Academic requirements/experience First-class or Second-class Honours degree, or international equivalent, in social science. Don’t meet the academic entry requirements? We offer the Pre-Masters Preparation Course at the University of Strathclyde International Study Centre, for international students (non-UK/Ireland). English language requirements Please check our English requirements before making your application.
The MSc in Data Science for Politics & Policymaking is designed to meet the growing demand for graduates with the ability to use big data to solve complex political and social problems. It's perfectly suited to those looking for careers in political campaigns, think tanks, interest groups associated with shaping public policy and the civil service.
This Masters-level course equips you with the ability to design, commission, and implement projects that capture and analyse large quantities of online data from a diverse set of sources. It combines advanced training in social science research design and policy analysis with classes that enable you to understand the mechanics behind capturing and organising large amounts of data.
The course looks to solve the key challenge of the use of big data in the public sphere, the lack of specified research and policy goals, by providing you with the know-how via core classes in Research Design, Public Policy and Qualitative Methods. Alongside these classes, you'll receive training that allows you to understand the mechanics behind capturing and organising large amounts of data.
A distinguishing feature of this degree is that it is taught in collaboration with academic experts from both the Department of Government & Public Policy and the Department of Computer & Information Sciences .
In Government & Public Policy, you'll take classes in Research Design and Quantitative or Qualitative Methodology (depending on past experience). You'll have the flexibility to choose from a list of courses in public policy, international relations, or comparative politics that best meets your needs and future career aspirations.
In Computer & Information Sciences, you'll take classes covering the ethics of 'big data' and the information society and classes on database management, the technology behind 'big data' and machine learning.
You may apply to do a client-based project as part of your dissertation research. Following a career workshop session, and on the advice of the School, you can contact host organisations including local, city, and national governmental organisations to arrange a work-based MSc dissertation. These projects will normally be unpaid and may need to be developed further to meet the requirements of an MSc dissertation.
Across our politics courses, students have undertaken placements in a range of organisations, including:
Speakers at our weekly seminars include guest lecturers who come to Strathclyde as part of the Erasmus programme. They're also available for individual consultations with you as an MSc student here. Strathclyde’s organised research centres such as the European Policies Research Centre, routinely host their own 'Speaker’s Series' where talks relevant to the content of the course are common. You'll have time for networking with visiting speakers afterwards.
The School of Government & Public Policy and Computer & Information Sciences have a number of research centres that relate to the topics covered and the content of the course. For example, the European Policies Research Centre is a leading hub for the study of regional development policy and collection of such data in Europe, a centre that is of increasing importance in the wake of Brexit.
Specialised policy centres focused on health and energy – such as the Centre for Energy Policy – also add to the applied policy environment at Strathclyde. The Institute for Future Cities' City Observatory, located in
View our MSc Data Science for Politics & Policymaking information session recording .