December 2022 concluded the 15-month journey of students in the master of software engineering (MSWE) and master of data science (MDS) programs. The two professional programs, offered by the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) at UC Irvine, culminate in a capstone project, ensuring students graduate with hands-on, real-world experience. For some, this meant helping a robot learn to dance; for others, it meant applying data analytics to support the health of newborn babies.

“Capstone projects play an integral role in the academic development of students pursuing a graduate degree,” says MDS Program Director Bryan Muñoz. “The capstones also benefit the sponsoring companies, allowing them to preview emerging talent from the School of ICS.”

[Read more…]

UCI’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) has launched a Master of Data Science (MDS) Veterans Scholarship for military-connected students. This scholarship – which supports active-duty military, reservists, National Guard and veterans by covering up to 50% of program fees – is the first of its kind in ICS and across the University of California system.

[Read more…]

UCI’s Master of Data Science (MDS) professional graduate program launched one year ago, and it’s already considered to be one of the top master’s degree programs in data science in the nation. As the growing demand for data science exceeds the supply of practitioners, the Master of Data Science (MDS) will launch a part-time program in fall 2023 to grow its pool of candidates. The part-time program will be a great option for those who are transitioning in their careers or who are looking to level up their technical skills.

[Read more…]

“Data scientist” and “statistician” are among the top 10 jobs in 2022, according to U.S. News & World Report. The growing popularity of data-focused careers has created a demand for students who understand the immense challenges and real-world impact of complex data analysis. This demand is the backdrop for the SoCal Data Science program, a collaborative effort between faculty from UCI, California State University Fullerton (CSUF) and Cypress College aimed at recruiting, training and dispatching a diverse workforce of STEM and data science majors.

[Read more…]

From July 11 through August 19, 2022, twenty-three students from around the U.S. came to UCI for the newly launched Irvine Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Undergraduate Data Science (ISI-BUDS). The institute is part of the Summer Institute in Biostatistics program offered through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). This year, UCI became only the 10th university in the nation to host this free, six-week summer training course aimed at addressing the growing need for biostatisticians and data scientists.

[Read more…]

Professors from the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) are teaming up with researchers from UCI’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) on a new five-year multi-PI grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The $1.87 million grant, “Statistical Methods for Alzheimer’s Research,” is co-led by Chancellor’s Professor Bin Nan in Statistics (contact principal investigator) and Chancellor’s Professor and Statistics Department Chair Daniel Gillen. The work is a collaborative effort with ADRC Clinical Core Director David Sultzer and ADRC 90+ Core Director Maria Corrada-Bravo, both grant co-investigators.

[Read more…]

UCI launched its Master of Data Science (MDS) professional graduate program in the fall of 2021 to meet the growing demand for data scientists. This year, Fortune launched its first-ever ranking of the top in-person master’s degree programs in data science, noting that “data science is one of the fastest growing fields today, and one of the best ways to break into the field is to pursue a master’s degree in the field.”

Fortune ranked UCI’s MDS program, which is offered through the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), seventh on its list of 28 schools. UCI is the only UC school, and one of only a few universities from the West Coast, to make it on the 2022 list, which ranked data science programs based on selectivity and demand.

[Read more…]

The German National Science Foundation (DFG) has awarded Stephan Mandt, an associate professor of computer science and statistics in UCI’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), its prestigious Mercator Fellowship. The fellowship recognizes international scholars and seeks to integrate them into large-scale research efforts at German universities to foster the international exchange of knowledge. As a Mercator Fellow, Mandt will be integrated into a multimillion dollar initiative at the University of Kaiserslautern, focused on advancing machine learning methodology in chemical engineering.

[Read more…]

On July 1, 2022, Daniel Gillen, chair of the Department of Statistics in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), was named a Chancellor’s Professor. The title recognizes faculty who have achieved acclaim for their accomplishments and who are highly likely to continue producing notable achievement in scholarship.

[Read more…]