Education

DSI supports data science training for various target groups. DSI members contribute to other UHasselt master and bachelor programmes, e.g. Computer Sciences, Mathematics, Medicine, Materiomics, (Biomedical) Sciences etc. but foremost our Master of Statistics and Data Science.

Besides the university programmes, many colleagues are actively involved in educational outreach to secondary schools as well as in science communication activities.

Master of Statistics and Data Science

Hasselt University offers a Master of Statistics and Data science with four specialisations: Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, Quantitative epidemiology and since 2020 a Data Science track.  More information about the full program is available at the Master of Statistics and Data Science website.

A data scientist

With the advent of the big data era, several global challenges that were outside of reach can now start to be addressed. In the field of medicine, wearable devices and real-time sensors generate huge amounts of data that can shed light on triggers for disease episodes. Omics and genome sequencing can aid in managing and preventing diseases, especially if they are combined with other data sources as, for example, information from social networks. Integrated analysis of weather data, credit card transactions and air pollution data sheds light on how people change their behaviour due to air pollution. Graph analysis of social network data makes it possible to identify fake accounts and fake news - a growing problem in the current political climate. The list goes on... A data scientist is someone who, apart from technical skills to tackle these issues, has a desire to dig deeper and go beneath the surface of a problem.

Data science track

The Data Science specialization of the Master of Statistics and Data Science provides a comprehensive education in the field, covering the whole data science cycle from data gathering, cleaning and management, to analysis and visualisation, and finally dissemination. Apart from a very decent knowledge of statistical principles, the topics in the master therefore include (but are not limited to) data and software carpentry, programming in python and R, statistics, algorithms, machine learning (including deep learning), natural language processing and data visualisation. In addition to regular courses, students can integrate their knowledge and skills in several data science projects and a hack week.

Skills

Statisticians/data scientists needs to be able to communicate with researchers of various fields, report results, and give effective presentations. Developing such skills is an integral part of the program.

Topics that are covered include (but are not limited to):

• software carpentry and programming in python and R
• data carpentry, including data management and processing (SQL, NoSQL, ...)
• visual analytics
• statistics
• machine learning

ICP Program

DSI aims to gradually build and strengthen the South dimension of the ICP Master of Statistics and Data Science programme through cooperation with partners in the South. By putting attention to the South dimension, we are not only elevating the level of statistical education/research in countries in the South, but we are also improving the quality of the master programme, and thus of UHasselt in general. This is done by introducing outstanding students to the programme (in the case of the VLIR-UOS ICP scholarships) and through bilateral collaborations with key partners in the South. We strive for sustainable partnerships, which can extend to research collaborations through VLIR-UOS funding schemes. As described in paragraph d, knowledge transfer is also targeted at local stakeholders as well as international organisations.

>eR-Biostat

A prominent challenge in higher education at both undergraduate and master levels in developing countries is the scarcity of high-quality, R-based resources for educational programs. The >eR-Biostat initiative is dedicated to enhancing education programs in Biostatistics/Statistics, as well as for non-statisticians. Its objective is to create an innovative E-learning system for various courses.

Guest professors

The active interaction between the three main pillars, Research, Education and Consultancy & Valorisation benefit in many ways. One of the successes translates to a number of guest professors, experts in the field, that enrich the program and international collaborations as exchange in courses.

Job opportunities

Data science is booming and data scientists and statisticians are in great demand. Both companies (in fields ranging from pharmaceuticals to manufacturing and banking) and the public sector are struggling to find good candidates with a solid background in data science. This shortage is a clear constraint in these sectors. Job descriptions range from covering the full data science cycle in a research setting, to specific analyses to maximise the environmental, societal or financial impact in a company. In addition, data scientists are often employed to streamline data wrangling and analysis pipelines. With the growing availability of public datasets, an exciting new opportunity also lies in data journalism where you really cover everything from defining a question, searching for data, cleaning and analysing, and dissemination.

Contacts

• Olivier Thas (coordinator of MSc Statistics & Data Science)