The DS3 Initiative Brings the Power of Data Science to NYU
The world has officially caught on to the power of data. But in order to harness that power, you need someone who knows how to harness it. Enter DS3. The “Data Science and Software Services” initiative is a pilot program run by the Center for Data Science in conjunction with the NYU Libraries, NYU IT Research Technology, and the PRIISM Center. It’s a service that aims to provide data science and software expertise to NYU faculty research projects that need it.
The initiative began its pilot this spring with a call for proposals from Principal Investigators across the university. From that initial pool of proposals, the DS3 team selected 12 projects to undertake for the Spring 2020 semester. What remained was to find a way to match the DS3 student data scientists with the faculty projects. The solution was a sort of “job fair” that allowed the data scientists to learn more about the projects being undertaken, while also giving a chance for the P.I.s to get to know their potential consultants and the DS3 team. The DS3 team then took feedback from the P.I.s on their favorite student candidates and, after making sure there are no conflicts, assigned the student data scientists to the 12 projects. DS3 also assigned a senior data science from the DS3 team to supervise their work.
Once CDS data scientists begin working on their assigned project they provide insights into data analysis and software development, while the P.I.s and research team bring domain knowledge. The results of this partnership are wide-ranging from, advising researchers on data analysis or creating the infrastructure for researchers to handle data. As an example of the work they could do for others, DS3 created the DS3 Workbench, an infrastructure that allows them to better serve their customers. By collecting data from Customer, Admin and Worker UIs, the workbench allows the DS3 team to easily execute projects from the initial proposal, through the student matchmaking process, and all the way through project completion. The workbench even gives notifications to researchers on potential grant opportunities for their projects!
DS3’s Spring portfolio of projects wraps up this week with the end of the Spring semester. But the launch of the Summer portfolio is just around the corner. DS3 selected 8 projects to take on over the summer term and more projects are already slated for the Fall. A complete list of the projects from the Spring, as well as for the Summer and Fall can be found on DS3’s webpage.
DS3 is now accepting proposals on a rolling basis if you have a project you’d like to submit for consideration, you can send a message briefly describing your project and data science needs to ds3@nyu.edu.
