Learn about research careers and experience the joy of doing data science research!
This program consists of weekly meetings/seminars, two workshops, a mini research project, and a 9-week research rotation. You will get to see what research involves, what it's like to be a data science researcher, and what research career options are available in this field!
Research areas: Data science is a very broad term that captures many different kinds of problems and research. Indeed, you can see this in the wide range of diverse research areas CDS faculty work on! We cannot hope to cover all these areas in our first offering of this program. Instead, students will choose a research rotation in one of these areas:
Data systems
Security & privacy
ML theory and methods
Applied ML and statistics
AI for science
Computer vision and LLMs
Environmental data science
We plan to expand the program to include other areas in future years.
Faculty Mentors:
Who can apply and pre-requisites: This program specifically targets CDS juniors, although we will consider strong sophomores as well. To be eligible, students must have taken DS 310, 121, and 122, and have either taken or are currently enrolled in DS 320.
How do I apply: If you meet the above criteria, please fill the following Google form! You will need to provide your transcript, a one page cover letter, and answer some brief questions about your research interests. The application deadline is Thursday, January 22nd, 2026 at 11:55PM.
Meeting times, location, and activities planned: Our weekly sessions are on Wednesdays 6-7:45PM @ CDS 364. In these sessions, we will work on research problems together. attend research talks, and have Q&A sessions, panels, and workshops.
This includes research talks by CDS faculty to explore the research and labs available at CDS, two panels with undergraduate researchers and with CDS PhD students to get some tips on good research habits and a behind-the-scenes look at what graduate study in data science looks like. We will also have a graduate school application workshop for those who may be interested.
We will conclude the program with a research symposium or poster session, where each group describes their research problem, solution, and results.
Schedule: you can find our tentative schedule at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Q2DTtxKF0PPh9eNdEqXaTaw3Q4Dk7Fk1hw-WfptLN5E/edit?usp=sharing
Research rotation and project: Participants will be paired with a faculty mentor who will help guide them through a 9-weeks long research project. There are multiple project options, depending on the area of interest and experience level of each student. These include literature reviews, replications of prior work, apprenticeships with existing research projects at CDS, or new independent research projects.
Participants will meet with mentors on at least a bi-weekly basis and may join lab meetings and other events.
Time commitment: The program spans the duration of the Spring 2026 semester. We expect our sessions, mentors meetings, and research project work to take a minimum of 8-10 hours per week.
We expect every student to miss no more than one session throughout the semester, be on time for their meetings with their research mentors, and dedicate time each week to work on their research projects. Seats in this program are limited and we expect participants to be serious and motivated. If you foresee not being able to meet these expectations, please refrain from taking a seat from someone else who is able to. If in doubt, please reach out to Kinan.
After the program: Interested students who meet the program expectations may continue working with their mentors or formally join their lab after the program. Alternatively, the instructor can recommend and match such students with other faculty members and labs at CDS in their research area of choice.
The instructor is also happy to recommend and assist such students in PhD applications in data science or related fields, if they are interested. Furthermore, the program will prepare students to pursue more research and R&D-oriented roles in industry if they so wish.
To meet expectations, participants must show a serious commitment during the program and demonstrate good progress in their rotations.
Contact: if you have questions, please reach out to Kinan.