The biannual Academic Speed Dating has become an integral part of academic networking at the University of Mannheim. A total of almost fifty researchers took part in the open events. Anyone who wanted to could give a short presentation on their current research, but participation as a guest was also welcome. In this way, people whose work still has few points of contact with data science and who would like to find out about the opportunities in this field were also addressed. The Speed Dating on October 19, 2023 began for the first time with a keynote speech given by Prof. Markus Strohmaier, member of the MCDS Board of Directors, on the topic of Large Language Models in Economics and Social Sciences, which stimulated a lively discussion on the potential and challenges of innovations such as ChatGPT. In the coming year, the MCDS is again planning to host two speed dating events focusing on different topics and cordially invites all interested parties to participate.
Another format that MCDS established in 2022 and continued in 2023 is the interview series Data Science Insights, which introduces researchers at the University of Mannheim and their work. Twenty issues have now been published and show the broad spectrum of research in the field of data science that is active at the University of Mannheim.
In recent years, data science centers such as the MCDS have been established at many universities and institutes, making a contribution to research and teaching, but focusing on different areas and pursuing different approaches depending on the initial situation. Together with the Data Science Center at the University of Bremen and the Digital Science Center at Kiel University, the MCDS organized a well-attended workshop entitled Current developments and perspectives (at universities) in the field of data science as part of Informatik 2023 conference in Berlin. The new Mannheim Master in Social Data Science program at the University of Mannheim, which will admit students for the first time in 2024, was also presented in the teaching section. An important outcome of the workshop was the participants' decision to work on closer networking. Further networking meetings are therefore planned for 2024, in which the MCDS will participate as co-organizer.
On an international level, the second edition of the lecture series Data Science in Action led to new collaborations. This year, the event took place as a signature course in the European University ENGAGE.EU network, which ensured the participation of many students from the partner universities. In addition to professors from the University of Mannheim, researchers from a total of five international universities in France, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and the United States took part. The weekly lectures took place online and covered a wide range of topics from various disciplines. The series is to be continued in fall 2024.
For 2024, the MCDS plans to continue these and establish new offerings, including a guest lecture and the organization of the Data Fest at the University of Mannheim. We look forward to your continued interest and are open to suggestions.