The U of A DataLab (DataLab), with the Data Science Institute and the Institute for Computation & Data-Enabled Insight at the University of Arizona, serves as a vibrant center for fostering interdisciplinary research in AI and the wide field of data science. It offers a collaborative environment where researchers and students from diverse disciplines come together to explore, analyze, and extract insights from complex datasets. Through interdisciplinary workshops, consultations, and a range of tools and resources, the DataLab empowers researchers, students, and industry partners to harness the potential of AI and data-driven discovery.
Spring 2025: U of A DataLab Workshop Series
Register for the workshop series and attend the workshop sessions that interest you!
Unless otherwise noted, workshop sessions meet at Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom. Register for a workshop to get the Zoom link. When available, workshop sessions are on the UArizona DataLab YouTube channel.
U of A DataLab Spring 2025
Tuesdays
10:00 - 11:30 AM Research Productivity Workshops (Zoom only) [Register]
1:00 - 2:00 PM Classical Machine Learning [Register]
2:00 - 3:00 PM Functional Open Science Skills for AI/ML Applications [Register]
3:30 - 4:30 PM AI Makerspace Meetup [Register]
Wednesdays
1:00 – 2:00 PM Data Science Tapas [Register]
Thursdays
12:00 - 1:00 PM Natural Language Processing (NLP) for All [Register]
1:00 - 2:00 PM Mastering Generative AI Foundation Models for Research [Register]
2:00 - 3:00 PM Bioinformatics & Genomics From Data Analysis to AI Applications [Register]
Fridays
10:00 - 11:00 AM CyVerse Office Hours [Register] - Meet in BSRL Lobby
10:00 - 10:30 AM CyVerse Webinars [Register]
Sit down to code and discuss how to build AI applications with U of A DataLab scientists. Put your knowledge into practice through hands-on experience with cutting-edge AI tools. In this workshop series, we will spend an hour each week developing and testing advanced AI topics, including fine-tuning LLMs, creating vector databases for retrieval-augmented generation applications, and implementing distributed training with PyTorch.
Join us in-person at the AI Makerspace Meetups @ Snakes & Lattes.
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 PM.
Where: Snakes & Lattes Tucson (988 E University Blvd, Tucson, AZ)
REGISTER for Bioinformatics & Genomics: From Data Analysis to AI Applications
to attend in-person and to receive the Zoom link.
Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom
This workshop series provides graduate students in public universities with the necessary skills and tools to analyze biological data using high-performance computing resources.
Participants will acquire hands-on experience with industry-standard command-line tools (CLI) for DNA and RNA sequencing analysis, sequence manipulation and alignment, and pipeline management for automating complex workflows. They will also learn about differential expression analysis for identifying genes with altered expression levels, data visualization techniques for effectively presenting results, and the basics of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in bioinformatics.
Upon completion of this workshop, graduates will be capable of using these powerful tools and methods to address real-world biological challenges and make significant contributions to bioinformatics research.
Required Skills
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Basic understanding of biology | This workshop assumes a basic understanding of biological concepts, such as DNA, RNA, genes, and genomes. |
| Familiarity with the command line (optional, but helpful) | While not required, familiarity with the command line will help navigate the tools covered in the workshop. |
| Enthusiasm for learning new computational skills | A strong interest in learning new computational skills is essential for success in this workshop. |
SERIES: Bioinformatics & Genomics: From Data Analysis to AI Applications
When: Thursdays, 2:00 - 3:00 PM, January 30 - March 27, 2025
Where: REGISTER for Zoom link Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom
Instructor: Michele Cosi, Simona Merlini, and Clément Goubert
YouTube: UArizona DataLab
Workshop sessions:
- 1/30 Sequence manipulation, alignment, and assessment
- 2/6 A Beginner's Guide to RNA-seq with DESeq2
- 2/13 RNA-Seq Data Analysis in R: From Raw Counts to Differential Expression Analysis
- 2/20 Downstream Analysis of RNA-Seq Results in R: GSEA, PPI Networks, and Biological Interpretation
- 2/27 QTL mapping with qtl2
- 3/6 Introduction to GWAS
- 3/20 De-novo Detection and Annotation of Transposable Elements
- 3/27 Explore Current AI/ML Trends and Tools in Bioinformatics
Join the CyVerse free, half-hour long webinars on science and technology topics to help with your research and teaching, with time for live Q & A with our expert presenters. Visit the CyVerse Webinars site for announcements of upcoming Webinars. You can view recent webinars and peruse all past webinars on CyVerse's YouTube channel. To request a webinar on a specific topic, email info@cyverse.org.
- 2/14 Strategies for Managing Data for Team Projects (1 of 2-part CyVerse webinar)
REGISTER for Data Science Tapas
to attend in-person and to receive the Zoom link.
Weaver Science-Engineering Library, room 212 and Zoom
Applied Data Science Tapas knowledge capsules provide comprehensive educational content spanning multiple domains: from foundational data science principles and methodologies, through advanced machine learning techniques and algorithms, to cutting-edge Deep Learning applications in Artificial Intelligence. These capsules are designed to bridge theoretical concepts with practical implementations, offering insights into both established practices and emerging trends in the field of computational data analysis.
