Student Group

About

What we do

The Data Science Institute forms the institutional cornerstone of data science activity at The London School of Economics and Political Science. Working alongside the academic departments across the School, the DSI's mission is to foster the study of data science and new forms of data with a focus on their social, economic, and political aspects.

Data science is the intersection of statistics, computing, and domain expertise. The DSI brings that expertise through world-leading social science.

The DSI aims to host, facilitate and promote research in social and economic data science through an annual programme of seminars, workshops and research projects delivered by a range of academic experts and research students.

The DSI forms a nexus for teaching and learning in data science, and for coordinating degree programs in data science that span departments, including the departments of StatisticsMethodology, and Mathematics. It also works closely with the Digital Skills Lab for training in the skills and tools of data science and computing.

The DSI also works closely with teams across LSE that provide support services for those working with data. Our Data Support Services page brings together information about the activity of teams such as The LSE Digital LibraryLSE Data and Technology Services (DTS) and LSE LIFE.

The DSI also works closely with LSE DTS on advancing computing infrastructure and services, especially in the area of cloud computing for data science research and teaching, and through delivering specialised training in the use of cloud-based computing.

As explained in this article, there are five themes that the DSI will initially focus on in order to be integral to realising the ambitions at the heart of LSE 2030. The DSI will aid LSE in embracing new technology and ways of learning to keep the social sciences at the forefront of global thinking, solutions and impact, and continuing our founding mission to know the causes of things for the betterment of society.

In promoting this social focus on data science, the DSI supports training in data science and computational methods among social scientists. The DSI is the hub of computational social science at LSE, bringing together research and teaching and learning in this area regardless of the discipline where it is applied.

The DSI replaced the Social and Economic Data Science (SEDS) unit that existed from 2015 to 2020. 

Keep up to date with the DSI on TwitterLinkedIn, and YouTube.