As one of the three academic units in the Interdisciplinary Schools at Old Dominion University, School of Data Science is a new initiative that focuses on educating students in the rapidly growing field of data science, conducting cutting-edge research and serving as a center of AI education and research in the University community. Since its establishment in spring 2023, the school has grown to include ten core faculty members and over 80 affiliated faculty members across the campus.
The School of Data Science has an interdisciplinary focus, drawing knowledge and expertise from different disciplines in sciences, business, engineering. Combined with data-centric perspectives on data ethics, data governance and effective communication, the unique curriculum provides students with flexibility pathways to be successful in future careers. The broad collaborative research between School of Data Science faculty with external partners provide students with real-world experience through internships, research collaborations, and industry projects.
The School of Data Science harbors unique collaborations with federally funded research facilities in the Hampton Roads (HR) region. Its main collaboration partners include:
Jefferson Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory. It is the home to a unique particle accelerator, known as the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), which is one world’s most advanced accelerators for nuclear physics research. Jefferson Lab is also an active partner of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a revolutionary tool for exploring the fundamental structure of matter, which is currently in planning and development phase. In 2023, U.S. Department of Energy has announced the selection of Jefferson Lab as the lead for its new High Performance Data Facility (HPDF) Hub. The HPDF will be a $300-500 million computing and data infrastructure resource that will provide transformational capabilities for data analysis, networking and storage for the nation’s research enterprise. HPDF will be a cornerstone of DOE’s Integrated Research Infrastructure (IRI) program, which focuses on the seamless integration of scientific facilities, data management and computing to power scientific discovery. The facility will, for the first time, provide researchers with resources for harnessing these datasets and meeting the need for dynamic and scalable data management infrastructure.
NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC is the oldest NASA center, employs more than 3,400 people, with its core mission as "works to make revolutionary improvements to aviation, expand understanding of Earth's atmosphere and develop technology for space exploration.". Among its organizations, the Atmospheric Science Date Center (ASDC) with Science Directorate supports over 60 projects and provides access to more than 1000 archived collections. These data sets were created from satellite measurements, field experiments, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric composition.
Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium (HRBRC) was founded in 2020 as a state-sponsored initiative to address health disparities, jumpstart scientific research, and develop a robust bio-health vertical in Hampton Roads. It is a dynamic, community-based research collaborative to address challenges in community health and health equity, as well as to drive economic strength in Eastern Virginia.
