MSc Responsible Data Science Scholar: Sophie Taluy

From the Maths Bootcamp to her future, our MSc Responsible Data Science scholar Sophie Taluy gives an insight into student life in this newly-emerging field.

Responsible Data Science is a relatively new and developing field of study, what attracted you to apply to this programme? 

Mainly the career prospects as it is new and developing so I think the breadth of what you can make the course relate to is really vast and interesting. I have also always enjoyed maths so I liked the prospect of combining maths with law and challenging myself with the new skillset.

How will the scholarship help you? 

The scholarship has been really useful for paying my tuition fees, making it a lot easier for me to be able to cover my maintenance costs as the Student Finance on its own would not be enough. It also means that there is less pressure for me to work hours of my part-time job, so I can put more time into studying/things I enjoy.

How have you found the Maths Bootcamp? Do you feel more confident now about maths than before?

I really enjoyed the structure of maths bootcamp and that it added routine into my day which I’ve been able to apply to the first week of university. In terms of content, I think it made the topics that have been introduced seem less challenging at looking at maths we may not have seen before over the last few weeks. I think the bootcamp was really good for refreshing my maths knowledge from A-Level.

Is there a particular module you are looking forward to studying? 

I am particularly excited to study the law-based modules about how data can be regulated responsibly and see how the content this term has been applied. I am hoping to make full use of the postgraduate careers services and I am considering completing the Postgraduate Professional Development award.

What do you plan to do in the future once you graduate? Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years thanks to the programme?

I am still unsure of the exact career path I want to take but I am quite interested in looking into becoming a trademark/ intellectual property attorney so I think doing this masters would be really useful at improving my skillset. I would also be interesting at potentially looking into policy-making around the algorithms of data collection and social media as that is something I find really interesting, particularly as I think there should be more accountability about how data is used to influence people’s decisions when using social media programmes.

Is there any advice you would give someone considering applying to the MSc Responsible Data Science degree?

Look at some example data science courses and see if it is something that interests you, as it is very different from law and the first term is purely data science. Be prepared for a challenge but remind yourself what interested you in the first place to do it and give it a go!