Program Overview

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Master in Statistics: General

The Master in Statistics teaches students the difficult art of transforming data into information and helping decision-makers and researchers in other fields analyze this information most efficiently. The programme offers three tracks, with specific learning outcomes and objectives:

• Theoretical statistics
• Applied statistics
• Economics and statistics

Programme Objectives

The track in theoretical statistics provides students with the methodological knowledge required to design new statistical procedures and pursue doctoral studies in probability or statistics. The track in applied statistics prepares students for a career in statistics or for doctoral studies in applied statistics. The track in economics and statistics offers first-class education in statistics, quantitative economics, and econometrics.

Teaching Team and Methods

Most courses are offered as lecture classes. The small number of students in the programme eliminates the usual drawbacks of this teaching method and makes interactivity possible. The curriculum also involves courses with homework and reports. Computers play an important role in the programme, not only in courses dedicated to statistical software applications or computational statistics but also in other courses where computers are used to illustrate theories and to put into practice the methods taught.

International/Openness

In addition to traditional exchange programmes that allow students to spend the first or second block in a foreign university, strong relationships exist with the Université Pierre-et-Marie Curie (Paris 6), which has one of the best statistics programmes in France.

Programme's Added Value

Statistics finds its origin both in mathematics and in applications, and is virtually present in all branches of human activity. This explains that statistics courses are found in the curricula of all faculties–hard sciences, human sciences, medicine, engineering. This diversity, which is expressed in the curriculum of the Master in Statistics, is one of the most attractive characteristics of careers in statistics.

Access Conditions

The conditions of access to the selected Master's degree meet the requirements of Article 111 of the Decree of 07/11/2013.

• Full Admission Rights: Granted to holders of a degree obtained in the French-speaking Community of Belgium.
• Admission with Supplement: Granted to holders of certain degrees from non-University Higher Education institutions or from outside the French-speaking Community of Belgium.
• Submission of a Dossier and Decision by the Jury: For candidates who do not meet the above criteria, admission may be granted following the submission of a dossier and a decision by the jury.
• Accreditation of Prior Experience: Juries can recognize knowledge and skills acquired through professional and/or personal experience and may grant access to the MA to any person who does not fall under the categories listed above.

Programme Structure

The Master in Statistics is a two-year programme organised into two 'blocks'. The first block includes required courses, courses specific to each specialization, and possibly elective courses. The second block is more flexible and includes the Master's dissertation, participation in seminars, a course on statistical software applications, and several elective courses.

Required Courses

• Graduate Statistics
• Time Series Analysis
• Stochastic Models
• An alternative chosen from two modules (ECON-S428 and ECON-S429, or MATH-F309 and STAT-F406)
• Computational Statistics
• Statistical Softwares
• Participation in Seminars
• Master's Dissertation

Elective Courses

Students can choose from a variety of elective courses to complete their programme, including but not limited to:

• Acquisition and Analysis of Data
• Statistical Foundations of Machine Learning
• Wavelets and Applications
• Analysis of Lifetimes
• Topics in Nonparametric Smoothing
• Topics in Mathematical Statistics
• Topics in Probability Theory
• Multivariate and High-Dimensional Statistics
• External Courses to the Programme

What's Next?

Prospects

Statisticians are found in all industries. Many jobs involving statistics are available in the pharmaceutical industry, clinical trials, and agribusiness, but also in banks, insurance companies, and official statistics institutes. There are also many opportunities in research (both theoretical and applied) in statistics, especially in the academic sector.