Educational Programs Master of Science
Applied Urban Science
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DegreeMaster of Science in Applied Urban Science and Informatics

LengthOne Year program designed for full time students

Class size60 students approximately

Credits30 credits

Start DateFall 2013

An Extraordinary Opportunity

Apply technical skills to solve some of the world’s most important challenges

The goal of the MS in Applied Urban Science and Informatics program is to provide you with the ability to use large-scale data, from a variety of sources, to understand and address real-world challenges in the urban context. As a graduate of the MS program, you will have the following knowledge and competencies:

  • The ability to identify, define, collect, analyze, and communicate relevant data from diverse sources (tabular, web, sensors, etc.)
  • A depth of knowledge in a particular urban domain, such as energy, buildings, transportation, etc., and in a discipline, including visualization, decision models and optimization, simulation and computational methods
  • An understanding of urban science and urban informatics and their relationship to the operation and development of cities
  • An ability to identify and assess problems, evaluate data needs and analytical approaches to problem-solving, and develop solutions in real-world, multiple-constraint contexts
  • The ability to utilize large-scale data to better understand city functions
  • Direct, hands-on experience working in high-intensity, real-world environments with industry and agency partners
  • The ability to manage and lead complex processes of technology innovation and deployment
  • Leadership skills for your chosen career path in an entrepreneurial venture or existing organization

If your background is in mathematics, science, or engineering, the MS in Applied Urban Science and Informatics will provide you with the opportunity to engage in the interdisciplinary study of urban science and informatics and to apply your technical skills to urban problems.

The one-year, three-semester, 30-credit MS program provides core courses in urban science, urban informatics, and information and communication technology in cities. You will have the opportunity to select from multiple urban domains and informatics disciplines to gain breadth and depth in the application of big data analytics to urban problems.

The program also contains a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation leadership, and you are given the option to study technology entrepreneurship or change leadership in an existing organization.

Additionally, you will complete the Urban Science Intensive. The Intensive will place you in a multidisciplinary environment with a specific city agency and industry partner to work on a project that addresses an actual, current urban challenge in a particular domain. The project may be within larger, ongoing research efforts involving city agencies and CUSP industry partners, a self-contained effort involving agencies and corporations, or entrepreneurial in focus and content.

 

What Makes the Program Special?

Seven elements are at the heart of why this program is unlike any other.

 

Discipline Specialization

Select an informatics discipline that will guide your applied work in the program. Discipline specializations are targeted at building skills for data acquisition and management, integration, and analysis in a number of subfields.

Domain Specialization

Choose to specialize in one urban domain (transportation and mobility; buildings and the built environment; public health, security, and emergency response; or environmental sustainability) that will serve as the basis for your Urban Science Intensive project.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Leadership Specialization

You’ll have the option to specialize in either change leadership and organizational behavior or entrepreneurship and new venture creation. These skills are critical for successfully applying your degree to real world situations.

City Challenge Program

A week-long cohort-building program and immersion in the dynamics of New York City agencies, city operations, and the CUSP intellectual community. You’ll attend the City Challenge in August before you start your first full semester.

CUSP Partnerships

CUSP is an extraordinary consortium of public and private partners – leading institutions of higher learning, leaders in the tech industry, and leaders in public service — that individually rank among the most prominent in their sectors, but together form an unsurpassed whole. As a student in the program, you will have unprecedented access to mentors, projects, and faculty from our distinguished partners.

The Urban Science Intensive

An experiential, two-semester project in which you’ll work as part of a multidisciplinary team to solve a real-world urban problem faced by a city agency or industry partner. You’ll identify, evaluate, collect, and analyze data, formulate and test solutions, and finally devise a strategy to implement and deploy your selected solution.

CUSP Research

The principal scope of CUSP’s research is urban informatics — the collection, integration, and analysis of data to understand and improve urban systems and quality of life. You’ll be in close contact with CUSP researchers who will be building an instrumented city that will yield data for researchers and students to collect, analyze, and interpret in order to improve the everyday lives of New Yorkers and the long-term health and efficiency of New York City and cities around the globe.

Who Should Apply to the Program?

If you have an undergraduate or master’s degree in science, mathematics, or engineering, along with the aptitude and inspiration to apply your quantitative and mathematics skills to the betterment of urban life, you should consider CUSP’s MS in Applied Urban Science and Informatics program.

Your academic and professional experience need not be in a field directly linked to cities and urban issues. It is more important that you can demonstrate rigorous prior academic training and a passion for applying analytical skills to problem-solving in an urban context.

We seek talented students who are looking for a new challenge. We intend to bring together students with diverse technical skills who want to make a difference in how people live and improve quality of life in cities.

If you have any questions about your eligibility and qualifications, please contact us.

Career Prospects

Firms are increasingly looking for data scientists and analytics experts to unlock the potential of their data. CUSP’s MS in Applied Urban Science and Informatics degree will prepare you to work for a range of such private firms and public sector agencies, particularly those represented by CUSP industry and agency partners, in positions ranging from urban data scientist to management and leadership roles. Internship, fellowship, and mentorship programs during your time in the MS program will help you shape your career goals and give you an opportunity to secure post-graduation employment.
If your interests are in entrepreneurship, you will have opportunities to develop the skills to manage and create new ventures, and to foster innovation in the urban information and technology sectors. The program’s emphasis is on bridging theory and practice to learn how to transform ideas into new market opportunities and start-up ventures. To this end, entrepreneurial-minded students will have unique access to NYU’s incubators, the New York City venture capital community, and experts in starting and growing tech companies.