Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Statistics

Earn a Postgraduate credential and build skills for a career in applied statistics and quantitative analytics.

In this Postgraduate credential program, you will learn the statistical tools and concepts necessary to make data-driven decisions and advance your career in the fields of applied statistics and quantitative analytics. The program—which leverages expertise used by the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) to train the Indian Statistical Service officers—emphasizes the use of real-world data, including data from governments and international organizations that are available in the public domain. To begin with, you will gain the necessary background for collection, visualization, and analysis of these data for solving real problems. As you advance through the program, you will gain job-ready applied skills and develop experience with in-demand statistical data analysis tools in popular coding platforms like Python and R. You can also acquire skills needed to build, maintain, interpret and improve official databases useful for policy making.

What makes this diploma special?

The most unique feature of this program is that it is built around official data systems. It gives a 360 degree view of how such systems are built and used. Another singular aspect is the emphasis on rigor and concepts with minimally sufficient level of mathematics, so that the program is accessible to beginners. Assignments with real data is a third notable feature

In addition to mastering foundational statistics, economics, and computing skills, you’ll have the opportunity to choose between two concentrations: Official Statistics and Data Analytics. With the Official Statistics concentration, you’ll focus on the data collection and organization that lie in the back end of the public databases used for policy making. In the Data Analytics concentration, you’ll focus on the statistical methods and toolsets needed to visualize and analyze data effectively. The opportunity to tailor your studies will enable you to develop specialized skills and align your learning journey with your career goals.

Learn from a premiere Indian institution

This program is offered by the Indian Statistical Institute, which is funded by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation of the Government of India. The regular and guest faculty members, apart from their teaching and research activities, are regularly engaged in the training of officers of the Indian Statistical Service, who go on to become custodians as well as users of the statistical system in India. You will have the opportunity to learn from experts who handle large data sets to facilitate policy decisions. The participants in the class, on the other hand, are selected on the basis of their basic mathematical ability (mostly algebra and calculus) and have interest in statistical databases. Some of them may be students or researchers in social science or management, while others are likely to be working professionals, including policy consultants, looking for an opportunity to improve their capabilities. Some of them may be current or potential producers and users of official data.