KARACHI: The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi has announced the launch of Masters in Data Science programme commencing in August 2020, which comprises four semesters with a total of 30 credit hours.

The MS leading to PhD programme will allow students to opt for a thesis alongside their coursework.

The programme, designed by the Faculty of Computer Science, is aimed at helping students with non-computer science background as well and foundation-level courses will be of fered to enable students to come at par with their peers.

The academic studies coupled with experiential learning will prepare students in the field of machine learning, statistics and big data analytics.

Chairperson, department of computer science, Dr Shakeel Khoja, elaborated that the programme offered clear understanding in areas of statistical modelling, management of massive data sets, data visualization, software engineering and data ethics.

`The programme prepares students to extract valuable insights from data, and offers rigorous training to handle problems of big data,` said Dr Khoja.

Executive director, IBA, Dr S. Akbar Zaidi said, `The advancement in artificial intelligence, communications and robotics across the globe has led to the high demand of data scientists.

Dr Zaidi highlighted that this market-driven programme would set a new benchmark for other universities. The admission to various programmes for Fall 2020 is currently open.

Financialreliefplan The IBA Karachi has announced relief measures and initiatives for students against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The steps are taken in line with the government of Sindh`s recommendations.

For the coming academic year 2020-21, the IBA has increased its financial assistance budget by 25 per cent to meet the needs of students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This will cover around 30pc of full-time students under IBA financial assistance programmes, including scholarship awards ranging from 25pc to 100pc of the fee, depending on the assessed need level.

IBA`s financial assistance programme is now budgeted at Rs380 million for FY 2020-21.

A need-based evaluation criterion now accommodates Covid-19 affected students as well as provides relief in the form of need-based scholarships awards in a range of 25pc to 100pc.

All semesters, including the summer semester, are now covered for awarding need-based scholarships. In the past, scholarships were provided for regular semesters only.