This course is a conversion course to enable graduates to take up the increasing opportunities to work as data analysts, who are in demand across multiple sectors, including Financial, Government, Manufacturing, Food, Health and Media.
The course emphasises the development of strong theoretical and applied foundations, and builds on our existing strengths in Data Science and Analytics in the School of Computer Science and the Insight Institute, and our experience in running a successful Masters in Data Analytics.
The programme has a number of core elements:
Immersion in fundamental database and software development techniques.
A solid foundation in statistical and analysis methods.
Expertise in data analysis, visualisation and business intelligence using leading edge tools and programming languages.
Capstone project to deepen and demonstrate students’ acquired skills.
A significant placement/internship allowing participants to gain relevant experience and also provide Industry Partners with an opportunity to assess potential recruits.
On completion of the programme, graduates will be eligible to take our highly successful MSc in Data Analytics, providing a deeper and more specialised training in advanced Data Science, Machine Learning topics. Transition to this programme is contingent on spaces and achieving a 60% average in the Higher Diploma.
Course Outline
The programme is delivered over a 12-month period. The first two semesters consist primarily of taught modules, which have a high continuous assessment and practical aspect. The first semester focuses on creating a strong foundation in the Computer Science and Statistical techniques, including: Databases, Internet Programming, Human Computer Interaction, Statistics for Data Science, and Programming with Python.
The second semester focuses on deepening skills and applying them to real-life problems. The content includes Applied Data Analytics using the R programming language and packages, further Statistics for Data Science, Data Visualisation techniques and Business Intelligence theory and applications using widely used commercial tools.
A major aspect of the programme is the Industrial Data Analytics Project in which students work on a real-life data analytics and visualisation problem. This work will, where possible, be conducted in conjunction with the work placement company, resulting in the production of the final report and presentation of the project at the end of the work placement. The Work Placement will take place from the end of semester 2 until end August.
Career Opportunities
The Higher Diploma in Data Analytics responds to a strong and growing demand for graduates with skills in data analysis across all industry sectors. Every industry has seen a huge growth in the amount of data which they generate and collect, which represents a very valuable resource for companies. Demand for workers with specialist data skills like data scientists and data engineers has increased dramatically over the past five years according to recent surveys. Skills Ireland estimates a demand for Big Data/Analytics roles to the tune of up to 62,000 in Ireland by 2020. Roles that will be suitable for graduates of this programme include:
Data Analysts
Data Visualisation Specialists
Data Engineers
Data Scientists
Business Analytics Specialist
Business Intelligence Developer
