Data Scholars

About the Program

Data Scholars addresses issues of underrepresentation in the data science community by establishing a community that is welcoming, educational, and empowering for underrepresented and nontraditional students. Launched in Fall 2016, it is especially suited for students who can bring diverse and positive contributions to the field of Data Science. The program offers specialized tutoring, advising, and workshops in a sequence of three 1-unit seminar courses. Students apply to join the first seminar, Foundations, the semester they enroll in Data 8, and may participate in Pathways and Discovery in subsequent semesters.

Program Components

(1) Data 8 Section and Foundations Seminar

Students enrolling in Data 8 can apply to join Data Scholars! Students will enroll into a Data Scholars-only lab section for Data 8, and join a specialized 1-unit Foundations seminar. Students will also have access to special office hours and mentorship for academic support.

(2) Data Science Pathways Seminar

For students who have already completed Data 8 and the Foundations seminar, the Pathways seminar supports long-term discovery experiences and career orientation. Pathways will feature guest speakers from research and industry, and special workshops for career and professional development, portfolio-building, and goal setting. This seminar will meet once a week for 90 minutes.

(3) Data Science Discovery Seminar

For students who have completed the Pathways seminar and have two or more semesters of data science coursework completed, the Discovery seminar provides special workshops on cutting-edge data science tools, facilitates student matching onto some of the exciting research projects offered by the Data Science Discovery Research program, and offers research mentorship by experienced grad students and staff.

Meet the Team

Angela Guan

Foundations Data 8 Lab UGSI

Angela Guan is from San Jose, CA. She is a senior studying data science, and loves Data 8! She took Data 8 in her first semester at Berkeley and has been on course staff ever since. Angela is on the Cal Table Tennis team, and enjoys going to beaches, hiking, traveling, and eating with friends. She is really looking forward to meeting the fall Foundations Scholars!

Caroline Chen

Foundations Data 8 Lab UGSI

Caroline Chen is a senior majoring in Statistics and Data Science. Fall 2020 will be her 6th semester on Data 8 staff, and she is very excited to meet the fall Foundations Scholars! Outside of school and work, Caroline likes to hop on video calls with her friends and watch old movies.

Pelagie Elimbi Moudio

Pathways Seminar Facilitator

Pelagie is a PhD student in the Industrial Engineering and Operations Research department. Her research interest lies in modeling decision support systems to aid agricultural and natural resource management and quantifying the impacts of shocks such as wildfires to these systems. She enjoys baking, travelling and food tasting in her free time.

Abdoul Aziz Sandotin Coulibaly

Discovery Seminar Facilitator

Abdoul Aziz is an incoming Master of Science student in Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials at the University of California, Berkeley. His passion lies in the intersection between Engineering and Data Science. That means exploring ways in which Machine Learning and AI can be beneficial in the forecasting and monitoring of buildings' health. In his free time, he likes to bike, read, and swim.

About the Program

Program Components

Why Join Data Scholars