University of Auckland

Data science facilitates new approaches to longstanding problems in healthcare, policy, ecology and economy.  But to make the most effective use of it, we need analytical methods that are straightforward to apply, open to review and audit, and produce results that can be correctly interpreted by practicing researchers and policymakers.  Furthermore, we need methods that discover, gather and integrate potentially useful data with minimal human intervention, and ensure that the most suitable analysis methods are used with such data.  Finally we need to empower a whole generation of researchers, across all fields, to use these new methods in robust and defensible ways.

Our team comprises researchers from the Universities of Auckland, Otago, Canterbury and Massey. In it, computer scientists and statisticians will work alongside domain scientists in fields such as computational biology, ecology and public health.  Over the next seven years, we will improve the application of data science methods in complex research settings, make processing more efficient, and create transparent and computationally-reproducible workflows that are published, open and easily reused.  We will commit the majority of our budget to training and equipping the doctoral and post-doctoral researchers who will go on to successfully apply data science methods to making improvements to our environment, economy and society.