Creating a Chemistry of Sciences with Big Data

Abstract

The Data Science Institute at Imperial College London launched in April 2014, and will provide a hub for data-driven research and education. Its mission is to provide a focal point for the College's capabilities in multidisciplinary data-driven research by coordinating advanced data science research for college scientists and partners, and educating the next generation of data scientists. We surveyed the data-driven research needs at Imperial College London to gain an understanding across all disciplines offered by the College, and analysed the responses to gain insights into scientific and engineering needs for data science research. A clear message is that multidisciplinarity is essential for Big Data and data science research to enable a "chemistry of sciences": connecting all disciplines by integrating data. This paper presents our efforts to best understand datadriven research needs in a highly multidisciplinary researchintensive institution and describes our vision for the future of the Data Science Institute at Imperial College London. © Copyright 2014 ACM