Course details

Summary

The Postgraduate Diploma in Science (PGDipSci) is an opportunity for Bachelor of Science graduates to advance their qualifications.

Subject description

Statistics is important for anyone who wants to be able to look critically at numerical information and not be easily misled. It is important for anyone who has problems to solve, problems they won't be able to solve until they find out a little more about the world and how it operates - from finding ways to make a business more profitable right through to improving living standards and fighting cancer.

Investigation - asking questions, designing ways to collect data to answer those questions, collecting data, making sense of what that data says to produce sensible answers - this is the subject matter of statisticians and a set of general life-skills.

We live in an Information Age. Computers allow us to collect and store information in quantities that previously would not even have been dreamed of. But raw, undigested data stored on computer disks are useless until human beings can start to make sense of them. Statistics is the human side of the computer revolution, an information science, the art and science of extracting meaning form seemingly incomprehensible data. Statistics applies to almost any field. This is why some training in statistics can help make you more effective in almost any career.

Our recent graduates have found employment in industry, research institutes, medical research teams, government departments, market research companies, insurance companies, investment banks, and in universities. For many of these jobs, a postgraduate degree has been essential.

Requirements:

• 15 points from STATS 779, 782 or equivalent
• At least 75 points from STATS 701-787, BIOINF 704, POPLHLTH 702, 707-709, 711
• Up to 30 points from 700 level courses in Statistics or related subjects, as approved by the Head of Department

Career opportunities

The sheer diversity of applications of statistics makes it exciting. In one week, a practising statistician could help to investigate a case of disputed authorship, design an experiment to evaluate the effects of a new treatment for a disease, analyse a set of data gathered by an ecologist, and help a freight carrier to study his or her work processes to find ways of making the company more profitable.

One of the more interesting applications of statistics which leads to employment is Operations Research. This involves the development of ways of managing large systems. This may involve cost minimisation or modelling and forecasting, and be applied to such fields as inventory control, scheduling problems, production planning or faming such as bids for contracts or political campaigns. It may deal with issues such as reliability of equipment, location problems, or how to service customers to best advantage.

Statisticians are found in all branches of Government and commerce, particularly those students who opt to do a conjoint degree with Commerce. Other avenues are in product testing, market research and advertising.

Where could this programme take you?

Because science plays a vital role in addressing the key issues that confront us and future generations, studying the sciences opens up a wide range of career opportunities.

Further study options

• Master of Science
• Master of Speech Language Therapy Practice
• Master of Bioscience Enterprise
• Doctor of Philosophy
• Doctor of Clinical Psychology

Entry criteria

The prerequisite is a major in Statistics, or equivalent as approved by the Head of Department.

English language requirements: IELTS 6.5; TOEFL (iBT) 90; TOEFL (paper-based) 575; CAE or CPE 176; PTE 58; MELAB 85.