Big Data Analytics

On this course, you’ll undertake a complete end-to-end business intelligence process within big data analytics. This includes data mining, transforming and reporting on data – with a focus of interpreting the information in a business context – preparing you to pursue a career in a sector with high demand for workers.

How you learn All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on the application of knowledge. You’ll engage with the Hallam community and beyond, collaborating with experts in your areas of interest, and being challenged to think in new ways – all in a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

On this course you’ll gain key skills and knowledge in data collection, storage, processing, analysis and visualisation. Through lectures and practical tutorials, you’ll learn how to apply big data tools and systems to different data tasks and problems – as well as how to analyse and communicate data effectively.

The main aim is to prepare you for employment in big data analytics, so we keep a close eye on industry developments while carefully choosing the topics and technical content of the modules you’ll study. While consulting with our industry partners and connections, we work with subject matter experts to understand the latest industry trends and needs.

As part of the course, you’ll also develop your research skills, preparing to undertake your own significant piece of work in the field as a dissertation project. This allows you to develop and tailor your understanding of a specific data-related topic that’s relevant to your career aspirations. You’ll be supported by a dissertation supervisor who is a subject matter expert.

You learn through:

Key themes

The MSc in Big Data Analytics course emphasises mastering industry-relevant software like SAS, R, Python, and Hadoop. You’ll learn to apply machine learning and AI techniques to large datasets and tackle real-world problems through hands-on projects.

You’ll learn through practice – starting by understanding the organisational data and developing business questions around the ’who, what, where and when’ principles. You’ll then bring together multiple real-time datasets to develop a decision-support system, making recommendations by interpreting the data with Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools.

The course also focuses on business intelligence processes, teaching you to interpret data in a business context and make informed decisions. Ethical considerations and effective communication of data insights are integral – you’ll be gaining the skills and knowledge you’ll need for high-demand roles in today's data-driven industries.