(The Visual Analytics MSc website has been moved to here).

Masters by Research in the Area of Visual Analytics

School of Engineering and Information Sciences, Middlesex University, London, UK

http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/research/idc/vamsc/

Visual Analytics - the sexy job of 2010 and beyond.

"People think I’m joking, but who would’ve guessed that computer engineers would’ve been the sexy job of the 1990s? The ability to take data—to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it—that’s going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades, not only at the professional level but even at the educational level for elementary school kids, for high school kids, for college kids."

What is Visual Analytics?

Visual analytics is the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces. A degree in this topic will enable you to gain the latest knowledge, skills, and research experience in this exciting field. It combines visualization, HCI, data analysis, and knowledge engineering to address the increasing problems faced by industry in gaining insight from large and diverse data of varying quality in areas such as defence, security, finance, biomedical research, and business intelligence.

Find out more about Visual Analytics at our blog here ...

UK Visual Analytics Consortium

The lecturers delivering the degree are from School of Engineering and Information Sciences at Middlesex University in London, which is leading the UK Visual Analytics Consortium, which includes Imperial College, University College London, Swansea University, and Bangor University.

The Consortium is member of the European visual analytics network VisMaster and has strong connections with the visual analytics research network in the USA, which includes Stanford University, Purdue University, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

The Consortium also has close collaborations with industry and government departments such as the Ministry of Defence (UK), Department of Homeland Security (USA), i2 (UK), and AE Solutions(UK).

Degree Overview

You will undertake an individual research project culminating in a dissertation, in the area of visual analytics and receive training through a programme of support study covering areas such as:

• Logic and Sense Making
• Information Visualization
• Human-Computer Interaction, System Modelling and Representation Design
• Operational problems and e-Discovery
• Data analysis and knowledge engineering
• Research methods
• Application development and foundations in mathematics and statistics

For full-time students, the normal study period is 12 months; for part-time students, the normal study period is 24 months.The course is not available as a distance learning program.

Candidates should have a good honours degree in computing or related areas such as design, finance, and bio-sciences. Those with significant professional experience in a relevant discipline will also be considered.

The total fee is £6,000 for UK/EU students and £10,600 for international students.

Lecturers

Prof. Martin Loomes	Prof. William Wong	Dr. Kai Xu	Dr. Simon Attfield
Pro-Vice Chancellor and dean, expert in Computer Science, Psychology, Philosophy and Mathematics.	Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Head of Interaction Design Center.	Senior lecturer, degree coordinator, expert in Information Visualisation, e-Science, and Bioinformatics.	Senior lecturer, expert in Sensing Making, e-Discocvery, and Human-Computer Interaction.

Please contact Dr. Kai Xu (k.xu@mdx.ac.uk) for any inquiry and discussion of possible thesis topics.

Application

The application form is for both PhD and Master research degree. In case of Visual Analytics MSc, You do NOT need to prepare a research proposal. Instead, a 1-2 page statement of your interest in Visual Analytics research is needed.

Before starting the application form and research statement, it is important to disucss with the program leader Dr. Kai Xu (k.xu@mdx.ac.uk) about potential reserch topic, which is usually not finalised until a few months into your study.

Students can apply for this program at any time during the year, but there are limited number of interviews each year. Phone or video interview will be arranged for international students.