B²C² Data Initiative

Develop and create interdisciplinary research collaborations in the theory and practice of data science across New College. The B²C² (Biological and Behavioral, Computational and Critical) Data Initiative represents the college’s commitment to work across disciplinary boundaries and produce innovative research and to make data-driven discovery. The initiative brings interdisciplinary scientists and researchers together to explore data-driven approaches for tackling grand challenges in areas relevant to human well-being and the global common good.

Our vision is in line with the ASU Charter and the design aspirations of the New American University. This shared mission includes enabling student success, being socially embedded, conducting user-inspired research, and engaging globally to transform society.  

Our mission is to establish a college-wide initiative to unite the multidisciplinary nature of New College research areas and the emerging field of data science, and to connect the recent development of research clusters in SMNS (Applied Computing, Biological Data Science), SSBS (Critical Data Studies, Behavioral Data Science), and SHarCS (Health Humanities, Social and Cultural Analysis). The initiative will organize regular colloquiums and collaboration events for faculty and researchers across New College and ASU to report and share the state-of-the-art research.  

The B²C² Data Initiative is built on three key operational principles:  

1. Create interdisciplinary research and grant collaboration on the research frontiers of data science among faculty and researchers across the college and the university.   
2. Provide training opportunities and research forums on data and methods for undergraduate and graduate students to gain hands-on research experience.  
3. Engage industry practitioners for data science collaboration and organize educational outreach activities to promote data science in local communities.