Photo by Erik Jepsen, UCSD Communications. Composition by Ben Tolo, SDSC Communications.
UC San Diego has taken a bold step to meet the growing demand for skills in artificial intelligence and data science. The university’s new School of Computing, Information, and Data Sciences (SCIDS) unites the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI), positioning the university at the forefront of transformative research in these fields.
Established as an interdisciplinary hub, SCIDS aims to address some of today’s most pressing challenges—from climate change to public health. The school is designed not just to foster technical skills but also to encourage the responsible use of data-driven insights to improve society.
“UC San Diego’s new School of Computing, Information and Data Sciences (SCIDS) meets a critical need in modern society to transform data into actionable knowledge across disciplines to advance data science and AI education. This effort requires attracting, training and cultivating talented researchers, staff and students at all levels across the university,” says the new school’s website.
“SCIDS meets a critical need in modern society to transform data into actionable knowledge,” SCIDS Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla said in a recent article by UC San Diego Today. “Computing and data literacy are key to meeting the needs of students and the state of California, advancing critical research areas like the future of artificial intelligence and bolstering the university’s mission of public service.”
San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego. Image courtesy of SDSC Communications
Integrating Foundational Institutions
SCIDS integrates the foundational strengths of its partner institutions, SDSC and HDSI. Founded in 1985, SDSC is a pioneering force in supercomputing and HPC research that began as a proposal to the U.S. National Science Foundation to fund a “Center for Scientific and Engineering Supercomputing,” to address a lack of advanced computing resources in academia. The proposal was the first unsolicited submission to be approved by the NSF and led to the founding of SDSC (and four other supercomputing centers) with a $170M grant.
Aside from providing in-house computational and data resources for UCSD researchers, SDSC is a research powerhouse fueling advances in data storage and cloud computing and has founded Centers of Excellence in the areas of large-scale data management, predictive analytics, health IT services, workflow automation and internet analysis.
The Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI) was established in 2018 with philanthropic support from Taner Halıcıoğlu ’96, an alumnus of computer science and engineering. HDSI features an interdisciplinary team of researchers from areas ranging from computer science to communications who explore new computational methods, new mathematical models and guide students through the societal and ethical impacts of data science.
Halicioğlu Data Science Institute at UC San Diego. Image courtesy of HDSI
SCIDS To Supercharge Computational Research
This legacy of SDSC combined with HDSI’s innovative data science programs positions SCIDS to become a powerful engine for computational research and AI education, allowing it to “involve new synergies and realize tremendous new possibilities in creating talent in emerging areas,” said Rajesh Gupta, distinguished professor of computer science and engineering, interim dean of SCIDS, and the founding and current director of HDSI, as quoted in UC San Diego Today.
“The new school will accelerate the translation of foundational research into practice on societal problems ranging from climate change mitigation (wildfires, extreme weather, water management and resilient agriculture) to social justice issues (food security, housing shortages, mass shootings and equal access to opportunity) to health care (personalized medicine and public health),” says Frank Würthwein, the director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center and professor in the Department of Physics and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, as quoted by UC San Diego Today.
To cultivate a new generation of leaders in data science, SCIDS has assembled a faculty roster of 50 researchers across 16 diverse academic domains. With expertise spanning computer science, social sciences, and engineering, the school emphasizes both theoretical understanding and hands-on experience, preparing students to meet complex challenges with an adaptable, ethical approach to data.
UCSD’s decision to launch SCIDS aligns with a global trend in which educational institutions are rethinking the role of data science and AI in academia and beyond. As data becomes increasingly central to decision-making in various industries, the demand for well-rounded professionals trained in these areas is at an all-time high. SCIDS aims to be a leader in meeting this demand, equipping its students with skills that extend beyond technical competence to include critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and societal awareness.
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