The University of Pretoria is proud to introduce its Master of Information Technology (Stream C: Big Data Science).

This multidisciplinary degree is administered by the Department of Computer Science in the Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology, but incorporates aspects of a number of other departments and faculties. Its aim is to provide postgraduate opportunities for researchers and practitioners in the fields of big data and data science. Graduate professionals from industry can leverage this degree to re-skill themselves in the foundational building blocks of these fields (such as machine and statistical learning), while researchers can excel in related research initiatives.

Big data constitutes extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions. Data science refers to scientific investigation that employs innovative approaches and algorithms for processing and analysing big data. According to IBM's Smarter Planet initiative, modern analytics will bring about 'the end of average'. IBM's CEO Ginni Rometty explained that 'The end of average is the start of above-average returns – statistically grounded marketing with a vision we can all get behind.'

The University already has world-class experts in several disciplines closely related to big data and data science, who will participate as lecturers and researchers in the MIT (Stream C: Big Data Science) degree.

A limited number of applicants will be selected for admission into programme every year. Admission requirements and contact details can be found at www.up.ac.za/ebit. The degree entails a minimum of two years' part-time study and must be completed in a maximum of three years. Students are required to attend lectures for approximately two days a month on the University of Pretoria's Hatfield Campus. The closing date for applications for 2017 is 31 October 2016.

Prof Jan Eloff, the programme organiser, can be contacted at [email protected].