Every year, new and seasoned members of the Datalab come together in Winterthur. The Datalab Symposium is a great opportunity to get to know fellow researchers from different institutes, learn about their projects, and find out about the upcoming activities of the Datalab. At the Symposium 2024, Datalab members presented their research on 13 posters, showcasing the diversity of Data Science projects. The projects ranged from AI and the linguistics of chess to AR surgery training. The most popular poster was presented by Jasmin Saxer, from the Institute of Computer Science. Her project automatically analyses the digital transformation of European municipalities and creates a monitoring platform.

Manuel Dömer, co-head of the Datalab, welcomed everyone and presented the goals and outreach activities of the Datalab. “We consist of 12 institutes and centers from four departments and have over 170 associates.”, he said proudly. The ZHAW Datalab has made its mark in both research and teaching, having designed courses for the bachelor’s, master’s, and continuing education programs. Kurt Stockinger, who had just returned from his sabbatical in the US, added: “We also offer PhD programs with the University of Zurich. If you are interested in pursuing one, I’d be happy to supervise you.” 

The goal of the Datalab is to be a nationally leading and internationally recognized center of excellence for research, teaching and services in the area of data science. To reach this goal it closely cooperates with industry, enabling innovation and technology transfer.

The ZHAW Datalab organised the first Swiss Conference on Data Science (SDS), which has grown so much that it has now its own organisation. The Datalab is the academic partner of the SDS and the conference remains an important networking event to connect with the larger Data Science community. In addition to the external conferences, the ZHAW Datalab also organises the yearly Symposium, Meetups and Seminars for its members. Recently, the Datalab has launched its own LinkedIn channel, where it shares insights into research, news from various institutes, interviews with Datalab members and more. More photos and insights from the Datalab Symposium will be shared there.