Data Scientist
📊Finds patterns in large datasets and builds models: which customers will leave, what price to set, where fraud is. Answers business questions with numbers.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 +34.6% jobs by 2035 · 24,800 openings a year
Data Scientists — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £53.2k median a year · 40,000 jobs
Actuaries, economists and statisticians — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AutoML and AI agents build standard models on their own. Needed: people who frame problems well, know statistics and stop AI from drawing false conclusions.
Who it suits
Interests: 📐 Maths and data, 💻 Coding and digital, 💰 Finance and economics.
Key strengths: maths, logic.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BSc Mathematics / Statistics / Computer Science
- Master's MSc Data Science / Statistics
- PhD PhD in a quantitative field (some senior roles)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science.
🧗 A degree in Maths, Statistics or Computer Science, often followed by a master’s in Data Science (1 year in the UK). Many come from physics, economics and other quantitative fields.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- University of Cambridge Cambridge · €33.4k–81.1k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (ESAT, TMUA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; plus college fee £12–14.5k/yr - University of Oxford Oxford · €43k–72.2k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (MAT, PAT, TSA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; medicine takes ≤14 international students/yr - University of Warwick Coventry · €33.6k–42.9k/yr
Attestat alone not enough: foundation or A-levels/IB; IELTS 6.5–7.0; maths requires STEP/TMUA; 2027/28 fees £29.3–37.3k
🇺🇸 United States
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA · €58k/yr
SAT/ACT required; TOEFL 90+ (100 rec.) / IELTS 7; own application (not Common App); need-blind for internationals, full need met - Princeton University Princeton, NJ · €59.6k–61.9k/yr
TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers; SAT/ACT recommended, required from fall 2028 entry; need-blind, full need in grants - Harvard University Cambridge, MA · €54.1k/yr
SAT/ACT required; English test optional; aid for internationals on the same terms (need-blind), full need met
🇩🇪 Germany
- University of Bonn Bonn · free
No tuition (only ≈ €300 semester fee); German DSH-2 (C1), DSH-1 for Economics and English Studies; DSH prep course from B1 - Technical University of Munich Munich · €4k–6k/yr
Non-EU: €2,000-3,000/semester (€2,300-3,400 from 2027/28); German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); aptitude assessment (EfV): grades, test, interview - Heidelberg University Heidelberg · €3k/yr
Non-EU: €1,500 a semester (Baden-Württemberg); German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); medicine: non-EU quota, selection by grades *
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Utrecht University Utrecht · €13.4k–17.1k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; IELTS ≈ 6.5; veterinary medicine (225 places) and medicine are numerus fixus, apply by 15 January - Leiden University Leiden · €14.3k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; IELTS 6.0–7.0 by programme (International Studies 6.0, LUC 7.0); medicine is numerus fixus - University of Amsterdam Amsterdam · €17.5k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year (Diploma finder); IELTS 6.5 (PPLE 7.0); medicine is Dutch-taught, numerus fixus, €34,700
🇫🇷 France
- École Normale Supérieure – PSL Paris
No entry from school: concours after 2 years of CPGE or international selection at master level * - Université Paris-Saclay Orsay · €200–2.9k/yr
Licence in French: DAP, B2 (TCF DAP/DELF B2); in 2026/27 non-EU partly exempted, pay €178 - Sorbonne University Paris · €200–2.9k/yr
DAP, French B2; medicine via PASS/LAS with selection into year 2; waiver of €2,902 under university criteria
🇮🇹 Italy
- Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa
Competitive exam: 2 written + 2 oral tests, results only; free board and lodging; students also enrol at the University of Pisa - University of Pisa Pisa · €1.2k–2.9k/yr
12 school years; Italian B2 (English B2 for English programmes); TOLC/programme test; fee by country group €1,160–2,900 - University of Milan Milan · €1.1k–4.3k/yr
12 school years; Italian B2 (English B2 for English programmes); programme tests; income abroad: fixed fee by country group
🇪🇸 Spain
- Complutense University of Madrid Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Spanish B2 required (DELE/SIELE/CCEE); homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay 4th-attempt rate - University of Barcelona Barcelona · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; many classes in Catalan; non-EU €30/ECTS * - Autonomous University of Madrid Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay ≈ 7× more (e.g. €6,823 vs €1,015)
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Charles University Prague · free
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams, ÚJOP course); English programmes €40–30,620/yr - Masaryk University Brno · €0–16k/yr
Free in Czech; English €2,700–7,500/yr (Informatics €4,500), Medicine CZK 380,000; Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams - Czech Technical University in Prague Prague · €0–5.1k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech B2, maths); English-taught CZK 55,000–64,000 per semester
Things to know
🪑 Sitting at a computer all day
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