Urban Data Science and Analytics MSc
Leeds, United Kingdom
DURATION
12 Months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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EARLIEST START DATE
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TUITION FEES
GBP 27,750 **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international applicants: 30 July 2023 – UK applicants: 10 September 2023
** UK: £12,750 – international: £27,750
Scholarships
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Introduction
Urban data science and analytics are critical to helping cities evolve, providing invaluable insight into urban processes, and dynamics within cities, and highlighting local and global issues. This is why specialists in this field are highly sought after within the public and private sectors to help address these issues and contribute to solutions in future planning.
Our Urban Data Science and Analytics MSc offers you the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of the methods and approaches of data science and learn how to apply them in understanding cities and setting urban policy.
The course will combine technical training in the latest data science techniques – from data wrangling to machine learning, visualisation, and beyond – with the critical thinking needed to interrogate and understand complex urban and mobility challenges.
At the heart of this course will be a commitment to tackling the real-world challenges facing cities. Researchers at the University of Leeds are finding novel data-driven solutions to tackle challenges such as traffic congestion, social and economic equality, healthy cities, and competition for resources.
This means, once you graduate, you’ll be fully equipped with the experience, technical skills, and knowledge needed to pursue a career in this area, with roles in everything from data science to software development or urban planning.
Learning and teaching
The course will incorporate a range of innovative modes of delivery, with a general focus on maximising time for practical, problem-based learning. For example, the ‘Creative Coding’ module will incorporate minimal lecture-style teaching and instead focus on problem-based learning, where you will work with other students in teams to tackle problems and datasets provided by external stakeholders. Within this module, you will be coached by teaching staff to identify novel and compelling ways to tackle the challenges and be required to present your work.
Face-to-face learning in workshops, small groups, drop-ins, laboratories, lectures, and seminars will be combined with teaching and learning delivered using interactive digital platforms that build up your skills using relevant technologies and enable effective delivery of key materials.
Specialist facilities
You will have access to laboratories in the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, as well as excellent teaching facilities within the School of Geography, including a GIS computer cluster with industry-standard software.
Our Virtual Learning Environment will help to support your studies: it’s a central place where you can find all the information and resources for the School, your programme, and modules.
You can also benefit from support to develop your academic skills, within the curriculum and through online resources, workshops, one-to-one appointments and drop-in sessions.
Active research environment
You will be taught by an experienced team of academics and researchers who are actively engaged in cutting-edge research and are part of the Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy research group, Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, and the Alan Turing Institute.
Programme Team
The Programme Leader, Dr Vikki Houlden, is a Lecturer in Urban Data Science whose research focuses on understanding the ways in which spaces and places embody inequalities, and the social structures influencing how people relate to their environment, with a particular interest in how urban landscapes impact health and wellbeing.
In this course, you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.
Program Outcome
Why study at Leeds:
- Learn the latest innovations in critical areas of urban analytics with exposure to our impactful research ongoing across the university from the School of Geography, the Institute for Transport Studies, the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, the Alan Turing Institute, the national institute for data science and artificial intelligence which feeds directly into the course.
- Advance your skills and knowledge in key topics sought after in the industry, including programming for data science, creative coding for urban problems, and analytics for urban policy.
- Conduct your own project work which will enable you to develop transferable skills as a researcher, investigating a real-world issue that explores and develops your interests.
- Tailor the course to suit your career aspirations with a selection of optional modules in areas like geographic data visualisation, geodemographics, and transport data science.
- Access specialist facilities which will complement your learning including research-grade laboratories in the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, as well as an excellent GIS computer cluster with industry-standard software.
- Experience expert theoretical and practical teaching delivered by a programme team of academics who are actively engaged in ground-breaking research and part of the Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy research group, Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, and the Alan Turing Institute.
- Build your industry connections through working with external organisations and stakeholders, and co-developing creative solutions to urban problems.
- Put theory into practice with exciting fieldwork opportunities in an urban context, allowing you to observe first-hand how data science can be used to create and shape urban policy and how policies in turn impact urban systems and processes.
