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When it comes to tackling social problems and fueling business, experts agree that data鈥攖he vast volume of data that the digital world generates鈥攊ncreasingly is indispensable, a resource that scholars, business leaders, and consumers have only begun to tap.

In response a new field has emerged, called data science. It鈥檚 the creation and application of new methods for collecting, curating, analyzing, and making discoveries from large-scale data, in areas such as energy and the environment, economics and politics, health care, and marketing. The areas of application are only limited, really, by data scientists鈥� imaginations.

This spring, the inaugural crop of students in Rochester鈥檚 new data science programs鈥攁t the undergraduate and master鈥檚 degree levels鈥攁re completing their first year of study at the Goergen Institute for Data Science, a program of the Schools of Arts & Sciences. Some are completing their degrees, having finished a year of graduate study or having gotten started early by taking prerequisites for an undergraduate degree. Others are just beginning. But what unites them all is an enthusiasm for discovering ways to make the most of information.

鈥淲e want to teach the students the fundamentals鈥攃omputer science and statistics鈥攁nd then let them explore some of the applications in different areas. That鈥檚 what I think is unique,鈥� says Henry Kautz 鈥�87 (PhD), the Robin and Tim Wentworth Director of the Goergen Institute for Data Science and a professor of computer science. He notes that programs emerging at other schools are often more specialized鈥攄edicated to business analytics or health analytics, for example鈥攂ut that the Rochester program provides a strong foundation for every area of focus.

Having a degree in data science 鈥渢ells employers that these are people with a broad range of skills on the statistics side and the computer science side. They鈥檙e highly in demand,鈥� he says.

That鈥檚 something to which Greg Munves 鈥�04 can attest. He鈥檚 president and chief operating officer of 1010data, a New York鈥揵ased company dedicated to big-data discovery and data sharing. 鈥淵ou need folks with Renaissance skills,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o instead of searching through people deep in computer science but with a little statistics or math, now you get people who have just the right amount of proficiency in each of those disciplines.鈥�

Two of this year鈥檚 graduates are headed to 1010data. 鈥淔or the size company we are, we have a disproportionate number of U of R alumni involved,鈥� says Munves. 鈥淲ith the advent of the data science program, it鈥檚 become even more relevant for us to look to U of R for good talent.鈥�

And once the program was launched last fall, students voted with their feet. Original predictions for the program鈥檚 first year were for five graduate and 12 undergraduate students. Instead, year one brought 26 and 30 enrollees, respectively. And those numbers could double next year, says Kautz.

The long-term goal for the master鈥檚 degree program is 50 students鈥攖he number for which the lab space was designed. For the undergraduates, there is no ceiling.

鈥淲e鈥檒l grow the program as much as the students demand,鈥� Kautz says.