Data Science Fellowships

Each partnering campus will organize and support an annual cohort of highly motivated students by engaging them in data science education and outreach activities outside of their normally required coursework. Fellows receive a stipend, paid directly from the NSF HDR grant. We are targeting current sophomores and juniors and aim for a diverse and inclusive cohort. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or permanent residents. We are committed to promoting diversity in all areas of data science. Women, underrepresented minorities, and individuals from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds are especially encouraged to apply.

Application Materials

• Statement of Interest (2 page, double-spaced)
• CV / Resume
• Unofficial Transcripts
• Letter of Recommendation (1 or 2, depending on your school)

UC Santa Barbara

Fall quarter: Unless they've already taken it, students will enroll in the Data Science Capstone course. This course will introduce the necessary methods for succeeding in a large, collaborative project. The course will also study a number of case studies in “ethics in Data Science.” A major theme will be correctly interpreting, explaining, and communicating the results of analyses.

Winter and Spring quarters: Students will continue with a  capstone project. 

Committees: Fellows rotate through committees that will assist in curriculum development or teaching: designing new materials, texts or lab activities; developing “connector” courses; gathering data for capstone projects; serving as an undergraduate tutor in one of the introductory data science courses.

Outreach activities: Each data science scholar will also be expected to engage in some amount of outreach activities, such as: visiting a local high school to talk about the data science profession and data science education, possibly through office hours or tutorial sessions; organizing / participating in data science hackathons to build prototype solutions for a target group such as the local government, a non-profit, or even other departments on campus.

End-of-year event: We will hold a celebratory end-of-year event where data science scholars will present their activities and accomplishments over the year and network with students, faculty and visitors from the community and industry.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Seminar series: Every quarter we will teach a one-unit data science seminar course (DATA 472, currently being proposed) which data science scholars will be required to attend. The topic of the seminar will be chosen based on student interests but will generally cover concepts and issues outside of the DATA curriculum, such as: current research trends, challenges in modern data science including ethical issues, and current and proposed practices in the data science field. The seminar will consist mainly of readings and discussions, with occasional presentations by outside speakers.

Projects: Each data science scholar will be paired with a faculty member and will engage in an independent or team-based data science project for the year. The scope of the project is open and could consist of anything data science related, such as: helping to prepare new DATA course materials, texts or lab activities; developing DATA “connector” courses with other faculty across campus; applying data science methods to solve a domain-specific problem of interest; or research-level work targeting academic publication.

Outreach activities: Each data science scholar will also be expected to engage in some amount of outreach activities, such as the following: visiting a local high school to talk about the data science profession and data science education at Cal Poly; training students, faculty and community members on basic data science/data literacy methods, possibly through office hours or tutorial sessions; organizing / participating in data science hackathons to build prototype solutions for a target group such as the local government, a non-profit, or even other departments on campus.

End-of-year event: We will hold a celebratory end-of-year event where data science scholars will present their activities and accomplishments over the year and network with students, faculty and visitors from the community and industry.

SBCC and CSUSB

Students will participate in an 8-week immersive experience at UC Santa Barbara. Fellows will join a lab and work on an on-going research project. Funds from the NSF grant will be used to cover participants' lodging at UCSB as well as provide participant stipends to cover subsistence ($3,000 minimum).