Bachelor of Science in Data Science

Program Description

Data is the oil of future. Writing efficient algorithms that extracts useful insights and knowledge from the sheer volume of heterogeneous data is demand of the current market. The focus of bachelor’s degree in data science is to equip students to transform data into actionable insights for complex business decisions. The degree of data science will strengthen the theoretical, mathematical, statistical and programming background of students and will polish their skills with practical hands-on business problems and data-driven solutions. The data science degree covers ETL and all phases of the data science process including data understanding, cleaning, preprocessing, exploration, modeling and implementation.

Why Study at PAF IAST?

Location and Ambience

Natural mountains nestle PAF IAST that flank its campus from all sides. The institute offers one  ravishing view of snow-capped peaks of Nathiagali and natural winding trails. Furthermore, to its north-west is Tarbela Lake, a journey of only a few kilometers from the campus. Moreover, set in the middle of the campus is a natural lake, fed by the springs of surrounding mountains. The campus is just a 3-kilometer drive from the Hazara Motorway. This results in an ideal setting equally conducive to academic activity. Most importantly, major cities like Islamabad, Abbottabad, are just an hour’s drive, while small towns like Wah, Hasanabadal, Taxila, and Swabi can be reached in just half an hour. 

Technology Advancement and Foreign Partnership

This institute is an emerging center of excellences, with its own technology park. Therefore, all faculty members hold PhD degrees in appropriate disciplines. By virtue of its wide array of facilities and the facilitation for its students to learn. Furthermore, they benefit both from classroom teaching and faculty trained at premier Austrian universities/institutions. The institution is ideally cut out for imparting state-of–the-art engineering and allied education in Pakistan. Moreover, the institute enjoys close linkages with top ranking universities in Austria and China. As a result, we have already concluded with them formal agreements regarding student and faculty exchange programs, provision of dual degrees in certain areas, and the training support from foreign faculty. 

Academia-Industry Relationship

There is a strong relationship between academia and industry. As a result, this paves the way for job opportunities for students even in the midst of their studies. PAF IAST will serve as a welcome platform for the industry to share their requirements for a skilled workforce. Therefore, this will enable the institute to incorporate their valuable inputs in practical vocational training and expose the students to industrial perspectives.

On-Spot Industry Internship

Firstly, it will be a mandatory requirement for every student to do an internship every semester in an appropriate industry. Secondly, this will garner them practical experience related to their respective degree programs. To crown it all, Technology Park will afford them rare opportunities to apply themselves innovatively and become promising entrepreneurs.

Need and Merit-based Scholarships

Different types of local and foreign scholarship opportunities are available on need and merit base.

Associated Careers

Data Science is the emerging field of IT and Computer Science which in not limited to only one skill, but it is an integration of multiple theoretical, technological and practical areas. That is why Harvard Business Review declared Data Scientist as the in-demand job of the 21st century. Data Science is applied in different domains of industries and their related data, so every industry needs the skilled people of data science. Some associated data science careers are: Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Business Analyst, Big Data Engineer, Solutions Architect, Big Data Developer, Data Analyst, Big Data Architect, Database Administrator, Machine Learning Engineer, Data Visualization Architect, and Algorithm Engineer.

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Data Scientist

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Big Data Engineer

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Big Data Developer

Data Visualization Architect

BSDS Course Curriculum

Intake F21(onward)

Semester 1

Code Course Title Credit Hours Labs Total
COMP-102 Introduction to ICT 2   2
COMP-102L Introduction to ICT Lab   1 1
COMP-111 Programming Fundamentals 3   3
COMP-111L Programming Fundamentals Lab   1 1
MGT-262 Entrepreneurship (University Elective-II) 3   3
SS-331 Community Service (University Elective-I)*     0
COMP-121 Discrete Structures 3   3
SS-112 Pakistan Studies 2   2

Semester 2

Code Course Title Credit Hours Labs Total
COMP-112 Object Oriented Programming 3   3
COMP-112L Object Oriented Programming Lab   1 1
PHY-101 Applied Physics 3   3
PHY-101L Applied Physics Lab   1 1
SS-103 English Language and Communication Skills 3   3
SS-111 Islamic Studies 2   2
MTH-101 Calculus and Analytical Geometry 3   3
MTH-206 Probability and Statistics 3   3
  Total Credit Hours 17 2 19

Semester 3

Code Course Title Credit Hours Labs Total
COMP-201 Data Structures and Algorithms 3   3
COMP-201L Data Structures and Algorithms Lab   1 1
COMP-340 Artificial Intelligence 3   3
COMP-340L Artificial Intelligence Lab   1 1
COMP-234 Introduction to Data Science 2   2
COMP-234L Introduction to Data Science Lab   1 1
MTH-207 Applied Statistics 3   3
MTH-204 Linear Algebra 3   3
  Total Credit Hours 14 3 17

Semester 4

Code Course Title Credit Hours Labs Total
COMP-262 Operating Systems  3   3
COMP-262L Operating Systems Lab   1 1
MTH-### Inferential Statistics 3   3
SS-203 Technical and Business Writing 3   3
COMP-231 Database Systems 3   3
COMP-231L Database Systems Lab   1 1
COMP-344 Nature inspired Computing 3   3
  Total Credit Hours 15 2 17

Semester 5

Code Course Title Credit Hours Labs  
COMP-342 Digital Image Processing 3   3
COMP-342L Digital Image Processing Lab   1 1
MTH-203 Differential Equations 3   3
COMP-222 Design and Analysis of Algorithms  3   3
COMP-332 Data Mining 2   2
COMP-332L Data Mining Lab   1 1
COMP-331 Data Warehousing 2   2
COMP-331L Data Warehousing Lab   1 1
COMP-### DS Elective-1 3   3
  Total Credit Hours 16 3 19

Semester 6

Code Course Title Credit Hours Labs  
COMP-432 Big Data Analytics 2   2
COMP-432L Big Data Analytics Lab   1 1
COMP-433 Data Visualization 2   2
COMP-433L Data Visualization Lab   1 1
COMP-### DS Elective-2 3   3
COMP-### DS Elective-3 3   3
COMP-352 Computer Networks 3   3
COMP-352L Computer Networks Lab   1 1
  Total Credit Hours 13 3 16

Semester 7

Code Course Title Credit Hours Labs  
COMP-### DS Elective-4 3   3
COMP-498 Final Year Project I   3 3
COMP-171 Software Engineering 3   3
MGT-356 Intellectual Property Law (University Elective-III) 3   3
COMP-291 Information Security 3   3
COMP-460 Parallel and Distributed Computing  2   2
COMP-460L Parallel and Distributed Computing Lab   1 1
  Total Credit Hours 14 4 18

Semester 8

Code Course Title Credit Hours Labs  
COMP-499 Final Year Project II   3 3
SS-220 Organizational Behavior (University Elective-II) 3   3
COMP-### DS Elective-5 3   3
SS-310 Professional Ethics 3   3
  Total Credit Hours 9 3 12