Research Focus “Data Science”
Due to the increase in performance of measuring devices and computers in the generation and analysis of data and the increasing complexity of applications, achieving a performance balance and efficient scaling as well as mastering the extremely increasing data volumes represent non-trivial problems, especially if innovative software architectures as well as computer and storage infrastructures are to be used effectively at the same time. Data Science is therefore a cross-cutting discipline that deals with the major challenges at the various stages of the data life cycle, from the source—observations or simulation calculations—through data management, data cleansing, analysis and visualization, to the long-term preservation and utilization of data.
By combining data science with other methodological competencies—especially in mathematics, e.g. stochastics, statistics and numerics —and with IT infrastructures and IT service facilities—especially the German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ) and the Regional Computing Centre (RRZ)—the great demands of excellent science can be met. One example is the CDCS (spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Matthias Rarey), which is a joint facility of the University of Hamburg, the German Electron Synchrotron DESY and the Hamburg University of Technology and establishes Data Science research in basic and structural research and systems biology in the Science City Bahrenfeld (SCB). The digitisation strategy of research at the University of Hamburg is therefore based on a holistic view of these interdisciplinary aspects and mutual complementarity as well as cooperation with the other Hamburg universities at the various levels mentioned.