Data Science Capstone DSCI 4093
Data Science Capstone Course - DSCI 4093
About the course
The Data Science BS program allows students to pursue a capstone course in a student's senior year to count as one of their technical electives to complete the program. A faculty member will direct individual or group projects related to data science, leading to a letter grade in DSCI 4093. It will be more common that students will work in small groups for the capstone. The faculty member will supervise these projects and answer questions students might have to produce a report, a presentation, or some other agreed-upon final product by the end of the term. There are no pre-planned projects for the capstone experience.
Students admitted to the Data Science BS program who see DSCI 4093 as a required course for graduation on their APAS Report should contact their CS&E Departmental Advisor to have the requirement waived.
Types of capstones
The capstone can follow any of the three listed templates below. These are listed in order of most common and likely to be set up:
- A self-defined data science project, based on publicly available dataset and problem.
- Working with a professor's research students to do part of a research project.
- Project associated with an industry.
Setting up your capstone experience
The Director of Undergraduate Studies (dscidugs@umn.edu) can assist students in organizing groups, providing a template of how to do a data science-related capstone project, and connecting them with other faculty members in the various departments and schools related to the data science undergraduate program. Students can also propose ideas to faculty members in their various data science courses in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, industrial and system engineering, mathematics, and statistics. The Director of Undergraduate Studies must approve the faculty members students wish to work with on their capstone project.
Recommended timeline for setting up your capstone
These recommendations are based on taking the capstone in your last semester of the program.
When should you contact the DUGS and/or other faculty to schedule their capstone? No later than the first month of your first semester of senior year.
If you plan on working as a group with other students, when should your group be finalized? No later than the second month of the first semester of senior year.
When should you finalize your plan for the capstone? No later than the third month of your first semester of senior year.
Which faculty members can you work with on your capstone?
All faculty affiliated with data science, either the BS or the MS programs listed below:
Data Science Graduate Program Faculty
Electrical and Comptuer Engineering Faculty
Industrial and Systems Engineering Faculty
Enrolling in the course
After the student has connected with the Director of Undergraduate Studies and has an agreed-upon plan for a group, a project, and a supervising faculty member, the student can then go to our Special Class Registration Form to receive a permission number from enrolling in DSCI 4093. The faculty member overseeing the project should be listed on this registration form. The Director of Undergraduate Studies for Data Science will still be the listed instructor for DSCI 4093 even if another faculty member is overseing the capstone.
Students will also need to complete a Directed Activity Contract. This is a required contract agreement between the student and instructor documented at the university level. This form should not be used to request a permission number for the course.