Catalog 2026–2027

Data Science Certificate

Program Coordinator: Travis Mandel, Ph.D.
Email: tmandel@hawaii.edu

Website: https://datasci.uhh.hawaii.edu

Certificate Description:

The Certificate in Data Science allows students to develop skills relating to the acquisition, archival, and extraction of knowledge from data in its various forms in order to find solutions to problems. This curriculum also focuses on sound experimental design, data-driven prediction, forecasting and decision making, as well as the communication of narratives regarding the actionable insights found within data.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this certificate, students will be able to:

  • Explain the mathematical foundations of data science, including probabilistic reasoning as well as basic statistical techniques, and utilize these techniques to solve data science problems.
  • Independently create computer programs which analyze real-world datasets
  • Identify and apply basic machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to effectively solve real-world problems; describe how these techniques work on a technical level.
  • Describe the appropriate usage and limits of data science, e.g. explain what kinds of questions can be asked and answered versus those that cannot be addressed.
  • Manipulate a wide variety of common data types to effectively accomplish an objective: e.g., image collections, natural language text.
  • Retrieve and store data in a variety of different formats, including databases and popular file formats.

Curriculum (18 Credits)

1. Requirements (12 Credits)

  • DATA 171 Data Science Fundamentals in R (3)
  • DATA 172 Python for Data Analysis (3)
  • DATA/MATH 271 Applied Statistics with R (3)
  • DATA 272 Machine Learning for Data Sci (3)

2. Electives (6 Credits)

Choose two of the following courses (6 credits)

  • ASTR/PHYS 260 Computational Physics & Astron (3)
  • ASTR/PHYS 260L Computational Phys & Astr Lab (1)
  • ASTR 350L Stellar Astrophysics Lab (2)
  • ASTR 351L Galactic & Extragal Astr Lab (2)
  • BIOL 280 Biostatistics (3)
  • BIOL 481L Trop Island Ecology & Evol Lab (2)
  • BIOL 482H Honors Appl Of Ecol & Evol (3)
  • CHEM 274L Princ Analytical Chem Lab (2)
  • CHEM 350L Phys Chem for Life Sci Lab (2)
  • CHEM 351L Physical Chem I Lab (1)
  • CHEM 352L Physical Chem II Lab (1)
  • CHEM 431L Instrumental Analysis Lab (2)
  • CS 421 Database Systems Design (3)
  • CS 422 Database Analytics (3)
  • CS 435 Ethical Hacking (3)
  • CS 440 Artificial Intelligence (3)
  • CS 475 Data Visualization (3)
  • CS 480 Digital Image Processing (3)
  • CS 485 Social Network Analysis (3)
  • DATA 370 Data Management (3)
  • DATA 373 Data Security and Ethics (3)
  • DATA/CS 483 Computer Vision (3)
  • ECON 390 Econometrics (3)
  • ECON 430 Quantitative Forecasting (3)
  • GEOG 470 Remote Sensing of Environment (3)
  • GEOG 480 Geog Info Sys & Visualization (3)
  • GEOG 481 Advance Geo-Spatial Techniques (3)
  • GEOG 488 Advanced Geostatistics (3)
  • GEOL 445 GIS for Geology (3)
  • GEOL 450 Geological Remote Sensing (3)
  • GEOL 472 Seismology (3)
  • MARE 250 Statistical Apps in Marine Sci (3)
  • MARE 474 Applied Informatics (3)
  • MATH 371 Multivariate Modeling with R (3)
  • MATH 375 Intro to Probability Theory (3)
  • MATH 422 Mathematical Statistics (3)
  • QBA 260 Business Statistics (3)
  • QBA 362 Business Analytics (3)
  • QBA/DATA 367 AI-Driven Business Analytics (3)
  • QBA/DATA 465 NLP and GenAI in Business (3)
  • PSY 213 Statistical Techniques (4)
  • PSY 214 Research Methodology (4)
  • PSY 313 Testing & Measurements (3)
  • PSY 319 Experimental Psychology (3)
  • SOC 280 Statistical Reasoning (3)
  • SOC 280L Lab in Statistical Reasoning (1)

Notes

  1. Students must pass each course within the certificate program with a grade of C or better.