A PIONEERING project offering students data science training for free is launching next month.

The University of Essex is offering data science training to a much wider range of students.

In what is thought to be a UK first, every Essex student will be offered the new Data Science for All course.

A Data Science Boot Camp is also being launched for masters students in the social sciences and humanities, both will have academic support.

Professor Natasha Lindstaedt, Essex’s deputy dean of education for social sciences, said: “We need students who have knowledge in a wide range of social science and humanities topics, but who can also work with data analytics to understand patterns and trends.

“There is a real disconnect between the people who can communicate well and the people that are good at data science and these two courses will bridge that gap.”

The ten-day Data Science for All online course is open to all Essex undergraduates who do not have a computer science background but want to improve their skills in data science.

The ten-day Data Science Boot Camp will offer added support for incoming masters students in the social sciences and humanities.