SBS Blog > Analysing Data Analytics: a programme that opens doors by Christina Christofi

Analysing Data Analytics: a programme that opens doors

By Christina Christofi - Posted on 13 June 2018

Christina Christofi, MSc Data Analytics, shares her view of the programme and how the input from three different departments ensures a broad programme range.

I joined the MSc Data Analytics programme right after graduating with my bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. I was looking for a programme that would open doors for me in many industries and provide me with practical skills, knowledge and experience - things that were missing from my undergraduate programme.

During the last couple of years, I have been listening and reading about the significant growth of Data as a science and its adoption throughout all industries to support decision making, processes and technology development. After realising what a great tool Data is and how exciting it can be to work with it, I decided to continue my studies through a postgraduate qualification in Data Analytics which would provide me with the necessary knowledge and experience to pursue a career related with Data.

By doing extensive research on the postgraduate programmes offered, the MSc Data Analytics programme offered by Strathclyde caught my eye. The fact that it combines courses from three different departments - Management Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Computer and Information Sciences - made it stand out from other programmes, providing knowledge across a wide range of courses. In addition, as mentioned on the website of the course, practical experience would be gained throughout the course and by means of the summer placement. With these hopes, I joined this MSc programme and I couldn't be happier.

To start with, since the programme combines these three departments, it enabled me to explore a variety of courses such as Big Data, Risk Management, Machine Learning and many more. By having compulsory courses in all three departments during the first semester, it helped me realise in which department I would like to focus on, what I like the most, and how I would like my career as a Data Analyst to be.

Surprisingly, I discovered a new aspect of myself - one that enjoys practical tasks including coding and computer science in general. Before this programme, I would never have imagined myself working in Technology, a career that now seems ideal and a prospect I'm very excited about.

My greatest hope when I joined the programme was to gain some experience during the year which would make me more employable. Through the course Data Analytics in Practice we were given the opportunity to work on industrial projects for clients from different industries including Scottish Water, ThinkAnalytics, Equator and others, and experience how many of the concepts taught in our classes are applied in industry.

The clients came into class, gave a presentation on their organisation and provided us with a case study. After being allocated into groups, we had a few weeks to work on the case study and then create a report with our final results and make a presentation to the client.

Not only did that course provide us with valuable experience regarding data related projects, but it also helped us develop our group working skills as well as presentation skills to clients. In addition to the case studies, during this course we had some inspiring and motivational guest lectures by people from the industry, such as from SAS, and we had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the profession of being an analyst with a panel of professional analysts.

Looking back to September when the programme started up until now, I can see how in just a few months I have developed as a person, discovered new aspects and strengths of myself, gained confidence and valuable knowledge and skills. However busy and full these months have been, this year has been one of my best years at university so far. The support we have been given by the department, as well as the good relationships between our classmates and lecturers, has made this year a very pleasant and productive year, full of memories and experiences.