REU Site: Civic Data Science

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

The Georgia Tech Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) on Civic Data Science is a 10-week immersive research experience for undergraduate students interested in contributing to the developing field of data science in areas of civic importance, such as public safety and services, transportation, sustainability and democratic participation. The 10-week course will mix formal technical training through a skills bootcamp and weekly group learning sessions presented by academic and industry practitioners working across the diverse practices that make up data science. The REU experience will expand the students' understanding of research and research process by placing students in teams that include other students at a similar level of research maturity as well as with graduate students who are further along in the transition from new to independent researcher. This exposure will inform students' future choices about potential career paths within academia as well as within industrial settings where the skills that compose data science are in increasing demand. Within a larger social context, by structuring the program's research activities around civic data science problems, it is expected that the products of the summer program to have near-term impact on partnering local, government and non-profit organizations, and long-term impact on the students by demonstrating opportunities to put technical skill to work in areas of civic importance. Each year the program will recruit 10 outstanding undergraduates both locally and nationally with diverse academic and cultural backgrounds. The focus of the REU site is on the data, analytics, and user interaction aspects of data science in a domain that has not traditionally benefited from advances in computing - the civic sector. While civic applications of data science are diverse, they share common themes: they are frequently place-based, they deal with data coming from siloed collection systems, they involve inherently incomplete and inaccurate data, and they produce information and insights for use by non-data experts in government, in community governance organizations, and by community members. These themes will provide coherence for the intellectual endeavors of the REU Site cohort. Students will work in teams comprised of at least one graduate student and at least two undergraduate students, mentored closely by a faculty member. The program culminates with a poster, demo, and reception showcase that is open to the public and held at an off-campus venue. The final event is meant to showcase the students' work and to connect them to the larger data science community (in Atlanta and elsewhere).