A note from the DSI Director, Sohini Ramachandran:

In the past year, DSI has supported and stimulated cutting-edge data science researchers across campus. We have brought thought leaders in data science and AI to engage with the Brown University community. Next year, one of our goals is to showcase the breadth of career opportunities available to students with data science and data fluency skills, via our alumni and professional networks.

As an Institute, DSI is excited to continue offering data science academic programs for graduate and undergraduate students, building a community for data science research at Brown, providing training in data science tools and techniques to researchers at all levels and across a range of disciplines, and reaching out beyond Brown with the goal of ensuring that the data revolution benefits those most in need in our society.

This year, DSI graduates included: 

• 45 Data Science Master’s students (including 4 Open Graduate students, who are PhD students that complete the master’s degree as part of their PhD studies) 
• 12 Computational Biology Bachelor's degrees (5 with Honors)
• 42 Undergraduate Certificates in Data Fluency, awarded to students in 12 different concentrations 
• 14 of our past Undergraduate Data Science Fellows

In addition to the Undergraduate and Master’s programs at DSI, PhD students in other departments are affiliated with DSI and its centers through their faculty advisors. Eight such DSI-affiliated PhD students in Computational Biology and Computer Science graduated this year.

DSI’s Research Centers

DSI’s two interdisciplinary research centers, the Center for Computational Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign (CNTR),  engage faculty in multiple departments across campus, along with postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students. 

The Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign (CNTR), led by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, was officially launched when DSI became an Institute in 2023. CNTR engages graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs, and faculty across campus in a variety of research projects involving both technical and policy dimensions of automated decision-making (AI). CNTR affiliates include 2 core faculty and 3 affiliated faculty, 2 postdocs, 4 graduate students, and 8 undergraduate researchers, and 2 staff scientists.

CNTR current research projects include the following, with more information on CNTR’s upcoming website:

• Legislative Mapping
• Sociotechnical Evaluation of LLMs
• Genetic Data Governance
• Evaluating ML Models
• Technology Law and Policy

The Center for Computational Molecular Biology continues to thrive, celebrating 20 years in 2023. CCMB houses 14 core faculty members and 20 affiliated faculty, 8 affiliated postdocs, and 27 PhD students with 6 matriculating this fall. CCMB recently announced a new Director, Emilia Huerta-Sanchez.

This year, CCMB’s Predoctoral Training Program in Biological Data Science (T32) was renewed for 5 years, supporting 6 doctoral students in fall 2024. This T32 program focuses on developing scientific dual citizens who build quantitative methods for analyzing large-scale datasets and whose research is motivated by biological systems.

DSI Seed Grants

DSI continues to make internal grants to Brown researchers and educators for data science projects. 

In 2024, we received more grant proposals than ever before, and were able to fund nine projects for a total of $283,287. These projects range from health-related research in biomedical sciences to computational particle physics to digitizing local and ancient anthropological sites. DSI announced the 2024 grants at a poster session and reception for the 2023 grantees.

DSI Events and Programs

DSI hosted events and programs to connect data science researchers, teach data science skills, and engage students, including the following:

• December 2023 public talk with Brian Christian ‘06, an author and computer scientist known for his books on the important humanistic questions generated by data and data science. The event was open to the entire Brown community and held in Martinos Auditorium at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts.
• Weekly Data Science, Computing, and Visualization (DSCoV) workshops in collaboration with the Center for Computation and Visualization (CCV) focused on building technical skills for researchers. 
• CCMB Seminar Series hosting outside speakers who give research talks, providing opportunities for our faculty and students to connect with external computational biologists. 
• “Data & Donuts”, organized monthly by the Data Science undergraduate group (DUG), with members from many departments, welcoming faculty from different departments to share their data science research with students in an informal setting. 
• “Industry Talks” for our Master’s students to make industry connections and hear from professionals on what careers in data science look like in a variety of fields. 
• A Provost Lecture Series Conversations on AI and our data-driven society, in partnership with DSI, featuring faculty from multiple disciplines discuss how AI impacts and stimulates research and teaching at Brown.