| UCAS code |
None |
| Duration |
1 year full time
2 or 3 years part time |
| Entry year |
2020 |
| Contact |
Programme director: Tim Frayling
Web: Enquire online
Phone: +44 (0)1392 725500 |
Overview
Due to COVID-19, we are currently reviewing the delivery of our courses. Our priority is to ensure that safety of all our students and staff, and we are currently planning for flexibility and resilience in our approach so that whatever the year brings we will still be delivering the high level of teaching that we always have. We are still taking applications and you can stay updated on our website as the situation progresses.
- 1 of only 6 new MSc courses in the UK funded by Health Data Research UK (HDRUK). Five students will receive full fees and stipend (EU/UK fees)
- A chance to learn and apply your quantitative skills (e.g. computing, maths, statistics) in a health and medical setting, even if you have had no experience in health, medicine or biology
- Exciting research project opportunities, including working in the NHS, and health-related industry such as large pharmaceutical companies
- We offer a genuine interdisciplinary experience to you –delivered by experts from mathematics, computing, biomedical science, the NHS and industry
- Learn about and gain cutting edge skills in the field of health-related data; a rapidly growing area in which the UK excels with access to the largest biobanks, genomic and health services resources
83% of research in Clinical Medicine classified as world-leading or internationally excellent
Top 10 in the UK for world-leading and internationally excellent research in Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care
Major capital investment in new buildings and state-of-the-art facilities
Entry requirements
You will have, or be predicted, at least a 2:1 degree in a strongly numerate subject (e.g. computer science, mathematics, physics), OR a 2:1 in a health/life sciences degree AND demonstrate good programming ability in a modern computer language. Alternatively you will have strong skills in maths and computing, but not have a degree.
Computer programming ability will be assessed with a short test as part of the selection process, and in selecting the students who will receive full fees and stipend.
Entry requirements for international students
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and information on English language requirements.
International students are normally subject to visa regulations which prevent part-time study. It is recommended that international students apply for the level of the final award you intend to complete i.e. PGCert, PGDip or Masters, due to the associated cost and requirements for a Tier 4 student Visa.
English language requirements
IELTS (Academic): IELTS 6.5 with no less than 6
TOEFL IBT* Overall score 90 with minimum scores of 21 for writing, 21 for listening, 22 for reading and 23 for speaking.
Pearson Test of English (Academic)
58 with no less than 55 in all communicative skills.
Cambridge English: Advanced & Proficiency
Overall score 176. No less than 169 in any section.
Pre-sessional English
Applicants with lower English language test scores may be able to take pre-sessional English at INTO University of Exeter prior to commencing their programme. See our language requirements page for more information.
Who can apply for this course?
- Graduates with a Computer Science, Physics, Engineering or Maths degree, may not have any prior life sciences, medical or health experience.
- Graduates with Life, Health or Medical Science degrees (or Medicine intercalators) with proven basic computer programming skills.
- Graduates with a strongly numerate degree AND working as analysts in the NHS or other health related organisations.
- People without a first degree, but who can demonstrate evidence of strong quantitative skills and experience, for example if they have been working in the NHS and have good computer programming and maths
Entry requirements for international students
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and information on English language requirements.
Read more
Course content
Our MSc Health Data Science will help you develop innovative skills needed to unlock knowledge from complex health data, to address some of the biggest health challenges that we face across the globe today. This course combines the expertise of our world-renowned health scientists with experts in mathematics and computer science to develop a better understanding of diseases and to find ways to prevent, treat and cure them.
Why Exeter?
We are one of only six UK institutions chosen to deliver this training for Health Data Research UK which means that we demonstrated scientific excellence, a track record in postgraduate training, innovative approaches to further education and strong institutional commitment. Five students will receive full fees and stipend as part of the Health Data Research UK funding.
The MSc Health Data Science can be taken as a full time or part time programme of study, as appropriate. It is delivered at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 7.
The programme comprises 180 credits in total: taught modules worth 120 credits in total, and a supervised dissertation worth 60 credits. We have eleven partners from the NHS or industry who will provide and supervise dissertations.
The programme is divided into units of study called modules which are assigned a number of 'credits'. The credit rating of a module is proportional to the total workload, with 1 credit being nominally equivalent to 10 hours of work.
View the Overall Course Structure to get an idea of what your programme may look like depending on which pathway you choose.
View the draft timetable of contact days for 2020/21 for an indication of when modules will run.
The above documents are for illustration purposes only and may vary in subsequent years.
Compulsory modules
Fees
UK/EU fees:
Fees are subject to an annual increment each academic year.
