structure of studies

Master's degree comprises of 120 ECTS credits. Each ECTS credit is about 27 hours of student work. Depending on the track, courses are worth 80-90 ECTS, and the remaining 30-40 ECTS are awarded for successfully completing a Master’s thesis. The duration of the programme is two years. Students usually spend three semesters completing courses and one semester preparing the Master’s thesis. The studies start in late August, and the academic year ends in late May.

Master’s degree programme in Computing Sciences consists of seven study tracks, leading either to Master of Science, or Master of Science in Technology degree:

• Data Science (M.Sc.)
• Machine Learning (M.Sc. Tech)
• Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.)

and

• Human-Technology Interaction (M.Sc.)
• Human-Technology Interaction (M.Sc. Tech)
• Software, Web & Cloud (M.Sc.)
• Software, Web & Cloud (M.Sc. Tech).

At the moment, the studies in the future Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.) track are conducted in the Master’s degree programme in Computational Big Data Analytics. Please note that the Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.) curriculum for 2020-21 will be available in March 2020.

Career opportunities

As a graduate, you will have knowledge and skills for data analytics and understand the overall data analytics process. Such analysts can be employed in analysis firms, as in-house analysts in companies producing big data, and in companies and organisations that gather and analyse public and private data, including government agencies, journalism, insurance, law enforcement, and finance, as well as in public and private research.

Co-operation with other parties

In addition to studies in one’s own degree programme, students may take full advantage of the teaching offered by the Tampere higher education community ranging from technical to vocational studies in various fields.

Postgraduate study opportunities

This master's degree provides the required background if you wish to pursue doctoral studies, for example in the Doctoral programme in Information and Systems at Tampere University. There are no tuition fees in doctoral studies.

Eligibility criteria

Eligibility criteria in the Master's degree programmes consist of two parts: Tampere University's general eligibility criteria, and programme-specific eligibility criteria, which specify and/or add information to the general criteria. You must meet both to be considered eligible. Applicants who do not meet both the general eligibility and the programme-specific eligibility criteria will not be selected as students at Tampere University.

General eligibility

To be eligible to apply to a Master’s degree programme at Tampere University, you must have

1. Bachelor’s degree - nationally recognized first cycle degree
   • Which corresponds to at least 180 ECTS (European credits) or to three years of full-time study
   • From the relevant field for the Master’s degree programme that you’re applying to
   • From an accredited institution of higher education
2. AND a good command of the English language for academic purposes.

A Bachelor’s degree completed in a university outside Finland must provide eligibility for university-level master’s degree studies in the country in which it was awarded.

Applicants in their final year of the Bachelor’s degree are eligible to apply if the degree will be completed by 31 July 2020. In this case, they may be accepted conditionally.

Applicants with a Master’s degree may be admitted only for well-founded reasons and only if they are able to show that the new degree at Tampere University provides the applicant with significant new knowledge and skills.

Programme-specific eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply to the Master's degree programme in Computing Sciences, Statistical Data Analytics (M.Sc.) track, you must have a successfully completed Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in

• Statistics, Computer Science, or Mathematics or in another applicable field.

The degree needs to include a sufficient amount of studies in statistics, and also a sufficient amount of studies in computer science and mathematics.

Language skill requirements

All applicants must submit evidence on a good command of English for academic purposes. There are two ways of indicating English language proficiency: language tests and previous studies.

The minimum English language test result requirements

Test name & Minimum test result

• TOEFL iBT: 92 overall, with no section below 20
• IELTS (academic): 6.5 overall, with no section below 5.5
• PTE (academic): 62 overall, with no section below 42
• C1 Advanced: C
• C2 Proficiency: C1
• Finnish National Certificate of Language Proficiency (English): Proficiency level 5

*The previous CAE and CPE have been renamed as C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency

Previous studies

It is possible to be exempted from submitting a language test score if you have completed particular studies listed by Tampere University. Only these studies are accepted. If you apply without a valid language test result, carefully examine the exemptions.

Intake

A maximum of 145 students is admitted to the Computing Sciences programme.

The Computing Sciences programme includes the following tracks: Data Science (MSc), Human-Technology Interaction (MSc), Human-Technology Interaction (MSc tech), Machine Learning (MSc tech), Software, Web & Cloud (MSc) and Software, Web & Cloud (MSc tech), and Statistical Data Analytics (MSc).

Admission procedure

Students are selected to the programme from those applicants who submit a complete application (application and application documents by the deadline) and fulfil the official eligibility criteria.

The student selection is made by an admissions committee based on the academic qualifications and merits shown in the application documents. Please note that not all applicants fulfilling the requirements can be admitted.

Students admitted to a Master’s degree programme may be required to complement their earlier degree with complementary studies.

Scoring

The number of eligible applicants annually exceeds the number of students that can be accepted. The student selection is made by an admissions committee on the basis of the academic qualifications and merits shown in the application documents.

How to apply

Application step-by-step checklist

1. Check the general eligibility and programme-specific eligibility criteria of the programme/s you wish to apply to. You are allowed to apply to three programmes/tracks at the same time.
2. Read through the instructions on how to apply and start preparing your application documents as early as possible!
3. Take a language test if required, please see the language requirements.
4. When the application period opens, fill in the online application at Studyinfo.fi during the application period and upload required enclosures for the application. Application period is 4 December 2019 at 8:00 GMT+2 - 15 January 2020 at 15.00 GMT+2.
5. Upload all required enclosures and send the educational documents by post, according to the country specific-requirements if applicable. Documents must reach Tampere University Admissions Office by 31 January 2020 at 15.00 GMT+2. The documents must reach the University by the given deadline.
6. Wait for the admission results to be announced in early April 2020.
7. If you are offered a study place, remember to accept it by the given deadline.
8. Pay the tuition fee, if required. Start preparing your arrival in Finland.
9. Register as a student and join the Tampere University community!

Online application form

The online application form will be available during the application period only at Studyinfo.fi. The application period starts on 4 December 2019 at 8 am (GMT+2) and ends on 15 January 2020 at 3 pm (GMT+2).

Enclosures

You will need to upload copies of all required documents as enclosures on the application form. In addition to the general application enclosures, some programmes have listed additional programme-specific enclosures that are needed when applying to these programmes.

You will need to upload all required enclosures on your application form online at Studyinfo.fi. In addition to uploading, you must submit officially certified copies of your educational documents to Tampere University Admissions Office by post. Applicants whose degrees have been awarded in certain countries need to pay special attention to the documentation and documents from these countries must be submitted in a particular way. These country-specific requirements must always be followed first and foremost, prior to the regular requirements.

Applicants must post the educational documents to Tampere University Admissions Office so that they arrive by 31 January 2020.

There are no programme-specific enclosures when applying to this programme.

Admission results and appeals

Admissions results will be announced in early April 2020. All applicants will be informed about the admissions results.