Data science, the study of obtaining value from data, is a fastemerging and distinctive field. It is driven by experts in several domains, computer scientists and statisticians who create and use increasingly sophisticated languages, tools, and methodologies that enable datadriven decision making and problem solving. This diverse set of applications and tools, driven by domainoriented challenges of our increasingly datacentric world, can often be translated and adapted for use in other fields, such as astronomy and astrophysics, economics, public policy, and cancer research.

In a way that is distinctive to the University of Chicago’s rigorous academic culture, researchers across the University not only develop new tools and techniques in their respective domains, they also consider the theoretical underpinnings of each new approach. This creates a natural ecosystem in which applications are developed across fields while simultaneously establishing a strong theoretical foundation for data science as a discipline, resulting in an accurate and theoretically sound basis for developing and translating existing and new applications.

Related Faculty

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Aloni Cohen

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Data Science
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Nick Feamster

Neubauer Professor, Department of Computer Science
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Alex Kale

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science
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Chenhao Tan

Assistant Professor, Departments of Computer Science and Data Science
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Rebecca Willett

Professor, Departments of Computer Science and Statistics
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Haifeng Xu

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science


Founded in 2021, the Data Science Institute (DSI) executes the University of Chicago’s bold, innovative vision of Data Science as a new discipline. The DSI seeds research on the interdisciplinary frontiers of this emerging field, forms partnerships with industry, government, and social impact organizations, and supports holistic data science education.

The Data Science Institute partners with the UChicago Department of Computer Science and the UChicago Department of Statistics, and is co-located with UChicago CS in the John Crerar Library Building. But the scope of DSI stretches beyond these departments, facilitating research partnerships and programming for all UChicago divisions, departments, and schools. DSI is also part of an ambitious, multi-year expansion of computer and data science efforts at the University of Chicago.

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UChicago CS NewsDec 02, 2021

UChicago Workshop Highlights Internet Frontiers and Opportunities

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UChicago CS NewsNov 02, 2021

Using AI and Data Science to Reliably Detect Internet Censorship in Real Time

Data Science Research, Outreach, and Education

The Data Science Institute funds ambitious research initiatives, creates programs for high school and undergraduate students, and oversees the new UChicago data science major and advanced degree programs.
UChicago CS NewsApr 09, 2021

DSI Discovery Challenge Awardees Train Data Science on Medicine, Clean Water, and Education

UChicago CS NewsJul 13, 2021

Largest-Ever DSI Summer Lab Adds 55 Students, New Social Impact Track

UChicago CS NewsAug 29, 2021

New College Data Science Major: From Foundations to Insight to Impact

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Michael Franklin

Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor
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Alex Kale

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science
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David Uminsky

Senior Research Associate, Department of Computer Science
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Haifeng Xu

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science

Data Science News & Events

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Past Event

Alan Ritter (Georgia Tech)- Towards Cost Efficient Use of Pre-trained Models

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Dr. Arman Shehabi (LBNL)- Revisiting Data Center Energy-Use Estimates: The fact, fiction, and future of data center energy use

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UChicago CS News

UChicago Undergrad Analyzes Machine Learning Models Used By CPD, Uncovers Lack of Transparency About Data Usage

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UChicago CS News

UChicago Assistant Professor Raul Castro Fernandez Receives 2023 ACM SIGMOD Test-of-Time Award

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UChicago CS News

Mike Franklin, Dan Nicolae Receive 2023 Arthur L. Kelly Faculty Prize

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UChicago CS News

PhD Student Kevin Bryson Receives NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to Create Equitable Algorithmic Data Tools

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The University of Chicago and Caltech Conference on AI+Science

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UChicago CS News

Assistant Professor Chenhao Tan Receives Sloan Research Fellowship

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Past Event

Tian Li (CMU) – Scalable and Trustworthy Learning in Heterogeneous Networks

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Saadia Gabriel (U. of Washington) – Socially Responsible and Factual Reasoning for Equitable AI Systems

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Ari Holtzman (U. of Washington) – Controlling Large Language Models: Generating (Useful) Text from Models We Don’t Fully Understand

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Michael Kim (UC Berkeley) – Foundations for Responsible Machine Learning

Explore Research Highlights