University College Dublin
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MSc Politics and Data Science
Members of the group teach on the MSc Politics and Data Science at University College Dublin.
The programme examines how generative AI and large language models are changing the study of political discourse, public opinion, and policy-making, and it treats the ethical and societal implications of these technologies as central rather than optional. Students work in R and Python, apply computational methods to pressing questions in politics and society, and carry out original research in the group-based Connected_Politics module and in a dissertation or an internship.
Two streams accommodate different backgrounds. Students from the social sciences move from foundational data science methods towards machine learning, quantitative text analysis, and the ethics of AI in politics. Students with a technical background take political science research design and theory alongside applied data science.
Graduates have gone on to the Central Bank of Ireland, EirGrid, Coimisiún na Meán, and the European Food Safety Authority; to consultancies including Accenture, Deloitte, and BearingPoint; to research organisations such as Dataminr and RED C; and to PhD programmes at Northwestern University, Trinity College Dublin, and UCD.