Research Master
Learn more about the two-year Research Master Business Data Science at Tinbergen Institute.
Tinbergen Institute Research Master's Program Business Data Science is a two-year joint degree (120 EC) and prepares students for a PhD trajectory in Business departments.
Acquiring skills
In year 1, the primary objective is to build a solid data science foundation and expose students to a variety of methodological approaches. These skills are applied to various business disciplines in the field courses.
First year overview:
| Block | Business and Data Science | (Advanced) Mathematics, Statistics and Econometrics | Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Introduction | Refresher courses in Programming and Mathematics | Business Foundations |
| I | Decision Theory for Business | Fundamental or Adv Mathematics; Statistics or Asymptotic Statistics | Business Foundations |
| II | Machine Learning I; Parallel Computing and Big Data | Econometrics I or Advanced Econometrics I | Business Foundations |
| III | Machine Learning II | Econometrics II or Advanced Econometrics II | Business Foundations; Track-specific elective/Research; Hackathon/ Internship |
| IV | Simulation Analysis & Optimization; Deep Learning | Econometrics III or Advanced Econometrics III | |
| V | Track-specific field course; Natural Language Processing | Skills Workshop; Research Internship/elective |
See full list of courses (EUR Course Catalog).
Building knowledge
In year 2, students focus on a given business sub-discipline, selecting courses in a chosen sub-discipline: 1) quantitative finance, 2) management science, 3) operations analytics. The courses assigned for each of these sub-disciplines have been carefully selected by a team of experts with the aim of ensuring the perfect learning trajectory that will lead to substantive contributions in the fields of each particular sub-discipline.
Second year overview:
| Block | Business and Data Science | (Advanced) Mathematics and Statistics | Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Field-specific field courses, Research Internship, Electives | ||
| II | Field-specific field courses, Research Internship, Electives | Bayesian Econometrics | Skills Workshop II |
| III | Field-specific field courses, Research Internship, Electives | Skills Workshop II; Thesis | |
| IV | Skills Workshop III; Thesis | ||
| V | Thesis |
Students also take the following courses in year 2:
- Bayesian Econometrics
- Research internships and/or electives
- Skills workshops (review process, academic writing and presentations)
- Research Master Thesis (30 credits)
See the full course list for year 2 and the Study Guide.