Knowledge Discovery and Datamining – (M.Sc.)

All modern organisations depend on high quality information for making strategic decisions, much of which is derived from the rapidly growing mountains of raw data that are generated from the organisations’ computerised operational systems. To analyse this data and recognise useful patterns and trends requires a new generation of analysts.

This specialism requires people who understand techniques for effective and efficient data analysis methods. These techniques are known as Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD). The popularity of this area is driven by its tremendous application potential in areas as diverse as finance, medicine, biology and the environment.

The course is a full-time, one-year taught programme, designed for advanced students and practitioners; it can also be taken part-time over two years.

On this course you will undertake a mix of specialised modules that will give you a thorough knowledge of techniques and tools for knowledge discovery and data mining. You will gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of data in modern business, its collection, storage, maintenance and access. You will take compulsory modules in research techniques, data mining, statistics and artificial intelligence as well as two optional modules from a range, which may include applications programming, database manipulation, information retrieval and NLP, or a research topic. You will acquire experience of working with the commercial tools used to undertake data analysis. Some project work may be done with companies and could involve paid placement at a company.

You can either choose from a number of related dissertation topics proposed by faculty or formulate your own project proposal. These projects often address real-world problems.

Recent dissertation titles

* Classification rule induction for atmospheric circulation patterns
* Keyword-based e-mail classification
* Data analysis of orthopaedic operations