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For Students

TDL Academy Placements

Get your tickets to Data Talent, March 2023, Scotland’s largest data and AI careers and networking event

Get Data Talent tickets

Get the real-world experience you need to kick-start your career in data science

It takes more than good academic and technical skills to get your foot on the first rung of your career in data science. To get that dream job, you also need to have real-world experience and a good set of contacts. This is where The Data Lab Academy placements come in.

We partner with many of Scotland’s leading firms, in a wide range of industries, to offer exciting paid placement opportunities for postgraduate students studying data science subjects.

Alongside the opportunity to get experience working in industry, our placements provide invaluable opportunities for students to apply their academic skills in an industrial setting. They also help with the development of essential workplace skills, including communication, teamworking and business problem-solving.

Why apply for one of our placements?

Successful applicants can benefit from:

  • Sector-specific training in employability and communication skills.
  • Access to networking events and The Data Lab Community Platform.
  • Project driven paid data/AI focused placements with an organisation based in Scotland.
  • Support during their placement from the The Data Lab Placements Team.
  • The potential to develop an ongoing relationship with the host organisation with the possibility of future placement and/or employment (not guaranteed).

The Data Lab Academy Placements

At the Academy, we offer a programme of workshops, networking events, master classes and a residential ‘innovation’ challenge. All are designed to enhance your employability skills and to kick start your career in data science. Taking part in the programme will also give you the opportunity to apply for a paid industrial placement. This will put you in a very strong position to get the best possible job.

Find out more

What is a Placement

The placements are between 8-12 weeks long and undertaken during the summer. Students will be employed by the host organisation and paid for the duration of their placement.

  • Optional instead of your research project at the end of the MSc​
  • Forms the basis of your dissertation​
  • In-person or rem​ote
  • Paid the National Living Wage​
  • All Sectors/Industry Areas​
  • Open to all​ in The Data Lab Academy Programme
  • No guarantee – dependent on availability of host organisations​

Key benefits

Easy to access

Just get in touch

Real-world experience

Boost your skill set

Paid placements

Get paid while you learn

For more on The Data Lab placements, get in touch

+44 (0) 131 651 4905

placements@thedatalab.com

Case studies showing what’s possible with data:

  • Driving Value from Data Case Study: NatureScot Supporting a Net-Zero Future

    Case Study

    Case Studies, Skills & Talent

    Driving Value from Data Case Study: NatureScot Supporting a Net-Zero Future

    Biodiversity and nature play a key part in meeting climate change and net zero goals. NatureScot is Scotland’s nature agency responding to the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. They work to protect and restore nature by inspiring everyone to value our natural world. Philippa Vigano, Innovative Technologies Programme Manager, recently completed our […]

    View case study

  • Data Leaders Case Study: Social Bite

    Case Study

    Skills & Talent

    Data Leaders Case Study: Social Bite

    Beginning life as a small café in Edinburgh in 2012, Social Bite has become an internationally renowned charity, supporting people facing homelessness or facing barriers to employment. In the last decade, it has also established several programmes, such as The Social Bite Village, free food provision, and globally renowned campaigns including Sleep in the Park. […]

    View case study

View all case studies

News about our offering for students:

  • Marking ChatGPT’s Homework with TDL’s Data Scientists

    News, Tech blog
    03/02/2023

    Recently The Data Lab team asked ChatGPT to write a blog post on the ‘𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯’. While this is unlikely to be the first or the last time that ChatGPT is called on to help with an assignment, its responses were telling – illustrating both the benefits and […]

    View

  • Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc’s Innovation Challenge 2 Awards £86,000 in Funding

    Net Zero, News, Support to innovate
    31/01/2023

    Five companies have been awarded funding as part of Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc’s (MSIP) second Innovation Challenge. MSIP and partners The Data Lab, CENSIS and Dundee City Council, are providing project funding of over £86,000, towards a total project cost of over £136,000. MSIP, a joint venture between Michelin, Dundee City Council and Scottish Enterprise, […]

    View

  • Data trends for 2023 – As predicted by ChatGPT

    Data knowledge and learning, News
    26/01/2023

    While the questions for this blog piece were prompts from The Data Lab team (generated from points that the model had put forward), this entire article was written by AI chatbot, ChatGPT It is difficult to predict specific data trends for 2023 as they can change rapidly, but some likely possibilities include an increased focus […]

    View

View all news

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