News-Article

Together with partners from the University of Oldenburg, the Data Science Center has successfully secured a project under the Northwest Advanced funding line. The "Data Encounters Northwest" initiative intends to foster the development of new cross-campus collaborations in the field of data science.

Under the lead of Rolf Drechsler and Lena Steinmann, the Data Science Center (DSC), together with other partners from the University of Bremen and the University of Oldenburg, has successfully secured funding under the Northwest Advanced program. The funded project, “Data Encounters Northwest”, aims to connect researchers from Bremen and Oldenburg in the field of data science, thereby initiating new interdisciplinary collaborative projects.

The project involves Professors Nico Hochgeschwender, Martin Mundt, and Tanja Schultz (University of Bremen) and Chih-Hong Cheng, Martin Fränzle, Daniel Sonntag, and Nils Strodthoff (University of Oldenburg). The initiative is coordinated by Lena Steinmann on behalf of the DSC as well as Cassie Short on behalf of the Scientific Center for Methods of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (WiZArD) at the University of Oldenburg.

Data Science as a Bridge Between Methods and Applications

Both locations have strong methodological expertise in data science, artificial intelligence, and data-intensive research. At the same time, many academic disciplines – ranging from the humanities and the social sciences to the natural sciences and material sciences, as well as health and marine sciences – work with complex data, the analysis of which increasingly requires interdisciplinary collaboration.

This is precisely where Data Encounters Northwest comes in. The initiative creates a structured setting in which domain and methodology experts can come together in a targeted manner. Data science projects can only fully realize their potential when they are closely linked to subject-matter experience, concrete research questions, and real-world application scenarios. Therefore, the goal is to productively link methodological and domain-specific perspectives in order to develop new and joint research approaches.

From the Workshop to New Research Projects

At the center of the initiative is a professionally moderated workshop process, which is currently being developed by the DSC and WiZArD. Unlike traditional presentation formats, the workshop is being designed as an interactive workspace. Researchers from both locations are going to identify potential areas of collaboration, develop first project ideas, and prepare the next steps for joint initiatives. The value of this endeavor not only lies in the exchange itself, but also in the structured development of ideas: initial collaborative efforts are intended to pave the way for sustainable project constellations that could potentially lead to joint third-party funding proposals.

Thus, Data Encounters Northwest is making a valuable contribution to strengthening data science as a unifying and cross-cutting theme within the Northwest Alliance, while also demonstrating how the DSC is further building on its role as an initiator, networker, and strategic partner for data-intensive research.