Astronomy and Data Science
Structure of the programme
This two-year programme focuses on the big-data aspects of both astronomy as a data-rich science and computer science. It prepares as much for a career in astronomy as in computer science, for careers in research as well as outside research, in academia or elsewhere in society. It consists of advanced Astronomy courses, two research projects in Astronomy, and selected courses from the Computer Science master's programme. This specialisation is offered by Leiden Observatory in collaboration with the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Sciences (LIACS). Students who want to follow this specialisation must be proficient in programming, in particular in the Python language.
Programme (120 EC)
EC | Level | |
---|---|---|
Mandatory Astronomy Course | ||
Modern Astrostatistics | 3 | 500 |
Electives | ||
Astronomy Core Courses, at least | 18 | 500 |
Instrumentation-related Astronomy Courses, at least | 3-6 | 400-500 |
Astronomy Courses of any type | 9-12 | 400-500 |
At least 4 of the following Astronomy and Computer Science Courses: | ||
Computational Astrophysics | 6 | 500 |
Numerical Recipes in Astrophysics | 6 | 500 |
Databases and Data Mining | 6 | 500 |
Advances in Data Mining | 6 | 500 |
Neural Networks | 6 | 500 |
Reinforcement Learning | 6 | 500 |
Research Projects | ||
First Research Project | 30 | 500 |
Master's Research Project | 30 | 600 |
Master Study Plan
At the start of the master’s programme, students are required to draw up the Master Study Plan: a complete list of planned courses and projects for two subsequent academic years in consultation with the Study Advisor Astronomy. To select courses, consult the course list for academic year 2018-2019 (see below) and the preliminary course list for academic year 2019-2020.
Learn more
For more information on the specific requirements of this specialisation, see the appendix of the Course and Examination Regulations.