University College Dublin (UCD) is a world-renowned university located in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1854, it is one of the oldest and largest universities in the country, with a current student population of over 34,000.

UCD offers undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs across a broad range of disciplines, including arts, humanities, business, law, engineering, medicine, and science. The university is particularly well-known for its programs in agriculture, veterinary science, and architecture, and is also a leader in research in areas such as nanotechnology, information technology, and food science.

The campus itself is situated on 350 acres in the south suburbs of Dublin, providing a picturesque and spacious setting for students and staff. Facilities on campus include state-of-the-art lecture theaters, research labs, libraries, sports facilities, and accommodation options for students.

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The explosion of online and social media, the proliferation of digitized information, and improved electronic access to political decision-making processes provide new opportunities to study existing and emerging political processes in various democratic and non-democratic political regimes. The simultaneous development of cutting-edge data science methods to study digital text, audio, and video provide the tools we need to take advantage of these opportunities. The MSc Politics and Data Science is designed to equip students with the theoretical knowledge and methodological skills necessary to examine and understand politics in the digital age. The MSc Politics and Data Science programme is organised around two streams of study. The first stream grounds students with backgrounds in political science and related social sciences in data science methods. The second stream is geared towards students with computer science or related technical backgrounds, teaching them about research design and theories in political science. Apart from the three core modules in the Social Science Background stream, students can select three modules that best fit their interest. Apart from the core module and the core optional module in the Technical Background stream, students select four modules that best fit their interest. These modules can either revolve around methods needed to study digital and digitised politics, such as programming and machine learning, quantitative text analysis, statistics, and experimental methods. Or they can be modules relating to comparative politics, international relations, political violence, political economy, and related fields that the School of Politics and International Relations has strengths in. The programme thus provides a thorough grounding in political science and its sub-disciplines, and in-depth training in the empirical methods necessary to study important questions emerging in these areas of study. Careers & Employability Graduates from this programme will be ideally equipped for careers in a large and varied set of employment sectors. The combination of a solid understanding of social science theory and the technical ability to apply advanced data-science approaches to answer questions of political and societal relevance, makes our graduates a unique addition to any data science team. Furthermore, graduates will be well-positioned to apply for quantitative social science PhD programmes with the aim of pursuing an academic career. Potential future employers include: Government International Organisations (EU, UN, WTO, World Bank) Non-Government Organisations Not-for-profit sector Corporate Sector Tech industry Think tanks Potential roles include: Political Advisor Social Data Specialist Data Manager Chief Information Officer Social Science PhD candidate Show less

Courses (Preview)
Core Modules
POL40950 Introduction to Statistics (Autumn)
POL42340 Programming for Soc Scientists (Spring)
POL42350 Connected_Politics (Spring)

Core Option Modules - Select one
IS41210 Platform Governance (Spring)
IS41240 Social Networks Online&Offline (Spring)
POL42050 Quantitative Text Analysis (Spring)
SOC41070 SocThinking in the Digital Age (Spring)

Option Modules

Autumn
IS40840 Data & Society
POL40050 Theories of Internat.Relations
POL40140 Global Issues in Pol Theory
POL40950 Introduction to Statistics
POL40970 Politics European Governance
POL41020 Politics of Human Rights
POL41510 Middle East & North Africa
POL41650 Global Political Econ ofEurope
POL41800 Theories of Int'l Rels Stream2
POL41860 Governance, Pol, Dev 10cr
POL42040 Gender & the Political System
POL42440 Political Economy of Security

Spring
IS41210 Platform Governance
IS41240 Social Networks Online&Offline
POL40100 Politics of Development
POL40160 Comparative Public Policy
POL40370 International Political Econom
POL40540 Comparative European Politics
POL41030 Theory of Human Rights
POL41640 Qual Research Methods for Pol
POL41720 Gender, Peace, and Security
POL41780 The Politics of Inequality
POL41870 Pol Economy & Comparative Dev
POL41930 Psychology of Conflict in MENA
POL41980 Peace & Conflict Studies
POL42000 Political Theory and the EU
POL42050 Quantitative Text Analysis
POL42060 International Security
POL42340 Programming for Soc Scientists
POL42430 Social Theory & IR
SOC41070 SocThinking in the Digital Age

Please note, to be enrolled on POL42430 in Spring, students must have taken and passed either of the following two modules: POL41800 or POL40050.

Summer Trimester Core Module
POL42310 Thesis (30 credits)

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You will need to book the accommodation after you have been accepted.

You can choose to live on campus or off campus in private accommodation.

How to book:

• Make a booking online after you have been accepted (in this case please let us know your choice when you apply).
• Register when you arrive - its not possible to reserve a room before arriving. You can arrive a few days before and book it

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