"Pioneers of MIDS": First Data Science class graduates

It was a special moment for Prof. Dr. Götz Pfander, holder of the Chair of Scientific Computing and speaker of the MIDS, to congratulate the students on their successful studies and first scientific degree. He described the cohort as "pioneers of MIDS" – because as students of the first Data Science generation, they helped shape the degree program as well as supplementary offerings: It is thanks to their commitment, in which they did not have to fall back on role models but had to develop ideas themselves, that, for example, a student council and leisure groups such as a hackathon team or a book club were formed; offers that enabled the mostly international students to connect more quickly in Ingolstadt.

Speaking for the cohort, student representatives Aditi Bhushan and Jan Stüwe expressed their gratitude for the friendly atmosphere at MIDS. In their joint ceremonial speech, they focused above all on the mutual support at the institute and in the Bachelor's program, as well as the close friendships that had formed between students from all corners of the world. "We had the privilege of learning in an environment with different cultural backgrounds and approaches", said Stüwe. 

Thanks to the self-confidence they have gained over the past three years, the students are no longer so easily rattled, as Stüwe pointed out: "We no longer panic when the lectures raise more questions than they solve." Bhushan added: "We learned to make the best of every situation." This ability and the international network that surrounded them at MIDS will accompany the graduating cohort – in addition to the specialist content – for the rest of their lives. 

KU President Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gien was proud of what has been achieved at the MIDS in recent years: "It's a very special spirit here. You have all contributed to bringing a vision to life and have walked the path together to drive projects forward."

The Förderverein Georgianum e.V. would like to support the MIDS so that visions can also become reality in the future: The previous aim of the association, as Chairman Dr. Gerhard Schmidt explained, was to find a new use for the building. Now that this project has been successfully implemented with the arrival of the MIDS, the association does not want to disband. "Our new objective is no longer the building, but to promote the work here," Schmidt announced at the summer party. 

The latest MIDS project is already in the starting blocks: The first students will start the Master's program in Data Science in the 2025/2026 winter semester. The submitted applications for the program are currently being reviewed and students are selected. For the MIDS, the establishment of the Master's program is an important further development of its offering. The Master's degree is not only an advantage for starting a career in the field of data science, the training of our own doctoral students and the associated acquisition of third-party funded projects also contribute to making the MIDS fit for the future. The Master's program creates an important link between teaching and research. In addition, the Bachelor's program can be made even more attractive, as ambitious Bachelor's students will be able to attend Master's lectures and the course will be more research-oriented. 

Entry to the Master's course is not only possible for Bachelor's graduates of Data Science courses, but also for graduates of mathematics, statistics, physics, computer science and electrical engineering. This is why the new study program initially provides for the repetition of mathematical basics in order to create a common basis for all participants and to deepen insight into the learning materials. The Master's degree offers students the opportunity to solve more complex problems, to work in a research-oriented way and to think ahead. Students can set individual priorities. They can choose whether they want to focus primarily on applied mathematics, take a more economic direction and deal with business analytics and operations research, or delve into the field of environmental modeling and deal with geophysical or meteorological processes.

The enrollment period for the Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in Data Science starts on August 11 and runs until October 2. Applicants with a German university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur) are not required to apply for the Bachelor's degree program. Further information on the study programs and the MIDS can be found at https://www.ku.de/mids .