Why get a Northwestern Certificate?
Northwestern’s Graduate School offers certificates to help connect doctoral students across various departments and programs. Earning a certificate not only formally recognizes a student’s focus on and achievement in a particular topic area, but helps form a cohort of students and faculty interested in particular interdisciplinary areas. Certificates typically require five course for completion; the certificate will appear on your transcript.

Why get a certificate in Data Science?
Data Science is an emerging field that requires specialized training, but simultaneously connects very different fields, such as business management and the medical sciences, to astrophysics and Earth science. The major types of Northwestern Data Science Certificates cross these boundaries, but with different areas of focus; Data Science Certificates give both a strong background in detailed techniques, where necessary, and a broad overview in the variety of techniques appropriate to each domain.

IDEAS Integrated Data Science (IDS) Certificate: The IDEAS program focuses on Big Data challenges in the physical sciences, including such topics as data mining & model building, fundamental statistical methods & hypothesis testing, and detailed parallel programming techniques.

Interested in completing the IDS Certificate?

Participating in the entirety of IDEAS is not necessary to complete only the IDS Graduate Certificate, but if you fill out this form to alert us to your interest we will be able to help ensure you are able to fulfill the necessary requirements for the IDS Certificate.

Completed the IDS Certificate requirements?
In order to petition to have a Graduate Certificate awarded and appear on the transcript, students must submit the Application for a Graduate Certificate once all Graduate Certificate requirements have been completed, but no later than the time that the student files for graduation (in the final quarter of study). Each course counting toward the Graduate Certificate must be listed. The Application for Graduate Certificate requires approval by the Certificate Program Director and, for students also pursuing a PhD or Master’s, the Director of Graduate Study (DGS) of the degree program.