NUdata - STFC Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science

The UK’s next generation of data scientists will train through a new doctoral programme focused on data-intensive science, funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. This matters because modern science—from astronomy to particle physics to genomics—now generates enormous datasets that traditional methods cannot handle. Without specialists trained to manage, process, and extract meaning from this flood of information, much of the potential of major research facilities and experiments would remain untapped. The programme addresses a critical skills gap: the need for researchers who can write the algorithms, build the pipelines, and design the computational tools that turn raw data into discoveries. If the training succeeds, it will produce a cohort of scientists who can work across disciplines, applying data-intensive techniques to problems in fundamental physics, earth observation, and beyond. These skills also transfer directly to industries that rely on large-scale data analysis—such as finance, healthcare, and logistics—so the impact extends well beyond academia. The programme is primarily about building human capital and expertise, not delivering a specific technological outcome, but the long-term effect could be a more data-literate research workforce capable of accelerating discovery across the sciences.