Aligned with Singapore’s National Agenda to retrain mid-career staff through continuous and lifelong learning, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a Master of Science (MSc) in Applied Data Science (ADS). This degree is designed to upskill and re-skill Executive & Administrative (E&A) staff, enabling them to apply data science techniques to solve real-world workplace challenges. The initiative strategically develops internal talent, fostering a data-literate workforce that supports data-driven decision-making within existing workplace roles.

The open-funnel admission structure welcomes a diverse pool of E&A staff with various academic and professional backgrounds, encouraging interdisciplinary interactions in the classroom. It does not require applicants to hold a prior relevant or specific bachelor's degree. Instead, they are required to pass a gateway module to continue or progress further in their studies. Designed as a stackable degree, the programme offers multiple terminating options, allowing learners to complete Executive Certificates, Graduate Certificates and Graduate Diplomas before progressing to the full Master’s degree. This structure enables staff to either acquire specific skills for immediate workplace application and need, or to pursue the full degree when ready. Additionally, the stackable framework allows the curriculum to be customised for specific industries, ensuring its relevance to practitioners by addressing the unique needs and demands of their sectors.

The effectiveness of this flexible design is demonstrated by performance data showing that learners from diverse academic backgrounds, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM fields, achieve comparable outcomes. This evidences that the programme supports learners from different professional roles regardless of prior educational attainment, ensuring that all participants can succeed.

Most importantly, all the courses are tailored to adult learners, in blended learning format featuring bite-sized videos, interactive workshops and hands-on workplace projects to support practical learning and application. This modular design, combined with a more flexible study period than usual for the completion of the degree, accommodates the schedules of working professionals, allowing for progressive skill development without disrupting work-life balance.

The curriculum has been meticulously mapped to the Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) skills framework for data scientists, ensuring that learners acquire competencies aligned with industry demands and needs. By bridging the gap between what individuals are trained for and what the market requires, the Master’s equips learners with the skills necessary for career success. Each learner completes a final capstone project directly tied to workplace challenges, ensuring that acquired skills translate into practical, real-world workplace impact.

In summary, this paper highlights the innovative design and strategic intent and value of the NUS MSc in ADS, outlining its background, rationale and significant benefits. It shows how stackable credentials can be created in its curriculum design and specific skills can be acquired to meet industry and organisational needs in applied data science. This has been rolled out, implemented and tested in NUS to ensure our workforce remains relevant and is able to contribute to a data-driven organisational culture.

Keywords: Lifelong learning, applied data science, open-funnel admission, workplace application, blended learning, stackable credentials, curriculum design, andragogy, adult learning.