Penn Engineering Launches New Master’s Degree in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence - engineering.upenn.edu

Penn Engineering Launches New Master’s Degree in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Academics, In the News, Students, Uncategorized / September 15, 2026 Share: Author: Melissa Pappas The new MSE in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) brings together two rapidly evolving fields to prepare students to build, analyze and responsibly apply intelligent systems across disciplines. Applications for Fall 2027 open September 15. Data has transformed how researchers, businesses, governments and organizations understand the world. Now, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming what they can do with that data. Penn Engineering is bringing these two fields together with the new Master of Science in Engineering (MSE) in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (DSAI), an on-campus, technically grounded graduate program designed to prepare students to work at the intersection of data, computation and intelligence. The new degree recognizes that data science and AI are increasingly interconnected and that meaningful advances in both fields depend on understanding the relationship between data, computational methods and intelligent systems. “This program brings together rigorous data science foundations, modern AI advances and a systems perspective that recognizes how these areas shape one another in practice,” says Linh Phan, Professor in Computer and Information Science (CIS) and co-director of the MSE-DSAI program. “Students can develop deep expertise in individual areas while also learning to move across traditional disciplinary boundaries and understand how data, algorithms, models and systems influence one another when solving complex problems.” That interdisciplinary approach builds on work that has long been taking place across Penn Engineering. “Penn has been doing this type of work for years,” says Susan Davidson, Weiss Professor in CIS and co-director of the MSE-DSAI program. “The beauty of the program is that it builds on Penn’s interdisciplinary strengths and prepares students for a wide range of data-centric careers, whether in technology and engineering, consulting, science, policymaking or understanding patterns in literature, art or communications.” Preparing Students for What Comes Next The convergence of data science and AI is reshaping fields ranging from scientific research and health care to business, public policy and technology. As organizations increasingly rely on computational systems to analyze information, generate insights and support decisions, professionals need more than familiarity with individual tools. They need a strong understanding of the principles underlying those systems and the ability to apply them thoughtfully in different contexts. The MSE in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence is designed to provide that foundation. “Students learn both the principles and hands-on techniques for building reliable, scalable systems in this degree,” says Phan. “By confronting challenges like scale, failures and performance trade-offs firsthand, they develop the systems intuition to understand not only how complex infrastructure works, but why particular designs succeed and where they can break down.” “In addition to learning the foundations of data science (statistics, machine learning and algorithms), students can choose from a broad variety of topics in which Penn excels, such as natural language processing, databases, trustworthy AI, healthcare AI, robotics and generative models,” adds Davidson. “The DSAI degree is the only on-campus degree program where students focus not just on how to collect, transform and reason over data, but how to build systems that actively participate in decision making, creativity and discovery.” Applications for Fall 2027 open September 15, 2026. Prospective students can learn more about the MSE in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence and the application process through Penn Engineering’s graduate admissions resources. Read More Reaching for the stars: Using light to sail through space