The Data Science Initiative at the Hariri Institute for Computing is pleased to announce that the 5th Annual BU Data Science (BUDS) Day will be held on Wednesday, February 5, 2020.
The event features both BU researchers and external data scientists for a day-long symposium. From social sciences, humanities, business, medicine, engineering, computer science, and statistics – BUDS Day aims to provide an environment for cross-disciplinary connections and drive future research collaborations.
BU Data Science (BUDS) Day
Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 8:45 am – 5:00 pm
Trustee Ballroom, Metcalf Trustee Center
1 Silber Way (9th Floor)
Boston University
Social media: #BUDS2020
Audience: Anyone who builds, analyzes, or utilizes computational and statistical methods, tools, and software artifacts to collect, curate, store, transfer, analyze, or visualize various types of data in their work or research.
Program
| TIME | EVENT |
| 8:45 am – 9:15 am | Registration & Light Refreshments |
| 9:15 am – 9:30 am | Welcome & Opening Remarks • Eric Kolaczyk (Professor, Director of Hariri Institute for Computing) • Gloria Waters (Professor, VP and Associate Provost, Sargent College) |
| 9:30 am – 10:45 am |
Session I – “Data-driven Modeling of Harmful Online Behavior” The Web and social media have facilitated harmful activities such as online harassment, disinformation, and radicalization. While Data Science can help model these phenomena, these are inherently socio-technical problems, which have long been studied by research fields like Psychology, Sociology, Communication, and Ethics. In this session experts in various fields will provide their view on the challenges and opportunities in leveraging Data Science to study and mitigate online harmful activity. Session Host: Gianluca Stringhini (Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, ENG) Speakers: |
| 10:45 am – 11:00 am | Coffee Break |
| 11:00 am – 12:15 pm |
Session II – “Industry-enabled Data Science Research”
This session will explore the current state and future of industry-enabled data science research at BU. Participants, including faculty and representatives from BU’s offices of Industry Engagement and Technology Development, will present recent work involving external engagements and participate in a panel discussion on the opportunities and challenges that arise in conducting research with industry and other external partners in the era of data science. Session Host: Georgios Zervas (Associate Professor of Marketing, QST)
Speakers:
• Matt Marx (Associate Professor of Strategy and Innovation, QST)
• Nina Mazar (Professor of Marketing, QST)
• Garrett Johnson (Assistant Professor of Marketing, QST) • Marc Scatamacchia (Associate Vice President of Industry Engagement, Research and Support)
• Michael Pratt (Managing Director, Technology Development)
|
| 12:15 pm – 12:30 pm | Provost Remarks: University Updates Jean Morrison (University Provost and Chief Academic Officer) |
| 12:30 pm – 1:15 pm | Lunch – Food For Thought Topics Details Here |
| 1:15 pm – 1:45 pm | Briefing and Q&A on the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences
This session will feature plenary remarks and an open discussion on the progress and planning for the new Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS). Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, Maureen O’Rourke, will give a short update on the work of the planning committee developing recommendations related to faculty appointments in CDS, and Professor Mark Crovella will give a short update on the work of the planning committee developing recommendations related to CDS curriculum and academic programs. The session will conclude with an open discussion and Q&A. Session Host: Azer Bestavros (Associate Provost for Computing and Data Sciences) Panelists: |
| 1:45 pm – 2:30 pm |
BU Spark! Student-Driven Data Science @ BU Session Host: Ziba Cranmer (Director of BU Spark!) Speakers: |
| 2:30 pm – 2:45 pm | Coffee Break |
| 2:45 pm – 4:00 pm |
Session III – “Improving Health Outcomes with Data” The data science and health session aims to bring together public health practitioners, clinicians and researchers working on improving health outcomes using data. The speakers will present their perspectives on the role of data in patient care and population health. We will also discuss challenges, including privacy and population representation, associated with the use of data in health research. Session Host: Elaine Nsoesie (Assistant Professor of Global Health, SPH) Speakers: |
| 4:00 pm – 4:10 pm | Closing Remarks Eric Kolaczyk (Professor, Director of Hariri Institute for Computing) |
| 4:10 pm – 5:00 pm | Reception: Data Science Social |
Past BUDS Day Events

BUDS Day 2019 (February 6, 2019)
BUDS Day 2018 (January 26, 2018)
BUDS Day 2017 (January 27, 2017)
BUDS Day 2016 (January 26, 2016)
Click here for more past photos
2018








2017








2016






BUDS Day Reactions
“The event has become a tradition that reinforces the strengths of BU in high-level computation and machine learning sciences. This is crucial based on the initiatives that we have been implementing at the university and relative to the university’s stature in mathematics, computation, and science in general.”
“The event was very successful and created a platform for researchers from different fields to get to know each other’s work and foster collaborations.”
“The event was incredibly successful. On my panel alone I learned a lot, and I found myself talking about other panels long after BUDS was over. I was particularly intrigued by Chris Schmidtt’s presentation. Having panelists from multiple disciplines is genius.”
2020 BUDS Day Co-Chairs
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
| ELAINE NSOESIE Assistant Professor Global Health, College of Arts & Sciences |
GIANLUCA STRINGHINI Assistant Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering |
GEORGIOS ZERVAS Associate Professor Marketing, Questrom School of Business |
BUDS Day Officers & Past C0-Chairs
Eric Kolaczyk, Professor
Department of Math & Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences
Director, Hariri Institute for Computing
Azer Bestavros, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor
Department of Computer Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Founding Director, Hariri Institute for Computing
John Byers, Data Science Faculty Fellow, Data Science Initiative
Department of Computer Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Interim Associate Dean of the MCS Faculty, College of Arts & Sciences
Lei Guo (2019 Co-Chair), Assistant Professor
Emerging Media Studies, College of Communication
Vijaya Kolachalama (2019 Co-Chair), Assistant Professor
Computational Biomedicine, School of Medicine
Evimaria Terzi (2019 Co-Chair), Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Neha Gondal (2018 Co-Chair), Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology, College of Arts & Sciences
Brian Kulis (2018 Co-Chair), Paul J. Levine Career Development Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
William Evan Johnson (2017 Co-Chair), Associate Professor
Computational Biomedicine, School of Medicine
Dylan Walker (2017 Co-Chair), Assistant Professor
Information Systems, Questrom School of Business
Dino Christenson (2016 Co-Chair), Associate Professor
Political Sciences, College & Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
Prakesh Ishwar (2016 Co-Chair), Professor
Ishwar Lab, College of Engineering
Data Science Defined
Methodological, generalizable, and scalable extraction of knowledge from data by developing and applying methods from computer science and statistics and by building software artifacts to collect, curate, analyze, mine, synthesize, and visualize various types of data.



