Charlottesville, Va., Oct. 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Climate change, global health, and cyber security are just a few of the challenges that researchers at the University of Virginia School of Data Science are attempting to address through current projects.

“As the first of its kind in the nation, the University of Virginia School of Data Science has an unprecedented opportunity to bring new approaches to our society’s major challenges,” said Phil Bourne, Dean of the newly-formed school.

Current research projects include online abuse detection, cyber security, climate change, hiring decisions, and global health, with partners in business, engineering, environmental science, medicine and more:

• Online Abuse - A team presented an analysis of user misconduct and a system for the automated early detection of inappropriate behavior. This is the first attempt to support Wikipedia's human-based moderation with machine-generated suggestions of potential misconduct. 
  • Impact: Preventing online abuse and harassment through machine learning algorithms.
• Cybersecurity - UVA is conducting research on how to detect cybersecurity attacks right as they happen, so that sensitive information is protected before a leak, with a $7.6 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
  • Impact: Prevention of massive leaks of personal, sensitive information across the globe for business and individuals.
• Climate Change - Researchers are using vast quantities of NASA data taken from the International Space Station to understand how climate change is affecting our earth’s forests.
  • Impact: Findings could be extrapolated across global ecosystems to understand what measures can be taken to protect forests worldwide.
• Hiring Decisions -  Researchers from across the university are using data from 200 interviews of top job candidates to understand how candidates are selected.
  • Impact: Valuable insights for applicants hoping to land their dream jobs and recruiters aiming to find the right candidates.
• Global Health - Researchers are utilizing computational models to identify the protein pathways that malaria parasites target in hopes to better understand malaria and possibly develop a drug that can inhibit the disease.
  • Impact: Saving millions of lives worldwide by understanding how to prevent and treat a global infectious disease.

Through interdisciplinary partnerships with industry, government agencies, non-profits, and academic institutions throughout the world, the UVA School of Data Science is engaging in projects that address topics concerning the environment, business and finance, infrastructure, health and medicine, education, policy and law, and others to further discovery, share knowledge, and make a positive impact on society.

We are building bridges to the future.

About the University of Virginia School of Data Science 

The University of Virginia School of Data Science is revolutionizing data science education and research. A School without Walls, our team is working across academic, geographic, professional, and civic boundaries to practice responsible data science and make a positive impact on society. We currently offer a Master of Science in Data Science degree, and plan to offer degrees across the educational pipeline—from undergraduate to professional. Our researchers apply scientific methods and technological innovations to vast quantities of data, gaining unique insights into problems from politics to medicine, from education to the environment, and beyond. Learn more at datascience.virginia.edu and follow us @uvadatascience.