DSSC · Data Science and Systems Complexity Research Training Programme

Data Science and Systems Complexity Research Training Programme

Problem: Today’s world is a highly complex system that produces massive amounts of data daily. We can only progress towards urgent global priorities such as sustainable energy, faultless and smart industry or the data-driven economy if we can take into account the dynamic nature of this complex system. In dealing with this challenge, data and complexity research has so far followed separate disciplinary lines. However, such an approach risks to overlook an important aspect of Big Data and complexity, i.e. that complex systems generate big data, and big data help identify, control and analyze complex systems. The Centre for Data Science and Systems Complexity (DSSC) at the University of Groningen and its COFUND Doctoral Programme address this scientific problem by combining data and complexity research to understand and control complex systems and processes through massive data. The DSSC adopts an interdisciplinary approach and addresses data science and complexity questions from disciplines that range from the fundamental to the applied (mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence, engineering, astronomy, physics). How to store, archive, and process massive amounts of digital information? How do the parts of a complex system give rise to collective emergent behaviour of the system? How does the system interact, adapt, and how can it be controlled? Societal importance: There is a great need for taking into account the dynamic nature of a complex system as today’s world demands. An integrated approach is required that uses data to understand the behaviour of complex systems, by educating experts who can handle data and complexity problems for society at large. In response to this problem, the DSSC innovative doctoral programme trains 10 early stage researchers to become interdisciplinary specialists skilled in both Data and Complexity science, with international, and intersectoral experience, who can solve for Europe the problems associated with the data avalanche and systems complexity. Overall objectives The first objective at the DSSC is to contribute to the societal demand for data and complexity experts by training interdisciplinary specialists and innovators in data and complexity science, endowed with management skills and well embedded in networks in academia and the private sector. The second objective is to help solve current scientific and societal problems related to data and complexity by: - developing trained, generic algorithms that can overcome the fragmentation of domain expertise and solve families of problems - developing methods to determine the appropriate amounts of data/computing from a variety of sources to control complex systems with the aim to apply just-enough-data - creating new methods to design algorithms for monitoring and control, which work in the presence of highly uncertain models or even in the absence of them - demonstrating these new algorithms’ effectiveness on real complex systems, e.g. energy systems, high-tech industry, etc. More information about our training project and results is available at https://www.rug.nl/research/fse/themes/dssc/cofund/

Data: CORDIS, © European Union