SERIES: Data Science Tapas
When: Wednesdays, 1:00 - 2:00 PM, Feb. 5 - Apr. 16, 2025
Where: REGISTER for Zoom link Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom
Instructor: Greg Chism, Devin Bayly, Carlos Lizárraga, and Megh Krishnaswamy
YouTube: UArizona DataLab
Workshop Sessions
- 2/5 Introduction to Python for Data Science
- 2/19 Introduction to Machine Learning Algorithms
- 3/5 Introduction to Visualization: Theory and Practice
- 3/19 Introduction to Deep Learning for Healthcare
- 4/2 Introduction to Speech to text with Whisper AI
- 4/16 Introduction to Python Accelerated Datascience with RAPIDS
REGISTER for Functional Open Science Skills for AI/ML Applications
to attend in-person and to receive the Zoom link.
Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom
This workshop series provides graduate students in public universities with developing skills and learning tools required in today's AI/ML-focused science.
Ranging from covering the basic moving parts to understanding AI's role in Open Science, this workshop aims to lend an understanding where to obtain compute, covering software environments and reproducibility, the role of workflows, and aiming to create an end-to-end Machine Learning (ML) workflow.
SERIES: Functional Open Science Skills for AI/ML Applications
Where: Register for Zoom Link Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom
Instructor: Michele Cosi and Carlos Lizárraga
YouTube: UArizona DataLab
Workshop Sessions:
- 1/28 The moving parts of Functional Open Science
- 2/4 AI's Role and Tools in Open Science
- 2/11 Learning to Work in the Cloud: JetStream2 and Reproducibility
- 2/18 Handling Images & Videos pt. 1
- 2/25 Handling Images & Videos pt. 2
- 3/4 Training and Testing Models
- 3/18 End-to-end ML Workflow pt.1
- 3/25 End-to-end ML Workflow pt.2
REGISTER for Mastering Generative AI Foundation Models for Research
to attend in-person and to receive the Zoom link.
Weaver Science-Engineering Library, room 212 and Zoom
Dive deep into the world of generative AI foundation models, exploring their transformative potential across scientific disciplines through a hands-on, accessible approach.
Workshop Vision
Key Skills Developed
| Core Focus: Foundation Models in Research
Target Audience
|
Key Workshop Modules
| Learning Outcomes
|
SERIES: Mastering Generative AI Foundation Models for Research
When: Thursday, 1:00 - 2:00 PM, January 30 - March 27, 2025
Where: REGISTER for Zoom link Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom
Instructor: Nick Eddy, Carlos Lizárraga, and Enrique Noriega
YouTube: UArizona DataLab
Workshop Sessions:
- 1/30 Scaling up Ollama: Local, CyVerse, HPC
- 2/6 Using AI Verde
- 2/13 Best practices of Prompt Engineering using AI Verde
- 2/20 Quick RAG application using AI Verde / HPC
- 2/27 Multimodal Q&A+OCR in AI Verde
- 3/6 SQL specialized query code generation
- 3/20 Function calling with LLMs
- 3/27 Code generation assistants
REGISTER for Introduction to Classical Machine Learning
to attend in-person and to receive the Zoom link.
Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom
"Hands-on Machine Learning: A Journey Through Data Science” workshop series covers essential concepts in classical machine learning, offered with beginner-friendly, hands-on programming demonstration in Python. We focus on one key algorithm, statistical concept, or tool each week and offer a real-world, hands-on data science application.
Dive into the tools and concepts you need to choose, design, and deploy ML models. Brush up on the fundamentals of big data analysis, and access our fantastic resources!
SERIES: Introduction to Classical Machine Learning
When: Tuesdays, 1:00 - 2:00 PM January 28 - March 25, 2025
Where: Register for in-person or Zoom link. Weaver Science-Engineering Library, Rm 212 and on Zoom.
Instructor: Carlos Lizárraga
YouTube: UArizona DataLab
Workshop Sessions:
- 1/28 Intro to Scikit-Learn
- 2/4 Supervised Learning: Regression
- 2/11 Supervised Learning: Classification
- 2/18 Unsupervised Learning: Dimensionality Reduction
- 2/25 Unsupervised Learning: Clustering
- 3/1 Ensemble Learning: Bagging
- 3/18 Ensemble Learning: Boosting
- 3/25 Reinforcement Learning
REGISTER for Natural Language Processing for All
to attend in-person and to receive the Zoom link.
Weaver Science-Engineering Library, room 212 and Zoom
Join us in this workshop series for an engaging and accessible introduction to Natural Language Processing (NLP) and its practical applications for everyday tasks! In "NLP for All," we will explore the fundamental concepts behind NLP: From understanding how computers interpret human language; to discovering how to improve search queries, use regular expressions, find datasets, and learn about pipelines for working with language. Whether you're curious about chatbots, voice assistants, or automated text transcription and analysis, this series will demystify popular technologies and show you how they work.
What We Will Cover:
- Foundations of NLP: Gain a solid grasp of NLP concepts and terminology without needing a technical background.
