The Data Lab’s MSc placement programme is open for any Scottish organisation looking to inject state of the art data science technologies, creativity and enthusiasm into your organisation. Through our partners MBN Academy, we can find you a student to work on a data science project.
The students will get the opportunity to apply their academic skills to your organisation’s real life challenges and you get access to one of the 155 MSc students studying a range of data science, AI and related technology courses at universities across Scotland. This is a paid industrial placement with students paid by the host organisation at the current National Living Wage. Organisations benefit from having a student with relevant skills dedicated to working on an 8-12 week data science project and students will use what they learn on the project to deliver their MSc dissertation.
Many of our Scottish business partners, across all sectors of the economy, know the value of this input.
The Data Lab MSc Placement programme gave us the opportunity of employing an enthusiastic student with skills in data science. Natalie brought fresh eyes and an outside perspective to the project and evaluated how customers might engage with our data on the NHS Scotland Open Data platform and how useful the data is to use in visualisations and for building applications.
Stefan Teufl, Senior Information Analysist, NHS National Services Scotland
How does it work?
We are looking for organisations with an idea for a project for one of our highly skilled students. You will be asked to complete a Project Proposal form with a short description of your project, the background knowledge you require the student to have and the skills that you expect them to develop during your project.
Placement Projects will run for 10-12 weeks between the period June to August 2020. MBN will work with you to match a student with the required skills and technologies to your project. All students are profiled and individually assessed to find the best match for you, and following a short interview you have the final decision on student suitability for the project
Click here to see details of the range of MSc courses studied by the cohort of students currently seeking placements at 11 universities throughout Scotland.
Projects must have potential to be delivered remotely
Given the current situation with COVID-19 and the degree of uncertainty in the short and medium term, for this year only, The Data Lab asks that all projects confirmed have the potential to be delivered remotely if necessary (i.e. the student is able to undertake the placement from home).
A number of The Data Lab MSc placement projects have been delivered off-site in the past: this will not affect the outcome for your organisation and you will receive the same support and input from the student and their academic supervisor to ensure the successful delivery of your project. The student will be required to be in regular contact (daily if required) to discuss progress and project output. All students will need to have access to the necessary data and technologies required at the start of the project.
You might like to read this blog by Gillian Docherty, CEO of The Data Lab, on how our organisation has moved to remote working in response to the Covid-19 emergency.
Register your interest or find out more
The placement programme is now closed to new organisations for this year 2019/20 but if you are interested in finding out more about the programme please contact skills@thedatalab.com