Program Overview

Master in Big Data Analytics

The Master in Big Data Analytics is a one-year degree program offered by the University Carlos III of Madrid. The program is designed to provide students with the necessary skills and knowledge to work in the field of data analytics, with a focus on big data.

Graduate School of Engineering and Basic Sciences

The program is directed by Prof. María Concepción Ausín Olivera and is taught in English. The program is on-campus and consists of 60 ECTS credits. The campus is located in Madrid - Puerta de Toledo.

Applications

Applications for the program are currently open, with 40 places available. The program also offers double degrees, which can be found in the corresponding tab.

Departments

The program is offered by the following departments:

• Statistics Department
• Computer Science and Engineering Department
• Telematic Engineering Department
• Signal and Communications Theory Department
• Mathematics Department
• UC3M-Santander Big Data Institute (IBiDat)

Program Description

The Master program is oriented towards the training of people interested in working in data analytics, and in particular of analytics involving the evaluation of very large volumes of data in companies and organizations. Masters students, either recently graduated or professionals, will receive both additional formation in the basic foundations of the analytics methods used for Big Data, and familiarity with their potential applications in different areas of interest.

Particular emphasis will be placed on the use of applications based on analytic languages such as R and Python. The courses will also introduce data storage and processing paradigms such as MapReduce or noSQL, and their implementations (Hadoop, Storm, Spark, etc...), as well as cloud storing and computing methodologies. This knowledge will prepare them to handle large data sets and to conduct complex statistical and computational analysis of these data, to obtain results in pattern identification, prediction, forecasting, simulation or optimization, relevant for the improvement of the efficiency in the activities of companies and organizations.

Curriculum

The program has been designed as a one academic year degree and it is offered in English. The topics covered by the degree correspond to 60 ETCS credits, approximately equivalent to 400 hours of classes and 1100 hours of work from the students.

It has been structured around 18 3-credit courses, offered during four 7-week periods. Five subjects are covered during each period, corresponding to 15 hours of class per week.

A Masters Thesis is required. It should provide the students with experience in the treatment of real data in a particular area of interest. It would be completed during the second half of the year.

Year 1 - Semester 1

1st Term:

• Mathematics for data analysis (3 ECTS)
• Statistics for data analysis (3 ECTS)
• Technological fundamentals in the Big Data world (3 ECTS)
• High-performance computing for big data in companies (3 ECTS)
• Back-end of Big Data analysis (3 ECTS)

2nd Term:

• Internet contents distribution (3 ECTS)
• Predictive modeling (3 ECTS)
• Statistical learning (3 ECTS)
• Optimization for large-scale data (3 ECTS)
• Big Data Intelligence: methods and technologies (3 ECTS)

Year 1 - Semester 2

3rd Term:

• Bayesian learning (3 ECTS)
• Time series analysis and forecasting (3 ECTS)
• Machine learning (3 ECTS)
• Business Applications of Big data Analytics (3 ECTS)
• Web data analytics and usage (3 ECTS)

4th Term:

• Machine learning (3 ECTS)
• Choose 2 electives:
  • Information security and technological risk management (3 ECTS)
  • Data Analytics for the Smart Society (3 ECTS)
  • Network analysis and data visualization (3 ECTS)

Master's Thesis

• Master's Thesis (6 ECTS)

Admission

The candidates should have a bachelors degree in any of the following areas:

• Computer Science
• Telecommunications Engineering
• Statistics
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Industrial Engineering

Candidates with other backgrounds (like Business/Administration, Economics, Medicine or Health Sciences) could also be considered, but they should justify required levels of knowledge in the fields of Mathematics (Algebra and Calculus), Statistics (Probability and Inference) and Computer Science (basic programming skills).

Professional experience is not required, but it will be considered as an asset within the admissions process.

Admission Criteria

The Master´s direction will evaluate the application based on the criteria described below:

• Academic record (40%)
• Professional experience (20%)
• Quantitative and computer science background of the student (10%)
• Letters of recommendation submitted by the applicant (10%)
• Others (10%)
• English level (previous degree in English)

Tuition Fees

• Reservation fee: 450
• EU students: 80/ECTS (first academic year - 60 ECTS: 4,800)
• Non-EU students: 120/ECTS (first academic year - 60 ECTS: 7,200)

Career Opportunities

Examples of some of the potential career opportunities associated with the successful completion of this Master program are:

• Expert on information management within a large company
• Information manager in a company
• Web data analyst
• Marketing data analyst
• Operations data analyst
• External consultant
• Systems developer

Double Master's Degrees

The UC3M offers the possibility of taking the Master in Big Data Analytics along with a master's degree that enables you to exercise regulated professional activities:

• Double Master Degree in Informatics Engineering and Big Data Analytics (30 ECTS recognized)
• Double Master Degree in Telecommunications Engineering and Big Data Analytics (24 ECTS recognized)