Overview

The Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS) is an online, part-time professional degree program that prepares students to work effectively with heterogeneous, real-world data and to extract insights from the data using the latest tools and analytical methods. The program emphasizes the importance of asking good research or business questions as well as the ethical and legal requirements of data privacy and security.

The Fifth Year Master of Information and Data Science (Fifth Year MIDS) is a customized pathway in the MIDS program that is designed for students who have just completed their undergraduate education at UC Berkeley.

Students attend weekly live ("synchronous") sessions with classmates and instructors via an online platform as well as engaging with online ("asynchronous") videos and assignments on their own time.

The curriculum includes research design and applications for data and analysis, statistics for data science, data engineering, applied machine learning, data visualization, and data ethics. MIDS features a project-based approach to learning and encourages the pragmatic application of a variety of different tools and methods to solve complex problems.

Graduates of the program will be able to:

  • Imagine new and valuable uses for large datasets;
  • Retrieve, organize, combine, clean, and store data from multiple sources;
  • Apply appropriate data mining, statistical analysis, and machine learning techniques to detect patterns and make predictions;
  • Design visualizations and effectively communicate findings; and
  • Understand the ethical and legal requirements of data privacy and security.

The I School also offers a master's in Information Management and Systems (MIMS), a master's in Information and Cybersecurity (MICS), and a Ph.D in Information Science.