MSc Social and Geographic Data Science
Overview
There is ever-growing national and international demand for qualified professionals with expertise in the acquisition, representation and analysis of geographic information. UCL’s Department of Geography offers an MSc course in Social and Geographic Data Science (SGDS) to provide rigorous scientific and technical training for the next generation of geographic information scientists and geospatial analysts. Students will also be introduced to machine learning and artificial intelligence applied to geospatial data: this is a key skill for future practitioners and researchers. Students are taught by research leaders that are shaping the discipline and are offered the opportunity to participate in the research for their dissertation projects.
Structure
COMPULSORY MODULES (TERM ONE)
| Module code | Module title | UCL Credit value |
|---|---|---|
| CASA0005 | Geographic Information Systems and Science | 15 credits |
| GEOG0114 | Principles of Spatial Analysis | 15 credits |
| GEOG0115 | Introduction to Data Science |
15 credits |
| GEOG**** | Data Politics and Society |
15 credits |
OPTIONAL MODULES (TERM TWO)
The four optional modules are normally selected from the following list, but not exclusively so. Due to sabbaticals and staff changes, not all modules are available every year, and module availability is subject to change. If you have questions relating to a specific optional module available in the forthcoming year, please contact the course convenor.
| Module code | Module title | UCL Credit value |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG0125 | Advanced Topics in Social Data Science | 15 credits |
| GEOG0051 | Mining Social and Geographic Datasets | 15 credits |
| GEOG0152 | Introduction to Citizen Science & Scientific Crowdsourcing | 15 credits |
| GEOG0035 | Environmental GIS | 15 credits |
| GEOG0149 | Urban Policy | 15 credits |
In Term 3, students on the MSc Programme embark on a Dissertation (60 credits).
Please note these may be subject to change.
People
- Nick Bearman Senior Tutor of the MSc Social and Geographic Data Science programme, Lecturer in Geographic Information Science
- James Cheshire Professor in Quantitative Human Geography
- Rory Coulter Lecturer in Housing and Urban Analytics
- Mat Disney Professor in Remote Sensing
- Jon French Professor of Coastal Sciences
- Muki Haklay Professor in Geographic Information Science
- Matthew Hopkinson Visiting Professor in Retail Geography
- Stephen Law Lecturer in Social Data Science
- Philip Lewis Professor of Remote Sensing
- Paul Longley Professor of Geographic Information Science
- Mirco Musolesi Director of the MSc Social and Geographic Data Science programme, Professor in Data Science
- Oliver O'Brien Data Scientist in Webmapping
- Martin Squires Visiting Professor in Big Data Analytics
- Joanna Wilkin Lecturer in Social Data Science
Fees and funding
Information on fees and funding can be found on the main UCL website.
Applications
You can apply for a place on this Programme via UCL Admissions (in the application form, please select 'Geography' as the department and 'Postgraduate Taught' as the Programme Type).
For any enquiries or more information, please e-mail geog-masters@ucl.ac.uk.
Careers
There is a wide interest in spatially referenced datasets and how to analyse them in a range of different industries. The skills taught in this programme are applicable to the following careers: GIS, marketing & business intelligence, location planning, digital health & epidemiology, data science, resource management and exploration and many more. Furthermore, MSc MSc Social and Geographic Data Science provides an ideal foundation for PhD research.
Take a look at our Careers page to see where some of our students have gone on to work.