Harvard launches sweeping data science initiative
A statistician and a computer scientist have been named co-leaders of Harvard’s new Data Science Initiative, the Harvard University Office of the Vice Provost for Research announced today. A University-wide program that will aid cross-disciplinary collaboration, the initiative will be led by Francesca Dominici, professor of biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and David C. Parkes, George F. Colony Professor and area dean for computer science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “With its diversity of disciplines, Harvard has access to large data sets that record a staggering array of phenomena,” said Provost Alan Garber. “Researchers in our Schools of medicine, public health, business, law, arts and sciences, government, education, and engineering are already gaining deep insights from their analyses of large data sets. This initiative will connect research efforts across the University in this emerging field. It will facilitate cross-fertilization in...