The Data Science Program provides its students with opportunities to participate in diverse research projects from across the campus, particularly through the various institutes and centers that Penn offers. Before starting the project, students should have taken at least one elective course in the target application domain. The student will be mentored jointly by the project director and by an adviser in the area of the project.
Students may choose from suggested projects or may also come up with their own project/adviser ideas. For more information, please visit the Spring 2025 Info Sheet.
DATS Independent Work Common Guidelines
DATS 5990 and DATS 5970 count as technical and depth area electives toward the ten credits needed for the MSE degree in Data Science. The student must identify an advisor who is willing to advise the Independent Work and take responsibility for issuing the final grade. The student finds a suitable topic, chosen either by the proposed adviser or from a list of project ideas maintained by the project director.
The adviser and student should discuss and determine the topic, scope, etc. of the Independent Work. The student must then discuss the proposal with the project director (either in person during office hours or by email). Students fill out the project /thesis submission form and signed advisor agreement upload them and request either DATS 5990 (Practicum) or DATS 5970 (Thesis) in Path@Penn.
The output of DATS Independent Work must include a report and a presentation. The presentation can be a public presentation open to all DATS faculty and students to attend, or in place of that, a conference presentation or poster presentation (decided by the adviser), which may be a formal talk or poster presentation.
Students may earn DATS 5990 Practicum credit if accepted into the Wharton Analytics Accelerator. This is dependent on registration deadlines aligning.
Practicum-Specific Guidelines
A student wishing to complete a Practicum may enroll in one or two-course units of DATS 5990/Master’s Independent Study (depending on the project scope). If the faculty is not within SEAS, the project director will nominally co-advise the project. Occasionally, you may wish to undertake a Practicum proposed by Industry, in which case you must still produce a tangible, academically-based product that the Projects Director can evaluate.
The report should be a 5-10 page write-up describing the project and its outcomes, including links to any evaluable code.
Thesis-Specific Guidelines
A student wishing to complete a master’s thesis should enroll in two-course units of DATS 5970/Masters Thesis Research. The student should choose a thesis adviser who is a member of the University’s Standing Faculty in SEAS; there must also be a reader who is a member of the University’s Standing Faculty (who can be outside of SEAS) and who will read your final thesis.
Information regarding thesis formatting and submission of the thesis to the SEAS Research and Academic Services Office can be accessed here. A copy of the approved version of the thesis should be emailed to the CIS Master’s chair.