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The EIT Digital Master School Data Science programme launched two years ago, has delivered its first thirty data scientists. “These graduates are not just data scientists, they are technical experts who also understand how to use data to help drive the economy in Europe”, EIT Digital says in an explanation. “With this batch of new data scientists, the EIT Digital Master School is meeting a rising need in Europe for specialists in this discipline.” EIT Digital is located at High Tech Campus Eindhoven.

The data science programme started two years ago to respond to market demand for data scientists with an entrepreneurial mindset. The EIT Digital Master School aims to train professionals in key digital technology areas, combined with expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship.

 

Renata de Carvalho

Renata de Carvalho, EIT Digital Data Science Programme Coordinator at the Eindhoven University of Technology says that the EIT Digital Master School delivers data scientists that “have not only learned to analyze the data but are also capable of thinking of new ways of presenting these insights; developing new products or new optimization techniques. They know how to use data from the business perspective.”

Eight Master programmes
Data Science is one of eight Master School programmes students can choose to study at two of 17 leading technical universities across Europe, one of which is the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Upon successful completion of the Master School, students receive a certificate from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and a double master’s degree; one from each university they have entered via the EIT Digital Master School. TU/e welcomed 12 international students in de Data Science Programme, either in the first or second year, The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain welcomed 14 students; the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, 11; Berlin, one; and the KTH, Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have seen 15 students in either the first and second year .

Cohort 2015-2017 is the fourth to graduate from the EIT Digital Master School. But for the first time, Data Science graduates walked off the stage with their EIT certificate during the Graduation Ceremony in Madrid on 25 November.

Graduate Data Scientist Daniyal Shahrokhian, who studied for his master’s at the Eindhoven University of Technology and the KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, says it like this: “I feel that I have an important advantage in comparison with people who have only engineering backgrounds. I feel like EIT Digital provides much greater value to students. It’s not just about the degrees, it’s about the doors that are opened through networking and socializing.”

Studying at two of the participating technical top universities, one for each year of the master’s course, is part of a mobility programme that EIT Digital encourages to help students discover more about the European entrepreneurial spirit and cultural differences in industry and society. In between the first and second year of study, students also attend a two-week Summer School in yet another country where they work on real-life business cases from the EIT Digital partner network. The Summer School is also attended by professionals who like to stay ahead of key technological developments.

EIT Digital is a leading European open innovation organization. It invests in strategic areas to accelerate the market uptake of research-based digital technologies and to bring entrepreneurial talent and leadership to Europe. EIT Digital headquarters are in Brussels with co-location centers in Berlin, Budapest, Eindhoven (High Tech Campus), Helsinki, London, Madrid, Paris, Stockholm, Trento and a hub in Silicon Valley.