SUDS: Growing data science expertise through summer research

A young South Asian student holding a mic and gesturing to a screen with the title" Modularity" presenting to a classroom of students — U of T computer science student Sanchaai Mathiyarasan, a 2023 SUDS Scholar, presents at the SUDS Showcase held in August 2023. (Photo : Sara Elhawash)

Can an algorithm sort real news from fake? Rachel Way is about to spend her summer finding out.

“I am fascinated by the ability to use data to answer pressing questions in the social sciences,” says Way, an undergraduate student at Simon Fraser University.

Way will be working with Spike Lee, a professor at U of T’s Rotman School of Management, on a project that aims to analyze approximately 7 million news articles from around 500 media outlets to discern differences in terms of moral themes, cognitive styles, anti-science attitudes, emotional valence and other psychological characteristics.

She is one of more than 38 undergraduate students from U of T and partner institutions across Canada participating in the latest cohort of the Summer Undergraduate Data Science (SUDS) Opportunities Program, led by the Data Sciences Institute (DSI). Since its launch in 2022, more than 150 undergraduate students have spent their summers engaging in hands-on data research into how data science can accelerate insights and solutions across a wide range of fields — from astronomy to biology to online gaming.

In addition to their research projects, SUDS Scholars gain new skills via a data science bootcamp, networking sessions and professional development opportunities. They also practice communicating their research at the SUDS Showcase.

In addition to the students selected directly by DSI for the SUDS program, U of T departments and researchers in related areas are sponsoring their own summer research students to participate in the professional development components of the program. Companies are also joining SUDS, leveraging support from Mitacs, a national organization that empowers Canadian innovation through effective partnerships that deliver solutions to our most pressing problems.

SUDS is also set to go international: in 2024 it will welcome its first cohort of 14 students from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.