Thessaloniki

‘The Master’s programme Information Studies: Data Science is my second specialisation. Before the UvA I graduated in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), specialising in Electric Energy. I worked as a research associate on large-scale integration of renewable energy sources into smart electricity grids. Via this experience I started to think that data science, and especially machine learning, could contribute towards the smart grid vision through data coming from various complex interactions and decisions made in an intelligent grid.’

‘Apart from a valuable scientific field which can be combined with my background, I think data science will be a dominant force in leading many research groups and companies in rethinking how they can improve their solutions for a variety of problems. That’s why I chose Data Science at the UvA. It covers all fundamental skills and theory which data scientists need to work with in a modern competitive scientific and business environment. Besides that, living and studying in the Netherlands was something I was determined to experience.  I wanted to work in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environment.’

Programme for modern data science

‘The programme introduces students to every challenge data scientists deal with in their work, keeping up with all latest scientific developments. The scientific staff responsible for the courses consists of young and ambitious people eager to introduce students to valuable knowledge they acquire during this one-year programme, as well as offering them the freedom to be creative in their course projects and assignments.’

‘During the programme I’ve learned IT skills which are used for modern data science tasks. Also, I’ve worked on my communication and team working abilities. The most intriguing and intellectually challenging courses for me were Applied Machine Learning and Searching Structured and Unstructured Data. I think both introduce students in two very important scientific fields which are vital for assessing useful information and making predictions from data.’

‘Apart from my studies I’ve been working part time as a researcher at CWI Amsterdam. This has worked as a bridge between my experience as an intelligent electricity grid researcher and a future data scientist. In the future, I want to combine my background with data science in order to design and implement machine learning and big data management solutions in electrical and computer engineering.’

Hub Amsterdam

‘In Amsterdam scientific organisations, technological start-up companies and major international industrial partners come together. As a result it is a very interesting ‘hub’ for graduate students to start participating in. Apart from all this it is also a beautiful city with an excellent level of organisation. Amsterdam is always vivid and full of students, young professionals, expats and Dutch citizens which form an interesting cultural mix that offers a great experience whether you live, study or work here.’