Our mission is to make great leaps in data science research in order to change the world for the better.

We are committed to:

Research excellence

We want to be the best. Research excellence is the foundation of the Institute: the sharpest minds from the data science community investigating the hardest questions. We work with integrity and dedication.

Driving impact

Our researchers collaborate across disciplines to generate impact, both through theoretical development and application to real-world problems. We are fueled by the desire to innovate and add value.

Pioneering a new science

Data science will change the world. We are pioneers; training the next generation of data science leaders, shaping the public conversation, and pushing the boundaries of this new science for the public good.

Our first step in forming the Institute was to undertake a peer-reviewed scientific scoping process to assess the data science landscape and appetite for engagement across the UK and internationally. With over 100 proposals submitted in the summer of 2015, we invited and held more than 30 workshops, summarised in our Scoping Workshop report.

This process, along with meeting over 100 leaders from the private, public and third sectors to identify relevant problems, has been crucial in defining our core research strengths – mathematical representations, inference and learning, systems and platforms, and understanding human behaviour – and the priority sectors we will focus our research on – engineering, technology, defence and security, financial services, smart cities and health and well-being.