08/30/2021

New College data science major: From foundations to insight to impact

UChicago students

Data science is more than a hot tech buzzword or a fashionable career; in the century to come, it will be an essential toolset in almost any field.

Tomorrow’s data scientists will need to combine a deep understanding of the field’s theoretical and mathematical foundations, computational techniques and how to work across organizations and disciplines.

Through the new undergraduate major in data science available in the 2021-22 academic year, University of Chicago College students will learn how to analyze data and apply it to critical real-world problems in medicine, public policy, the social and physical sciences, and many other domains. Students can select data science as their primary program of study, or combine the interdisciplinary field with a second major.

The new major is part of the University of Chicago Data Science Initiative, a coordinated, campus-wide plan to expand education, research, and outreach in this fast-growing field.

“It all starts with the University of Chicago vision for data science as an emerging new discipline, which will be reflected in the educational experience,” said Michael J. Franklin, Liew Family Chairman of Computer Science and senior advisor to the Provost for computing and data science. “We are expanding upon the conventional view of data science—a combination of statistics, computer science and domain expertise—to build out the foundations of the field, consider its ethical and societal implications and communicate its discoveries to make the most powerful and positive real-world impact.”

Click here to read the full story. 

(Photo by Colin Lyons)

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