Program Overview

Want to start a career in one of the most fascinating and in-demand fields of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Data Science? Using student-centric and problem-based approaches, the MSc Applied AI and Data Science course will equip you with the grounding knowledge, industry-standard skills and technology to open doors to a wide range of careers.

This brand-new postgraduate conversion course has been designed to increase AI and data science experts in the UK market with the support of the OfS and industrial partners, including Barter For Things Ltd, 451 Research, and University Hospital Southampton. This course is also suitable for those who may not have a computer science or STEM academic background, but wish to start a new career in AI and data science.

Throughout the course you will explore fundamental principles and techniques, and will be supported to develop the practical skills to apply to AI and data science techniques to solve real-world problems.

This course also offers 36 scholarships (£10,000 each) as part of the £13million Office for Students (OfS) funding initiative (#JoinYourAIFuture) and work placement opportunities to increase the skilled workforce and diversity in AI and data science. The scholarships are available mainly for female, black, and disabled students (see scholarship criteria here and scholarship FAQs here).

The recent growth and developments in AI and data science is bringing significant social, economic, and health benefits to the world. Using AI and data science techniques, digital machines can analyse and learn from big datasets, and discover more efficient ways to do complex tasks and make intelligent decisions with much higher accuracy and speed than human beings.

Automation of routine or mundane tasks is also a big feature of AI. This is boosting the global economy by transforming business models across all sectors like healthcare, science, finance, banking, sales, marketing, manufacturing, engineering, construction, travel, leisure, hospitality, environmental monitoring, transport, and logistics. AI enabled applications have already become an integral part of our life. When you speak to Siri or interact with Cortana, AI and data science algorithms are running behind them. Other exciting applications include medical diagnostics, speech recognition and synthesis, robotics, autonomous vehicles, stock price prediction, chatbots, natural language processing, and language translation. Currently, AI is also being used to research Covid-19 treatments and vaccines.

The course also offers the chance to take a paid work placement in industry for up to six months after completing all modules. This gives you valuable practical experience and confidence working in industry, boosting your CV and helping you to secure jobs in this area. Support is given to help you find a placement but is your responsibility to secure one. Alternatively, you may also apply to undertake a paid research placement at the University for up to six weeks, giving you the experience of working as part of a research team. This would help you to pursue a career in research and academia.