The DSI Welcomes Summer Students to Explore the World of Research
The Data Science Institute is excited to welcome 50 students to campus for its Summer Research Programs which kick off this week: the Data Science for Social Impact Summer Experience (DSSI) and DSI Summer Lab. Both programs bring together undergraduates from around the world to explore careers in research.
For participants, the Data Science Institute programs are often their first experiences in research and allow them to apply concepts they’ve only engaged with theoretically to date. Over the course of eight weeks, students are immersed in UChicago’s research culture, gaining a unique opportunity to delve into a new field under the guidance of world-class researchers, broaden their technical skills, and learn about potential future academic and career paths.
The Data Science for Social Impact Summer Experience (DSSI)
The DSSI program was developed to train the next generation of ethical data scientists. Students are nominated to participate by faculty across the Data Science for Social Impact Network—a consortium of higher education institutions working to amplify social impact through data science —who identify students at their institutions interested in tackling real world problems with data science. This year, 27 students from 13 partner schools were nominated to participate.
DSSI begins with a two week intensive bootcamp in applied research methods. Equipped with practical skills, students form teams to take on social impact projects under the mentorship of faculty, preceptors, and postdocs. Many of these are sourced from The 11th Hour Project’s grantees and DSI partner organizations, and in the past have included challenges from illuminating banks’ commercial debt for BankTrack, to using large language models to increase capacity at the Center for Good Food Purchasing. This year’s projects are slated to include development of a chatbot to support advocates of small-scale farmers as well as new features for Climate Cabinet’s Scorecard, the first national tool to hold state legislators accountable for their votes on climate and environmental justice legislation.
DSI Summer Lab
Summer Lab pairs students with DSI faculty mentors according to their interests and technical background. For eight weeks, students are embedded in their mentor’s research lab where they work in fields such as materials science and biomedical science to climate policy and computational psychology, supporting ongoing workstreams or completing discrete project components of studies or pilot projects.
The Summer Lab 2025 cohort includes 23 undergraduate and high school students from around the world, from Ghana to Texas, to right here in Chicago. Students join us from backgrounds spanning the physical sciences as well as mathematics, the social sciences, and literary arts.
This year, with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Summer Lab has expanded to include an AI+Science Research Experience (REU) site, which will sponsor 10 undergraduate students from across the US to undertake research advancing AI-enabled discovery in the sciences in five areas under UChicago faculty: materials science with Chibueze Amanchukwu and Kyle Chard, earth science with Pedram Hassanzadeh, biology with Jai Yu, astrophysics with Brian Nord and Yuxin Chen, and neuroscience with Yuan Chang Leong and Monica Rosenberg).
Both eight-week programs culminate in a symposium on August 8th, where students will present their findings to an audience of their mentors and peers.
Until then, the DSI offers its summer scholars opportunities to enjoy Chicago beyond the lab too: summer programming includes professional development opportunities, a speaker series, and social events to build community and foster a research culture of rigor and fun.
We look forward to welcoming this year’s summer scholars to campus!
Read more about our DSSI and Summer Lab alumni and their projects, and follow along to see what this year’s cohorts discover.