Data Lab, Scotland's recently-established national data innovation centre, has launched its first academic course: a master's programme in data science which aims to equip students with the practical skills they will need when they start work in the fast-emerging field of big data and data analytics.

The programme, which has received funding for 40 student places from the Scottish Funding Council, is being run by the Edinburgh-based Data Lab - which launched in October last year - in partnership with data companies, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and the universities of Dundee and Stirling.

Brian Hills, who left the travel price comparison site Skyscanner to take up the post of Head of Product Management with Data Lab in February, said that the new masters' programme was created to address a global shortage of talent in the fast-emerging field of data science.

"A key focus of the masters' programme will be industrial engagement through workshops and projects with industry and public sector participation," he said. "We want to use this relationship to retain talent within Scotland."

Hills said the Data Lab is now looking at the possibility of launching a five-year doctoral programmes, but no date has yet been set.

During the one-year full-time or two-year part-time masters' courses, which will get underway in the autumn, students will either carry out an industrial placement or carry out research projects in companies.

The Data Lab, which is backed with £11.3 million of public funds, brings to together businesses, academia and the public sector and aims to help Scotland exploit the commercial potential of data analytics and big data which, it is estimated, will see the creation of 58,000 jobs in the UK in the six years to 2017 and will benefit the national economy by £216 billion.

The potential benefit to Scottish companies, most of them expected to be small to medium-sized businesses in the fields of digital technology, energy and utilities, financial services, healthcare and public services sectors, is put at £17 billion by the consultancy firm Optimat.

A recent study by The Tech Partnership and SAS UK found that the number of data science jobs in the UK rose by 41 per cent between 2012 and 2013 and estimates that by 2020 there will be around 56,000 job opportunities a year for data science professionals in the UK alone.

The report also found that there are serious skills shortages in data science at the moment, with recruiters reporting that 77 per cent of data science positions are difficult to fill with suitably skilled and qualified candidates. As a result, these shortages are driving up salaries, with data science professionals now earning an average of £55,000, more than 30 per cent more than other IT professionals.