Master of Computer Science in Data Science

Master of Computer Science in Data Science (MCS-DS) Overview Earn your Master’s, learn from pioneering Illinois faculty, and gain the data science skills that are transforming business and society. Illinois Computer Science offers a specialized track that includes both MCS degree requirements and data science-focused coursework. This degree is right for anyone who not only wants to learn to extract knowledge and insights from massive data sets, but also wants full command of the computational infrastructure to do so. The Master of Computer Science in Data Science (MCS-DS) leads the MCS degree through a focus on core competencies in machine learning, data mining, data visualization, and cloud computing, It also includes interdisciplinary data science courses, offered in cooperation with the Department of Statistics and the School of Information Science. If you select the Data Science track, your courses and projects will focus on: Machine Learning: Coursework focusing on tool-oriented and problem-directed approaches to machine learning with applications in computer vision, natural language processing, geopositioning, and voice & music. Data Visualization: Coursework designed to show you how to create effective and understandable data presentations. Learn database visualization tools like Tableau. Use D3.js to develop reactive web pages for narrative data storytelling. Data Mining: This course shows you how to discover patterns in structured data. You’ll also learn to retrieve information from unstructured data sources, such as natural language text. Cloud Computing: Coursework on the cloud computing technology, infrastructure and application development that is essential for supporting the discovery and extraction of knowledge from big data. When you graduate, you’ll be able to: Utilize cloud computing to scale up analysis and processing of big data Visually and computationally analyze available data to inform critical decisions Study data scientifically, and use it to form, prove, and defend hypotheses Program effectively, using the right tools for the job Sit in on an Illinois course: Take one of these courses or Specializations to learn from Illinois MCS-DS degree instructors and complete assignments that give you a head start on degree courses. Cloud Computing Specialization Cloud Computing Concepts, Part 1 Data Mining Specialization Data Visualization