Centre for Data Analytics and Society
The ESRC-funded CDT for Data Analytics and Society provides postgraduate research training across the Universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield.
In September 2020, our fourth cohort began their studies remotely. Remote working has presented a number of challenges for our students, including working from different time zones, isolation and lack of access to university resources. However, it has also presented opportunities for the cohorts across the four universities to “meet” virtually, share tips and best practice, and deliver academic presentations to their peers. Students have been proactive in offering each other help; final year student, Noelyn Onah, delivered a presentation and wrote a comprehensive blog post on working from home techniques and motivation tips, covering workspaces, the pomodoro technique, goal setting and how to manage work/life balance. Keiran Suchak, another final year student and former Python developer, is running Python drop-in sessions to troubleshoot common problems. In addition, students in Years 2 and 3 have volunteered to mentor new students, helping them to build their networks and acclimatize to this new way of working.
This year, our students have enjoyed a number of successes including:
- Nikos Patias contributed to the UK2070 final report, documenting the extent of spatial inequalities and proposing actionable strategies.
- Louise Kelly contributed to the book chapter ‘Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Digital Forensics: Opportunities, Challenges and A Drug Testing Case Study’ in Digital Forensic Science published by InTechOpen.
- Francesca Pontin and Victoria Jenneson presented their work at the International Medical Geography Symposium, New Zealand. They said of the experience: “We feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to present our work as part of a diverse conference programme, which brought together geography, epidemiology and policy. It was an added bonus to have the opportunity to explore New Zealand’s natural beauty, before, during and after the conference.” They also participated in two days of workshops at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. “It was a pleasure to meet contacts from New Zealand’s Ministry of Health and the Canterbury Geohealth Lab and to learn about their unique collaborative model. We’ll continue to work closely with the New Zealand team to write an upcoming commentary paper about the health research-policy landscape in New Zealand. We hope that this relationship will continue to grow in the future and look towards the potential for overseas exchanges between LIDA and the Geohealth Lab students and staff.”