Program Director
Steering Committee
The demand for Data Scientists is exploding, driven by the increasing availability of data and the advance of machine learning. Data collection and analysis have become crucial components of decision making in today’s private and public organizations and many have started to develop specialized departments for this purpose.
The ability to extract, handle, and analyze large amounts of data is therefore a key skill on today’s job market.
However, gathering and summarizing data is not enough. Data science can only improve decision making with an understanding of how choices affect outcomes. Data Scientists must therefore increasingly combine standard tools in machine learning with an understanding of the causal relationships behind the data.
The BSE Master's Program in Data Science for Decision Making integrates key elements from Data Science and Economics to give graduates the ability to deal with all types of data and make the correct inferences from it.
Students will be trained in the use of cutting-edge machine learning methods and of statistical models that will help them to provide effective data support in the decision-making process of any organization. Students will, for example, be able to extract information from the structure of social networks, satellite images, large libraries of digitized text, read and visualize data in maps and make sense of geo-localized information and time series data. They will also be able to use this data for forecasting and evaluate different policy options or business strategies through models built on an understanding of causal relationships.
Data Science for Decision Makers integrates different approaches from Data Science, Statistics, Econometrics and Economics in a unique program taught by leading academics in the fields of Economics, Operations, and Statistics, as well as experienced professionals from the analytics industry and public policy consultants from organizations such as:
Students learn with real data to solve decision-making problems hands-on through homework, applied training sessions, and an independent Master's project.
The collaborative environment of the program will expose students to working with colleagues from many different academic and professional backgrounds on interdisciplinary teams.
The Data Science for Decision Making Master's offers a special way to bring skills we teach in the program to real-life problems: the Barcelona School of Economics Master's Thesis Challenge! The challenge allows outside organizations to submit problems that are then tackled by small student groups. The solution is then submitted as a Master's thesis and presented in front of the respective organization.
Here are some of the organizations BSE student teams are working with:
The Decision Making track is tailored to accommodate both recent graduates and those with work experience in private and public organizations. All students will benefit from a combination of training in programming, theoretical model techniques and hands-on applications which will allow them advance any decision making process in any organization. Students with work experience will be able to see the data in their own work environment with completely new eyes and realize the potential of untapped data resources like text and images.
Accenture Data Science ScholarshipAccenture sponsors a full scholarship for one student in the BSE Master's Degree in Data Science.
Accenture scholarship criteria and details
The Data Science for Decision Making Program is organized around four pillars:
Watch the videos for a quick overview of three courses in the program, then browse the full course list below:
Economics for Data-driven Decision Making
Prof. Caterina Calsamiglia (IPEG)
Foundations of Econometrics
Prof. Ursula Mello (IAE-CSIC and BSE)
Machine Learning and Causal Inference
Prof. Hanna Wang (MOVE, UAB and BSE)
Forecasting and Nowcasting with Text as Data
Prof. Hannes Mueller (IAE-CSIC and BSE), Program Director
The course offer displayed is for next year's edition. Course offer is subject to change.
Course list for current students
Upon successful completion of the program, students will receive a Master's Degree in Data Science awarded jointly by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).
All Barcelona School of Economics Master's degrees have been recognized by the Catalan and Spanish Education authorities within the framework of the Bologna Process (in Spanish, “Master Universitario o Master Oficial”).
The goal of this Master's program is to serve two profiles:
Given the diverse background of our students, there are no prerequisites in either Data Science or Economics. However, students will only be able to absorb the wealth of methods that are taught with some experience of working with data, very strong quantitative skills, and some prior knowledge in Statistics.
Students will learn how to use STATA and program in Python during the Master's, but some experience in these two software packages will allow students to focus on the applications.
Examples of recent placements:
Students who successfully complete the Data Science for Decision Making Program are eligible for direct admission to the following programs, if they stay for a second consecutive year:
Master’s Degree in Economics and Finance:
OR
Master’s Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis:
A 20% discount will be applied on the second program's tuition fees. All BSE Alumni are eligible for this discount at any time.
Data Science for Decision Making Student Profile 2022-23
28 students from 16 countries (82% international)
Most represented countries this year:
Most common academic backgrounds:
Data Science for Decision Making alumni career paths
Overview of Data Science for Decision Making career paths from the first cohort (Class of 2022)
© Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. All rights reserved.