- Real-World Applications: Explore practical uses of NLP in various contexts, such as improving search and information retrieval, generating and evaluating automatic transcriptions, and working with popular libraries such as spaCy, PyTorch and scikit-learn.
- Hands-On Experience: We will illustrate NLP concepts in action with a well-documented code notebook, aimed at solving practical examples. We will also explore online sources for NLP tools and datasets, such as HuggingFace.
Prerequisites:
- A Google account to run Google Colab (where we will do most of our programming exercises)
- Basic knowledge of Python. You can brush up python fundamentals with Software Carpentry's Introduction to Python (section 1)
SERIES: Natural Language Processing for All
When: Thursdays, 12:00 - 1:00 PM January 30 - April 03, 2025
Where: Register for Zoom link Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library, room 212 and Zoom
Instructors: Megh Krishnaswamy
YouTube: UArizona DataLab
Workshop sessions:
- 1/30 Introduction to NLP with SpaCy
- 2/6 Regular Expressions for NLP
- 2/13 Text pre-processing for NLP
- 2/20 Introduction to Information Extraction
- 2/27 NLP with Transformers
- 3/6 Introduction to Semantic Search
- 3/20 Introduction to Speech Technology
- 3/27 Speech-to-Text with Whisper AI
- 4/3 AI applications for Audio data
REGISTER for the Zoom link
The Research Productivity workshop series aims to help alleviate the challenges of creating a culture for diverse teams to thrive, plan, and manage projects. This workshop will benefit faculty, researchers, staff, and students (undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral) planning your next project, currently working on projects, and preparing for your next grant proposal submission. The same sessions are offered in Series 1 and 2:
- Leadership through Project Management: Team Culture Tips for Successful Research Projects
- Planning for Your Next Research Project
- Pragmatic Project Management for Everyone
When: Varies by workshop session
Where: Register for the Zoom link
Instructor: Rudy Salcido
YouTube: U of A DataLab YouTube videos
Advantages of the U of A DataLab
- Improved Research: Help researchers to explore new ideas and develop innovative solutions to complex problems leading to breakthroughs in areas like healthcare, finance, and social science.
- Innovation: Encourage innovation and entrepreneurship by providing a space to explore new ideas and develop new applications.
- Industry Partnerships: Facilitate partnerships with industry partners that lead to new research opportunities, funding, and internships.
- Career Opportunities: Provide hands-on experience in data science which can improve job prospects.
Contact the U of A DataLab to learn how we can partner or bring the DataLab experience to your department.
Fall 2024 semester: U of A DataLab workshop sessions
Watch the DataLab Fall 2024 semester workshop series on the UArizona Data Lab YouTube channel.
- Advanced AI for Healthcare: A Transformative Force
- AI Makerspace
- Exploring Tools for Data Analysis and AI Applications in Biosciences and Genomics
- Exploring the LLM Frontier: From Hugging Face to RAG and Beyond
- Natural Language Processing for All
- NextGen Geospatial: AI & Cloud Tools for Geographic Analysis
- Research Productivity Workshops
Spring 2024 semester: U of A DataLab workshop sessions
Watch the DataLab Spring 2024 semester workshop series on the UArizona Data Lab YouTube channel.
- NextGen Geospatial Data Science
- Data Science Essentials: From Jupyter to AI Tools
- Cracking the Coding Interview
- Data & Viz Drop-in
- Data Science Tapas: Savor the Tools of Data Mastery
- Mastering Machine Learning: Your Path to Data-Driven Research
- Introduction to Deep Learning
- Navigating the World of Data Engineering
U of A DataLab activities
In addition to providing useful information, tools, and resources in the workshop sessions, the Data Science Institute and the DataLab support many projects and activities around the University of Arizona.
- Join the data science community conversations on the Slack channel, uadatascience.slack.com.
- Annual spring events including Women in Data Science-Tucson (WiDS) and ResBaz Arizona (Research Bazaar Arizona).
- Weekly meetings and events that are open to all and are great opportunities to network include Coffee & Code, Hacky Hour, Data & Viz Drop-in, and Code Commons.
Coffee &Code Hacky Hour Data & Viz Drop-in CODE COMMONS
Staff
Jeff Gillan
Michele Cosi
Carlos Lizárraga
Mithun Paul
Associate Members
Andrew Bennett
Greg Chism
Angela Cruze
Tina L. Johnson
Enrique Noriega
Maliaca Oxnam
Tyson Swetnam
Students*
Mandira Bhowmik (U)
Brenda Huppenthal (GA)
Megh Krishnaswamy (GA)
Elijah Mark (U)
Austin Medina (U)
Shashank Yadav (GA)
*GA=Graduate Assistant, U=Undergrad
Consultation Services
AI applications & research software
Cloud based analytic tools
Data mining & analytics tools
Data visualization tools
Data protection & validation
To schedule a consultation, email the Arizona Data Lab team.
Resources
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More Learning Resources
Research Topics
Deep Learning
Generative AI for Vision: Diffusion Models and GANs
Large Language Models
NeRF: Neural Radiance Fields
Object Detection and Segmentation
Vision Transformers - ViT
Machine Learning
Federated Learning