HDR TRIPODS: UIC Foundations of Data Science Institute

该项目创建了一个结合数学、统计学、计算机科学和工程等方面的合作研究机构，以研究伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校（UIC）数据科学的基础。该研究所将由三个部门合作：计算机科学（CS）、数学、统计和计算机科学（MSCS）以及电气和计算机工程（ECE）。该研究所将利用这三个部门的研究人员广泛的专业知识，使数据科学的理论基础更接近数据科学的实践。这包括研究理想化的数据模型，理解与这些理想化模型相关的固有计算限制，然后开发对现实不确定性模型具有鲁棒性的模型和方法。该研究所还将重点培训下一代研究人员，并将利用UIC的多样性，UIC是一所大型城市公共研究密集型大学，拥有该国最多样化的学生群体之一。该研究旨在通过加深对理想化模型的理解，以及围绕数据和计算的现实模型建立理论，推动数据科学理论的边界。本研究所的研究主题包括：1)数据的表示和结构；2)机器学习和复杂性；3)健壮性和隐私性。这些主题将有助于将数据科学的理论和应用联系起来，并为研究人员提供机会，汇集他们在理论计算机科学、数学科学和电气工程三个学科的专业知识。该研究所的具体活动将包括举办主题研究研讨会，在三个部门开发UIC数据科学课程，并通过与中西部大数据中心和发现合作伙伴研究所的伙伴关系促进区域和行业合作。该研究所的更广泛影响将包括将拟议的研究应用于实际数据科学问题，开发跨多个部门的跨学科数据科学课程，以及通过广泛招募来自UIC多元化社区的学生来学习数据科学，从而提高参与度，特别是代表性不足的群体的参与度。该项目是美国国家科学基金会“利用数据革命（HDR）大创意”活动的一部分。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project creates a collaborative research institute combining aspects of mathematics, statistics, computer science, and engineering to study the foundations of data science at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The institute will be a collaboration between three departments: Computer Science (CS), Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science (MSCS), and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). The institute will leverage the wide range of expertise among the investigators on this project in the three departments to bring the theoretical foundations of data science closer to the practice of data science. This involves studying idealized models of data, understanding inherent computational limits associated to these idealized models, and then developing models and methods that are robust to realistic models of uncertainty. The institute will also focus on training the next generation of researchers and will leverage the diversity of UIC, a large urban public research-intensive university with one of the most diverse student bodies in the country.The research aims to push the boundaries of the theory of data science by both gaining deeper understanding of idealized models and by building a theory around realistic models of data and computation. The themes pursued by this institute will include 1) the representation and structure of data; 2) machine learning and complexity; and 3) robustness and privacy. These themes will serve to link the theory and application of data science and to provide opportunities for the investigators to pool their expertise across the three disciplines of theoretical computer science, mathematical sciences, and electrical engineering. The specific activities of the research institute will include hosting themed research workshops, developing the UIC data science curriculum across the three departments, and fostering regional and industrial collaborations through partnerships with the Midwest Big Data Hub and the Discovery Partners Institute. Broader impacts of the institute will include applications of the proposed research to practical data science problems, the development of interdisciplinary data science courses spanning multiple departments, and increasing participation, especially of underrepresented groups, by broadly recruiting students from UIC's diverse community to study data science.This project is part of the National Science Foundation's Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR) Big Idea activity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.