Diversifying data science

Loyola University Chicago is helping increase diversity in data science thanks to a new two-year, $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation that will fund undergraduate student-focused programs and initiatives. 

“Expanding access to data science education and hands-on application for students—especially underrepresented students—aligns with our commitment to empowering a diverse community of difference-makers,” says Michael Behnam, dean of Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business. 

To help engage students across Loyola, Quinlan will partner with Loyola’s Institute for Racial Justice, School of Environmental Sustainability, and Department of Radiation Oncology, as well as Loyola Medicine’s Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center.  

Expanding data science education 

The grant is part of the National Science Foundation’s efforts to expand data science education to more universities and to broader groups of students. At Loyola, the grant will fund efforts to engage and educate undergraduate students in foundational data science concepts and techniques related to artificial intelligence.  

A cornerstone of Loyola’s efforts will be research internships for undergraduate students. Student researchers will be mentored by faculty as they learn research methods and work toward publishing and presenting their original research at conferences. For their research, students will work with corporate partners on computational projects analyzing real-world datasets and with researchers tackling issues related to artificial intelligence.  

The grant also will help fund data science workshops for students, provide support for the development of a new minor in artificial intelligence, and expand access to an Introduction to Applied AI course. 

“Understanding data is a critically important business skill and will open many career opportunities for our students,” says Steven Keith Platt, executive lecturer and director of Quinlan’s Lab for Applied Artificial Intelligence, who is leading the efforts funded by the National Science Foundation grant. 

Joining IDEAL 

Loyola also will become the sixth partner site of the Institute for Data, Econometrics, Algorithms, and Learning (IDEAL). The more than 60 industry-leading researchers currently engaged with IDEAL come from five partner organizations: the University of Illinois Chicago, Northwestern University, Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, University of Chicago, and Illinois Institute of Technology. Members of the Learning Theory team at Google also partner with IDEAL. 

“We are excited that Loyola received the NSF funding to join the institute,” says Lev Reyzin, the incoming director of IDEAL. “This will allow IDEAL to reach even more students in the Chicago area and expand its offerings.” 

Loyola students will be able to attend IDEAL workshops and conferences on topics related to data science and its application in business, law, healthcare, ethics, sustainability, and other areas. 

“We anticipate that students will be more excited about working in the data science field when they understand its real-world relevance and make connections that could lead to career opportunities,” says Platt, who is leading the efforts funded by National Science Foundation grant. “We’re also pleased to collaborate with the partner organizations and extend the collective impact of the institute.” 

Looking to the future 

At the end of the two-year grant, Loyola will evaluate the success of its efforts and contribute to best practices around how to broaden student engagement with data science.  

“This grant is a large win for Loyola students and for data science,” says Quinlan’s dean, Michael Behnam. “Bringing diverse voices and thinking to the data science field will accelerate both opportunity and innovation.” 

Learn more 

• Lab for Applied Artificial Intelligence 

• Institute for Data, Econometrics, Algorithms, and Learning (IDEAL)