It looks like secondary school students aren’t the only lucky ones to have the chance to jump on the ‘sexiest trades of the 21st century‘ club.
On Monday, it was revealed that the National University of Singapore (NUS) is launching a new degree programme in Data Science and Analytics. The four-year direct Honours programme is slated to begin this August.
The programme will also be open to students as a minor or second major. Offered by NUS Science and NUS Computing, it will have an initial intake of about 50 students.
Technical-focused
In a blog post titled ‘Grooming data science experts’, NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost, Professor Tan Eng Chye, emphasised on the importance of the data science field in today’s world. He said, “You name any business sector, the role of data science is there.”
The intense curriculum will have students dipping their toes into statistics, mathematics, and computer science. In their third and fourth years of study, students will get a deeper dive into topics like: database and data processing; computation and optimisation; data mining and machine learning; high-dimensional statistics, and computer algorithms.
But the real highlight of the programme is the capstone module where students will get to put the skills they’ve acquired to the test — in a real workplace.
The Smart Nation Vision
Singapore is on its way to become a Smart Nation.
Just yesterday, Channel News Asia reported that the logistics sector is set to grow at a faster pace with Singapore’s push towards the Smart Nation initiative. Last February, The Straits Times revealed another 15,000 professionals may be required in industries like cyber security, data analytics and application development.
Unquestionably, NUS’s new degree programme was set up to meet our country’s growing demand on utilising data to create more opportunities and support better living. Will this move pay off? Come 2017 and we’ll find out.
Featured image credit: National University of Singapore
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