Data science has played a prominent and significant role in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mathematical modellers and data scientists joined virologists, public health professional and policy makers to confront the pandemic using methods that did not exist for previous generations. In recent years, the value of big-data has become increasingly appreciated across all sectors of industry, academia and society. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed to the wider world - that in the modern era - data is an exceedingly valuable commodity. Data-driven insights during the COVID-19 pandemic have played critical roles in understanding and responding to the pandemic. Moreover, data science will continue to be important beyond this pandemic in our preparedness for any future disease outbreaks.
This course aims to introduce students to the analytical approaches, successes and challenges experienced by the data science and artificial intelligence community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students will gain experience of how data science has impacted key decisions and policy in response to the pandemic, from epidemiological modelling through to vaccination strategies.