About

The MDSC was created to be a global leader in the development of the mathematical theory of data science, and to train the next generation of mathematical data scientists.

Data science is a rapidly developing area with tremendous impact on everyday life. Nowadays, almost every form of information extraction is labelled data science, and data scientists can be found in every scientific discipline. At the same time, an overwhelming majority of data scientists focus on domain-specific problems rather than on the fundamental understanding of phenomena at the heart of information extraction: namely, when, and why information extraction is possible, and how to make it efficient. Satisfactory answers to those questions require the development of cutting-edge, novel mathematics, which is the main goal of the MDSC.

Rapid technological advances have given us unprecedented access to data.

But the lack of fundamental mathematical tools and knowledge underpinning the understanding and use of this data is hampering our ability to harness its power and potential. That’s why we have established the ANU Mathematical Data Science Research Centre, or MDSC. The first and only kind of centre of its type in the world, MDSC will make ANU and Australia a world leader in data extraction and application.                   - Professor Brian Schmidt, ANU Vice-Chancellor

MDSC was chosen by our strategic partner, Google Research Australia to pioneer the study of mathematical aspects of Data Science. Thanks to the collaboration with Google Research Australia, members of the MDSC will be able to explore fundamental theoretical problems that also have significant real-world impact. 

The MDSC has teamed up with ETH Zurich in another strategic partnership. Mathematical data scientists at ETH share our vision: Mathematics will play a key role in the future of Data Science. Researchers from the two universities will take this exciting journey towards discovery together.

Academic Leadership

Professor Shahar Mendelson, the Director of the MDSC, and Professor Peter Bartlett, the Head of Google Research Australia, are world leaders in the theory of Machine Learning.

Shahar Mendelson's main research interest is exploring the surprising and nontrivial connections between high dimensional statistics, statistical learning theory, empirical processes, and asymptotic geometric analysis. Peter Bartlett studies diverse theoretical and applied facets of Machine Learning, e.g., Statistical Learning Theory; the interface between Machine Learning and convex optimisation; and Deep Learning.