CAMBRIDGE, England, April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

CEG Digital, the flexible learning division of global education provider Cambridge Education Group (CEG), is proud to announce a new partnership with the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton, a world top-100 university,^[1] to deliver a suite of short online courses, initially in the area of Data Science.

The courses are designed to address the demands of our increasingly data-driven world, helping ambitious individuals around the world to master the powerful tools of Data Science: business and data analysts, marketers, engineers, developers, economists, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, designers, and nascent data scientists.

The initial Foundations of Data Science course will welcome its first intake in the autumn, followed by specialised options in the areas of Data Science for Marketing, Finance and Healthcare launching in 2017. The application process will be highly selective to ensure each participant is fully prepared for the demands of the course.

Delivered part-time and wholly online over four weeks via Instructure's state-of-the-art Canvas learning management system, the courses will enable participants to study with world-class professionals and leading academics to secure the real world skills they need to succeed in these highly competitive fields. Supplementary workshops will provide opportunities to meet with fellow participants, tutors and teachers, and to present their work to potential employers. Fees will be competitive with current face-to-face and online options; corporate rates will also be available.

The University of Southampton is ranked in the top 1% of universities in the world and its Web Science Institute is the home to a uniquely rich network of experts in Computer Science, Web Science, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Health Science, Social Science, Economics and Business. As a result of the WSI's pioneering work in Data Science, our expertise is transforming the way that data are collected, integrated and converted into knowledge and evidence, informing decision making in business, industry and government sectors. We are founding partners of the UK's Open Data Institute in Tech City, set up to lead UK businesses in exploiting data. The WSI's current training programme has reached many tens of thousands of people through its MOOCs in Web Science, Linked Data, and the Power of Social Media, and its highly regarded University-level Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral programmes provide an excellent career grounding in the digital and information economy.

Dr Elena Simperl, CPD Course Director, WSI Associate Professor and Scientific Director of the European Data Science Academy, explains:

"Data Science is a critical competence for our economy. Our new series of short professional courses is an integral and essential part of our training portfolio, alongside our postgraduate degrees. With these new online courses, we reach out to decision makers, business analysts, IT developers, and other groups of practitioners interested in learning about some of the most promising technologies and application domains in data science, including digital marketing, finances, and healthcare."  

Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Director of the Web Science Institute says:

"I am very excited about working with CEG Digital on these new on-line courses in Data Science. The future of education is on-line and this partnership will enable the WSI to develop and deliver state of the art Data Science courses that are available to busy professionals wherever they are based."  

CEG Digital and the Web Science Institute are working in partnership to develop, market and deliver the world leading courses to students in the UK and worldwide. Geoff Webster, Managing Director of CEG Digital, said:

"We are very proud to be partnering with the University of Southampton to deliver short professional courses in the area of Data Science. We believe there is enormous demand for high quality professionally focused courses in this area and we are excited to be working with the world-leading academics at Southampton. We believe this will be a very attractive proposition for professionals, companies and entrepreneurs, in the UK and around the world." 

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1. QS World University Rankings 2015/16

SOURCE Cambridge Education Group