Data Science at Osnabrück University

Central idea

As an interdisciplinary field of science, data science deals with the central challenges of our time. The processing, preparation and analysis of large amounts of data as well as applications of the results are increasingly permeating science, business and society. Statements on and applications of big data, deep learning, information systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and closely related areas/disciplines are highly topical issues in science and everyday life, which are associated with great innovation potential for solutions to central questions of the present and future.

At Osnabrück University, topics related to data science are very prominently represented in many ways in research, teaching and technology transfer. In particular, the university's working groups directly involved in the AI Campus, the scientists working in statistics and the non-university research areas of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Osnabrück University are intensively discussing issues in the field of data science. The Research Center currently focuses on computer science, cognition and mathematical/statistical approaches in the field of data science. However, the Research Center is designed to be thematically open, as must be the case in such a dynamically developing field, and other scientists interested in data science are also invited to get involved in the future.

The guiding principle of the Research Center is the networking of members in research and teaching from the various working groups and schools on the topic of data science.

Topics and goals

The central goal of the Research Center is to structurally anchor data science as a key technology at Osnabrück University. The focus of the work is currently on the development and use of computer science, cognitive and mathematical/statistical methods to answer central questions of data science and closely related fields. In particular, the Research Center Data Science offers a platform for joint exchange on current topics and issues in research and teaching.

Short and medium-term goals are

  • Establishing the Research Center - in particular also as part of the university's AI campus.
  • Identification and processing of joint research activities on Research Center topics.
  • Coordination and organization of university-wide activities on data science and related topics.
  • Providing information on the work and offerings of the Research Center.
  • Identification of existing courses in the field of data science, which can be made available to interested students across departments with the appropriate subject requirements.
  • Offers for the supervision of working group or interdisciplinary theses.
  • Raising awareness of the topics of data analysis and data management and providing relevant information in this regard.

Medium and long-term goals are

  • Further development and expansion of the Research Center's internal and external activities described above.
  • Identification of potential for joint structural development of courses on the topic of data science.
  • Identification and implementation of joint research and collaborative projects.