IBM Data Science Professional Certificate
Beginner 110 hours English Professional CertificateFREE
Editor's Pick
The most comprehensive beginner-friendly data science path. 10 courses, real IBM tools, no prior experience needed.
What you'll learn
Use Python, SQL, and Jupyter for data work
Clean, analyse and visualise data with pandas and matplotlib
Build ML models with scikit-learn
Work with relational databases using SQL
Tell a data story with dashboards in Cognos and IBM tools
Complete a capstone using real-world data
Earn an IBM digital badge alongside the certificate
This course includes
110h
On-demand video
200+
Readings
40+
Hands-on labs
30+
Graded quizzes
Yes
Certificate + badge
Comparison · LBS
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Syllabus· 6 courses · 20+ lessons
- Defining data science and the data scientist role
- Topics and algorithms in data science
- Day in the life of a data scientist
- Languages: Python, R, SQL, Scala
- Jupyter Notebooks and JupyterLab
- Git and GitHub basics
- IBM Watson Studio
- Python basics: types, expressions, variables
- Working with data in Python (lists, dicts)
- Working with NumPy arrays
- APIs, web scraping, and working with files
- Basic SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY
- Joins and subqueries
- Accessing databases from Python
- Importing and cleaning data
- Exploratory data analysis with pandas
- Model development and evaluation
- Regression, classification, clustering
- Recommender systems
- Applied data science capstone
Instructor
IB
IBM Skills Network Team
IBM Skills Network · Data Science instructors
7.5M learners90+ courses 4.6 instructor rating
The IBM Skills Network has trained millions of learners across Coursera and edX. This Professional Certificate is built and maintained by IBM data scientists including Romeo Kienzler, Joseph Santarcangelo and Aije Egwaikhide, drawing on IBM's real-world consulting experience.
Requirements
- No prior experience required
- A computer with internet access
- Free IBM Cloud account (provided)
- Roughly 4–6 hours per week for 6–11 months
Who this course is for
- Career switchers entering data science
- Recent graduates building a job-ready portfolio
- Analysts moving into more technical roles
- Anyone who wants an IBM-branded credential
About this provider
C
Coursera
University-backed online learning platform · 142M learners · 7,000+ courses
4.6 trust score·Refund within 14 days
Frequently asked questions
IBM goes deeper on Python and machine learning; Google focuses on spreadsheets, SQL and Tableau. Pick IBM if you want to become a data scientist; pick Google if you want a data analyst role.
Yes — IBM digital badges are recognised on LinkedIn and verifiable via Credly. They are not equivalent to a degree but they are a credible resume signal for entry-level roles.
IBM says 11 months at 4 hours/week. Most full-time learners finish in 3–4 months. The capstone alone takes 10–15 hours.
Yes — every course in the certificate is enrollable on its own and earns its own Coursera completion certificate.
Audit all 10 courses for free. You lose graded labs and the IBM badge but keep 100% of the lecture content. Combine with Kaggle's free micro-courses for hands-on practice.