Data Science & Advanced Data Science Degree Options

The Evans School and the eScience Institute offer two degree options for doctoral students in Public Policy and Management (PPM) program interested in credentialed data science training.

The Data Science Option (DSO) leads to a Doctor of Philosophy (Public Policy and Management: Data Science). The Advanced Data Science Option (ADSO) leads to a leads to a Doctor of Philosophy (Public Policy and Management: Advanced Data Science).

To be eligible for the DSO/ADSO, a doctoral student must be a full-time Ph.D. student in Public Policy and Management program at the Evans School, be in good academic standing, and have the approval of their faculty advisor and the faculty Ph.D. program director. Applicants to the ADSO will also need to show proof of prior training in computer science.

Learning Objectives

Data Science Option

  • Knowledge of theory and applications of machine learning, predictive analytics, and other sophisticated statistical techniques.
  • Knowledge of a range of tools and processes used for managing and analyzing large and messy data.
  • Knowledge of visualization methods and tools. 
  • Knowledge of ethical issues related to data science.
  • Opportunities to design and conduct data science dissertation projects that address important policy and management research questions.

Advanced Data Science Option

  • Knowledge of statistical theory, including frequentist and Bayesian techniques.
  • Knowledge of theory and applications of machine learning, predictive analytics, and other sophisticated statistical techniques.
  • Knowledge of a range of tools and processes used for managing and analyzing large and messy data.
  • Knowledge of visualization methods and tools.
  • Knowledge of ethical issues related to data science
  • Opportunities to design and conduct data science dissertation projects that address important policy and management research questions.
  • Capacity to develop innovative data science techniques in the field of program evaluation and policy analysis.

Degree Requirements

Students admitted to the DSO/ADSO must meet all the standard requirements of the PPM degree without the option.

DSO Requirements

The DSO requires at least two quarters of CHEME 599F eScience Community Seminar (1 credit per quarter) and satisfactory completion of eight additional credits of coursework chosen from the classes listed in two of the three core data science areas.

Software Development for Data Science

  • CSE 583 Software Developsment for Data Scientists (4 credits)
  • CHEME 546 Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (3 credits)

Statistics and Machine Learning

  • CSE 546 Machine Learning (4 credits)
  • CSE416/STAT416 Introduction to Machine Learning (4 credits)
  • STAT 527 Nonparametric Regression and Classification (3 credits)
  • STAT 509 Introduction to Mathematical Statistics (4 credits)
  • STAT 512/513 Statistical Inference (4 credits)

Data Management and Data Visualization

  • CSE 412: Introduction to Data Visualization (4 credits)
  • CSE 414 Introduction to Database Systems (4 credits) 
  • HCDE 411/511 Information for Visualization (5 credits)
  • INFO 474 Interactive Information Visualization (5 credits) 

ADSO Requirements

The ADSO requires at least four quarters of CHEME 599F eScience Community Seminar (1 credit per quarter) and satisfactory completion of three classes in these four areas.

Data Management

  • CSE 544 Principles of DBMS (4 credits)

Machine Learning

  • CSE 546 Machine Learning (4 credits) or STAT 535 Statistical Learning: Modeling, Prediction, and Computing (3 credits)

Data Visualization

  • CSE 512  (4 credits)

Statistics

  • STAT 509 Introduction to Mathematical Statistics: Econometrics I (5 credits)or STAT 512-513 Statistical Inference (4 credits each)

Course Descriptions