Curriculum
The course combines technical training in data science with a rich exploration of urban systems and policy, enabling you to create novel data analyses that are informed by a contextual understanding of cities.
Semester one
In the first term, the course will introduce you to the theory and application of urban data science, through two complementary modules: Data Science for Urban Systems, and Analysing Cities. The first of these will provide a foundation in data science training, combining real-world data sets, analytics, and applications across a diverse range of contemporary urban contexts.
Analysing Cities will focus on understanding and analysing cities from a complex system perspective using an interdisciplinary approach, to consider how we plan, organise, and evaluate cities, and address future challenges. You will also be given an introduction to programming (currently using Python) in the Programming for Data Science module, parented by the School of Computing.
Semester two
The second term will build and expand upon this knowledge. The Analytics for Urban Policy module will explore the key considerations in using data science across a range of urban policy areas and address how these policies result in tangible change. Field trips will enable you to observe the impact of different urban policies within diverse environments and contexts.
The Creative Coding module takes an exciting and unique ‘hackathon’ approach to deliver creative solutions to real-world challenges. Working in groups and with Industry experts, you will gain first-hand experience of applying critical and innovative thinking to evaluate and explore a range of different urban domains.
Optional modules incorporate deeper training in spatial analysis or transport training, enabling an expansion of disciplinary expertise. These modules will make you more familiar with the types of datasets and problems involved in geographic (e.g. demographics, crime, health) and transport data analyses.
Semester three
Over the summer months, you will work on a 60-credit dissertation-style research project, which brings together learning from each module, requiring you to produce a documented code workbook with a supporting 5000-word practical briefing, highlighting how data science methods can be used to inform policy interventions and decision-making.
The dissertation project is one of the most satisfying elements of this course. It allows you to apply what you’ve learned to a piece of research focusing on a real-world problem, and it can be used to explore and develop your specific interests. You will also have the opportunity to work with industry partners on this project.
Example dissertation themes for Urban Data Science and Analytics MSc include:
- Urban economics
- Cities and crime
- Urban inequalities
- Transport and mobility
- Housing and real estate
- Health and wellbeing
- Smart cities
- Pollution
- Vulnerable populations
- Geodemographics
Fieldwork
Fieldwork provides a great opportunity to study a fascinating subject in contrasting environments away from the University. On this programme, we currently offer a UK-based fieldwork opportunity.
Course structure
The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time.
Year 1
Compulsory modules
- Programming for Data Science 15 credits
- Analysing Cities 15 credits
- Data Science for Urban Systems 15 credits
- Creative Coding for Urban Problems 15 credits
- Analytics for Urban Policy 30 credits
- Urban Data Science Project 60 credits
Optional modules (selection of typical options shown below)
- Geographic Data Visualisation & Analysis 15 credits
- Geodemographics and Neighbourhood Analysis 15 credits
- Transport Data Collection and Analysis 15 credits
- Transport Data Science 15 credits
Admissions
Career Opportunities
Data science and analytics have become crucial to many industries worldwide, meaning demand for qualified specialists in this field has grown exponentially in recent years – with no signs of slowing down.
This course will teach you in-depth technical knowledge and skills in data science along with training in workflow practice, teamwork, and ‘hacking’ that’s highly sought after by employers and will prepare you for an exciting career in the industry. You'll also build an online portfolio of work developed throughout the course which will demonstrate your skills to prospective employers.
On completion of this course, you will have the technical knowledge to secure employment in local government, companies handling spatial data (eg. supermarkets, retail), start-ups, transportation authorities and operators, urban planners and consultancies (eg. Arup, Mott MacDonald) in roles such as a data scientist data analyst or software developer.
Plus, the University of Leeds is in the top five most targeted universities in the UK by graduate recruiters, according to High Fliers’ The Graduate Market in 2022 report.
Here’s a snapshot of positions some of our previous students on this course have secured:
- Data Analytics, Amey
- Graduate Scheme, Ernst & Young
- Data Science Internships, LIDA
Student Testimonials
Gallery
Program Admission Requirements
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