Data Science is a promising new field of study that will generate a number of job opportunities in recent years. According to Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google, data is the oil of the 21st century. Be it financial services, business, healthcare, education and governance, data science is now increasingly used. Experts predict that 11.5 million jobs will be generated in the field in near future. Keeping in mind, the extraordinary importance of data science, St. Xavier’s College has started the Department of Data Science and offers M.Sc (Data Science) Programme from June 2023.
The main objective of this first-of-its-kind M.Sc (Data Science) Programme is to enable the students to get a very good exposure to the promising field of Data Science. The PG Programme will lay a strong foundation that will enable the students to develop their own customized algorithms needed for deriving insights from very large data sets, which are now continuously generated, thanks to IoT, social media and Digitization. The Department will arrange a number of guest lectures by industry experts. The students will undergo intensive lab work that will include several business and healthcare case studies.
The Department has infrastructure facilities with a well-equipped dedicated Computer LAB and internet facility. All classes are conducted in the Lab. This facilitates staff members to give demonstration and practice of different concepts in programming simultaneously while teaching the subjects. The Department conducts orientation programmes, seminars, conferences and workshops on all topics related to Data Science by inviting industry experts. The special feature of the programme is that a whole range of Add-on courses are conducted outside the regular stipulated working time in order to equip the students with practical skills needed for the field of Data Science.
Dr. A. Lourdusamy is appointed the Head of the Department in 2023 and other members in the Department are Dr. A. Natarajan, and Dr. Y. Sunil Raj.