The postgraduate course has been designed especially for those in roles involving the analysis of health data, computer scientists with experience in working with data from the healthcare domain, as well as biomedical engineers and similar professions.

The MSc in Health Data Science will receive its launch at Strata + Hadoop World EU 2014 in Barcelona, from November 19-21, where big data's most influential business decision makers, strategists, architects, developers, and analysts gather to shape the future of their businesses and technologies.

Health Data Science is a multi-disciplinary speciality that involves the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to data generated by a variety of sources, including patient generated data, GP systems and Big Data in general. Health Data Science has the potential to help structure the business of healthcare more effectively around outcomes, and could transform the practice of medicine.

The one year Health Data Science full-time taught Master’s programme (three years part-time) is designed to develop the essential skills and knowledge required of the Health Data Scientist. The delivery of the programme balances the essential theoretical concepts with a strong emphasis on hands-on involvement by students to ensure a thorough understanding of the key issues involved in each of the subjects.

The modules proposed range from Health Data Science and Scientific Computing in Healthcare, Health Data Manipulation, Machine Learning Applications in Health Data, Health Data Visualisation to Linked Health Data Analysis.

This course is based within the award-winning Centres for Excellence for Administrative Data and eHealth Research of Swansea University, awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) in the UK. It is delivered in collaboration with leading staff from the Centre for Health Services Research of the University of Western Australia.

The MSc in Health Data Science is now accepting applications from students who wish to study from September 2014.

For more information about the MSc in Health Data Science at Swansea University, visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/medicine/msc-health-data-science/ or contact Athanasios Anastasiou, Lecturer in Health Data Science and Admission Tutor, email: a.anastasiou@swansea.ac.uk.