Break into small groups. Try to be in a group with people you haven’t met before.
Task:
Introduce yourself to your group members. Name, background, what you hope to accomplish through the Data Science Fellows program, and at least one hobby.
Appoint one person to be the “scribe” and to take notes on your conversation.
Each person should briefly describe some problem that they are currently experiencing in their professional (research or academic) life. For example, is there a question about a data set that you’re trying to answer? Is there a Python software library you’re trying to use that you don’t understand? Is there an animal or plant behavior that you’re trying to study, but aren’t sure yet what the experimental design is?
The goal is not to reveal a dark secret of your soul to strangers, but rather to give people in your group a sense for the day-to-day questions for people in your line of work. Not the lofty aspirations, but the “rubber hits the road” stuff.
Please spend five minutes having everyone explain one thing that “keeps them up at night”, and have the scribe note it down.
After five minutes, we will move on to the next section. Don’t worry, you’ll have an opportunity later in the workshop to present what keeps you up at night!