MSc fees (1 year): £8,800 full time; £2,950 part time
MSc fees (2 year): UK/EU: £4,400
Pro Rata Module Fees:
UK/EU only: £800 per 15 credit module
International fees:
MSc fees (1 year): £21,100 full-time
MSc fees (2 year): £10,550
Fees can normally be paid by two termly instalments and may be paid online. You will also be required to pay a tuition fee deposit to secure your offer of a place, unless you qualify for exemption. For further information about paying fees see our Student Fees pages.
Funding and scholarships
UK government postgraduate loan scheme
Postgraduate loans of up to £10,609 are now available for Masters degrees. Find out more about eligibility and how to apply.
Five fully funded places
Five students will receive full funding of stipend and fees (EU/UK fees). There will be a selection process that focuses on computing and mathematical skills to assess which students are eligible.
Pro Vice Chancellor's NHS Postgraduate Scholarship
The University of Exeter Medical School is delighted to offer the Pro Vice Chancellor's NHS Postgraduate Scholarship of £5000 to two NHS staff who accept a place to study on one of our Masters programmes enrolling in 2020.
Global Excellence Scholarship
We are delighted to offer Global Excellence Scholarships for students of outstanding academic quality applying to postgraduate Taught programmes starting in autumn 2020.
Please note that this scholarship isn't offered for all our masters programmes.
Read more
Teaching and research
This course will be delivered by research-active academics from the College of Medicine and Health and the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Our non-academic partners, including the NHS, pharmaceutical and data companies, will also contribute to the course in the form of guest lectures and seminars, and provide at least 50% of the research projects.
You will be allocated a personal tutor who will remain with you throughout the programme. Personal tutors are able to provide guidance and feedback on assessment performance, guidance in generic academic skills and pastoral support. They are also able to refer you to more specialist support services, both within the College and elsewhere across the University.
This is an example of the kind of code students will need to feel comfortable with prior to the start of the course. (pdf)
Associate Professor Rob Anderson
Dr Thomas Monks
Associate Professor of Health Data Science
Professor Tim Frayling
Programme Director
Dr Caroline Wright
Associate professor
Dr Eilis Hannon
Associate Professor Rob Anderson
Rob teaches on the module Fundamentals of Research Design. He is an applied health services researcher and implementation scientist with a particular interest in the evaluation and synthesis of evidence about health policies and complex health interventions, such as public health programmes and changes in service organisation and delivery.
Rob has over 20 years' experience as a health services researcher, economic evaluator, and implementation science scholar in both the UK NHS and the Australian health system.
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Dr Thomas Monks
Associate Professor of Health Data Science
Thomas is an Associate Professor of Health Data Science. He holds a joint position between University of Exeter Medical School and the Institute of Data Science and AI. He is a Turing Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Clinical Operational Research Unit, Department of Mathematics, UCL.
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Professor Tim Frayling
Programme Director
Professor Frayling has been working as a molecular geneticist for more than twenty years, the majority of that time with common human traits and diseases, particularly type 2 diabetes, obesity and related conditions.
He obtained a personal chair as Professor of Human Genetics in 2007 and heads a team of 14 that has become internationally recognized as a world leader in the genetics of common traits and conditions. More information, including publications, is available on the team's website.
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Dr Caroline Wright
Associate professor
Caroline is an Associate Professor in Human Genetics and Genomics at the University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health. Her main research interests are in the clinical application of genome-wide sequencing technologies for the diagnosis of rare diseases.
Specifically, she is interested in understanding the penetrance of rare disease-causing variants, improving variant filtering and interpretation, modelling the effect of pathogenic missense variants using in silico protein structural analysis, and exploring the policy and ethical issues associated with implementation of genome-wide sequencing in healthcare.
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Dr Eilis Hannon
Eilis is a Senior Research Fellow in Bioinformatics at the University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health. Her research focuses on integrating epigenetic, transcriptomic and genetic data to aid the understanding of the molecular aetiology of psychiatric illnesses and neurodegenerative diseases. Specifically, her work aims to identify how genetic risk factors for complex diseases like schizophrenia alters gene regulation in the brain.
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Careers
You will be equipped to work in health and biomedical interdisciplinary teams and to tackle the exciting opportunities and challenges in health data science across a wide range of careers. We will focus on two broad areas in which Exeter excels – health services research and modelling, and stratified medicine, including genomics.
Careers support
We will support your career progression by introducing you to the full range of careers open to you, with seminars and visits to different environments in industry and in NHS Trusts. By providing funds for attendance at HDRUK workshops, and, through our Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Alan Turing Institute meetings and conferences. The role of the personal tutor will include discussion of future career paths.
All University of Exeter students have access to Career Zone, which gives access to a wealth of business contacts, support and training as well as the opportunity to meet potential employers at our regular Careers Fairs.
