The Data Lab MSc is a collaborative programme between The Data Lab, Scottish Universities and industry partners, which aims to develop talented data scientists and engineers to support the Scottish economy.
This call is open to Scottish Universities to apply to receive £6000 per student to cover MSc course tuition fees for data science, data engineering and artificial intelligence related courses for the academic year 2022-23. Any shortfall between the University’s tuition fee and the £6000 scholarship must be met by the University, and not by the student or any other third party.
Funded students will join the highly successful The Data Lab MSc Programme which, in addition to providing a scholarship, provides a range of opportunities to apply academic knowledge to the world of industry, and develop non-technical skills that are essential to becoming a data scientist.
The Data Lab MSc Programme
The Data Lab enables industry, public sector and world-class university researchers to innovate and develop new data science capabilities in a collaborative environment. Its core mission is to generate significant economic, social and scientific value from big data.
The skills needed to exploit the data opportunity are in great demand and short supply. The Data Lab is working with industry and Scottish Universities, through The Data Lab MSc programme, to create a pipeline of talented data scientists and engineers, equipped with the relevant skills to meet the data science skills gap. The Data Lab MSc differs from other academic courses as it focuses on applying academic knowledge to the world of industry, and on developing non-technical skills that are essential to becoming a data scientist. The programme has been supported by The Scottish Government through The Scottish Funding Council from year 2015-16 to present and from 2016-17 to 2021-22 through the ESF Developing Scotland’s Workforce (DSW) Fund which comes to an end this year.
Now in its 7th year, The Data Lab Programme, including the 2021-22 intake, has an alumni of more than 880 students. For the current academic year, funding from the SFC and ESF-DWS Fund is supporting 155 scholarships at 11 Scottish universities with students studying 30 data science and AI related courses.
You can view the full list of courses.
In addition to scholarship funding, the programme delivers additional training and networking opportunities which all students are required to attend including:
- events designed to facilitate networking with the whole student cohort, data leaders, professionals, researchers and organisations looking to recruit students;
- a certified MOOC on Data ethics, AI and Responsible Innovation;
- a cross-university Innovation Challenge;
- sector specific employability and skills training; and
- an opportunity to undertake a paid industrial placement in a Scottish organisation.
Student Funding Eligibility
For 2022-23, full scholarships are available for students who meet the Scottish Government’s Residency conditions ie. are an “ordinary resident” in Scotland. Refer to this SAAS.gov.uk.guidance for more information on who can be considered for the funding.
Application Criteria
To be eligible to apply for The Data Lab MSc funding, courses must be ready for delivery to commence in academic year 2022-23. Successful applications should demonstrate;
- a strong focus on data science, data engineering and/or AI;
- delivery of relevant and contemporary technologies that are in demand across Scotland’s organisations and business sectors;
- evidence of the sorts of roles that a graduate of the course would be suitable for;
- strong links to industry in course development and delivery;
- innovation and creativity in course delivery;
- high standards and the teaching of data ethics and responsible data science/AI embedded throughout the course;
- a demonstrable commitment to maximising diversity in applicants (examples of initiatives to reach out to underrepresented applicants); and
- willingness (for new courses) and evidence (for existing courses) of strong engagement with The Data Lab MSc programme and support of The Data Lab MSc placement programme.
Where your university offers a suite of courses with shared core content, please submit one application eg MSc AI and MSc AI with Big Data should be considered, for the application process, as a single course with specialisms.
The end of the ESF-DWS Funding stream will reduce the total number of available scholarships by about 50% from 2022-23. Currently, funding from the SFC is not confirmed but we would expect to receive the same number of scholarships as last year, 75 in total. We continue to welcome applications from new and existing courses, but due to the reduction in available scholarships would expect competition for allocations to be much stronger than in previous years. We will prioritise courses which clearly meet The Data Lab MSc application criteria and provide strong evidence of industry relevance and demand for the skills being taught.
With the reduction in numbers, there is increasing importance to ensure that scholarships are awarded to students who will use them to best effect, recognising the value and engaging fully with the programme in order to maximise the investment from The Data Lab and Scottish Government. The course review and allocation process will remain the same as in previous years, with successful universities awarded scholarship numbers to select the best candidates for their course. However from 2022-23 The Data Lab will introduce an additional step in the process, whereby potential scholarship candidates will be required to complete a short application form for review and approval by The Data Lab, prior to scholarships being confirmed with students. This is to ensure that all successful applicants to the programme are committed to its aims and are best placed to maximise the opportunity, including the placement programme. Details will be shared on the new process in due course.
Due to the reduction in the cohort size for 2022-23, we will support scholarships for October starts only.
Call Closing Date: 17:00 Friday 28 January 2022
If you have any questions, please contact The Data Lab at skills@thedatalab.com
Personal information provided in application form will be processed by The Data Lab [University of Edinburgh] in order to keep the Applicant(s) informed of progress with the Application and for reviewing purposes. This information will not be processed for any other purpose. Reviewing Panel members from outside of The Data Lab will sign an NDA.
The Data Lab’s mission is to help Scotland maximise value from data and lead the world to a data powered future. We believe that how we do this is equally as important as the mission itself and this is why our culture and values are the heart of everything we do and we ask collaborators to follow these too. Read more about our Culture & Values.
