Overview
Data Science is continually ranked as one of the most in-demand professions. The need for professionals who can manage and leverage insights from data is clearer than ever before. The curriculum taught in this program is designed to meet the expanding multi-disciplinary needs for data professionals. By covering a wide array of topics, the program addresses the wide variety of skills needed to work on successful data-based projects. Topics covered include data-driven discovery and prediction, data engineering at scale (inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data), structured and unstructured data, computational statistics, pattern recognition, data mining, data visualization, databases, SQL, Python programming, and machine learning.
UC Irvine’s 3-month post-graduate level Accelerated Certificate Program (ACP) in Data Science covers a wide array of topics in data science including data-driven discovery and prediction, data engineering at scale (inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data), structured and unstructured data, computational statistics, pattern recognition, data mining, data visualization, databases, SQL, Python, and machine learning.
Benefits
- Utilize technical techniques to deliver insight and business intelligence
- Apply mathematical concepts including probability, inference, and modeling to practical data project application
- Describe and use industry-standard tools and technologies required to model and analyze big datasets
- Utilize the data modeling approach to make optimal business decision
- Implement machine learning algorithms
- Apply text analytics tools to unstructured and structured data sets
- Develop and implement a data warehouse plan
- Gain a competitive edge in the global job market through an internship in a U.S. company
Who Should Attend
This program is intended for professionals in a variety of industries and job functions who are looking to help their organization understand and leverage the massive amounts of diverse data they collect. Others who would benefit from this program include: data engineers, data analysts, computer scientists, business analysts, database administrators, researchers, and statisticians.
View a student testimonial from their time in ACP during remote learning here
Certificate Requirements
To earn a certificate at UCI Division of Continuing Education, students must complete all required courses with a grade of “C” or better.
Curriculum
Practical Math and Statistics for Data Science
Introduction to Python Programming
Introduction to Python is a beginner introduction to programming using Python. This course is designed for those who have no programming experience and do not have a technical background. It is for those who want a gentle introduction. After this course, students may want to take a more intermediate or advanced Python course. Or, they may feel confident enough to start learning on their own. If you do not have a background in Python, but you do have a good background in Java, C, or another language, this course could feel slow for you. Students will learn the following: how to use variable types, flow control, and functions, how to interact with the system via Python, how to write simple scripts to process text, and how to use Jupyter, a popular development tool for Python.
Fundamentals of Data Science
The goal of this course is to demystify data science and to familiarize students with key data scientist skills, techniques, and concepts. Starting with foundational concepts like analytics taxonomy, the Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining, and data diagnostics, the course will then move on to compare data science with classical statistical techniques. An overview of the most common techniques used in data science, including data analysis, statistical modeling, data engineering, relational databases, SQL and NoSQL, manipulation of data at scale (big data), algorithms for data mining, data quality, remediation and consistency operations will be covered.
Data Engineering
This course is designed to enhance student proficiency in data design, data management, data warehouse, data modeling, and query manipulation skills. Topics include techniques and methods for identification, extraction, and preparation of data for processing with database software. Gain an overview of the basic techniques of data engineering, including data normalization, data engineering, relational and non-relational databases, SQL and NoSQL, manipulation of data at scale (big data), algorithms for data operations. Students will work in teams on a final project to explore, analyze, summarize and present findings in a real-world big data set.
Advanced Visualization
Visualization plays a fundamental role in understanding properties and relationships in data to extract insights and communicate results. Whether the analytics is descriptive, diagnostic, prescriptive, or proscriptive, visualization is essential throughout any analytics cycle. This course will focus on applying various methods and techniques to different stages of the analytics cycle such as during data preparation, modeling, and reporting. Students will learn techniques for visualizing univariate, multivariate, temporal, text-based, hierarchical, and network/graph-based data both in ad hoc analysis as well as in automated generation.
Big Data Analysis
Enterprises are using technologies such as MapReduce, Hadoop, Yarn, and Apache Spark to extract value from Big Data. This course provides an in-depth overview of Hadoop and Spark, the cornerstones of big data processing. To crystalize the concepts behind Hadoop and Spark, students will work through a series of short, focused exercises. Concepts covered include Hadoop architecture, the Apache Spark Big Data Framework, data ingestion, distributed processing, and functional programming. Additionally, students will learn how to configure and install a Hadoop cluster, write basic MapReduce programs, utilize advanced MapReduce programming practices, and utilize interfaces such as Pig and Hive to interact with Hadoop.
Internships
As an optional last course and for an additional fee of $2,900, you have the opportunity to apply academic theory and gain practical experience in a variety of businesses and industries for 10 weeks. A research project provides additional training. Also included in the internship are the Resume Development and Interviewing Skills workshops.
Schedule
Students will be placed into a morning (9:00-12:00) or afternoon (13:00-16:00) schedule. Courses in the program are taken consecutively, completing one before proceeding to the next. Schedules are not guaranteed and are subject to change. A final schedule will be provided on the first day of the program.
