Advances in computing speed and storage capabilities over the past several decades have allowed access to new data sources on a massive scale. As a result, the disciplines of statistics and data science have become ubiquitous and essential for progress in almost all research areas and industry sectors.
With a history going back nearly 80 years, Cornell’s Department of Statistics and Data Science (SDS) has been at the forefront of methodological developments, cross-disciplinary research, and in offering a rigorous and relevant education that equips our students for success in a wide range of careers. SDS faculty and staff are committed to excellent training and instruction at the undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. levels. The department is currently home to roughly 20 faculty members, more than 180 undergraduate majors, 100 master’s students in our Master of Professional Studies in Applied Statistics and Data Science program, and 40 doctoral students.
In SDS, our renowned faculty leverage collaborations across Cornell to develop and combine modern statistics methodology and machine learning with data science to advance the biological, physical, and social sciences. Our specializations include mathematical statistics, computational statistics, and the development of statistical and data science methods used in diverse fields, including agriculture, astrophysics, ecology, economics, epidemiology, finance, genomics, high-dimensional data, neurobiology, legal studies and medicine.
A reflection of the department’s interdisciplinary nature, SDS is a multi-college partnership among the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information (Cornell Bowers CIS), the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Cornell CALS), and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR). Our department is one of three that make up Cornell Bowers CIS. Founded decades ahead of its time, Cornell Bowers CIS believed then, as it does now, that the technological age was best met with the collective force of computer science, information science, and statistics and data science.
If you take a look around our website, you'll learn about the exceptional faculty and students in our department and the enthusiasm we have for the field of statistics. You'll also find detailed information about faculty, staff, students, alumni, the curriculum, and courses offered. I encourage you to reference our Research Areas of Expertise page for more details on our faculty and their research interests.
SDS hosts weekly seminars and colloquia. See our News and Events pages for more details.
Prospective students can find explicit guidelines, program descriptions, and forms to learn about and facilitate the application for admission to our undergraduate and graduate programs.
