Big data—that buzzword seems to dominate information technology discussions these days. But big data is so much more than a clever catchphrase: it’s a reality that holds enormous potential. We now have the largest and most diversified volume of data in human history. And it’s growing exponentially: approximately 90% of today’s data has been generated within the past two years. The exploding science of big data is changing the IT industry and exerting a powerful impact on everyday life.
But what should big data science be, and where is it headed? These are the fundamental questions that have prompted Tsinghua University (opens in new tab) and Microsoft Research Asia (opens in new tab) to work together to establish a pioneering graduate course on Big Data Foundations and Applications. Turing Award winner and Tsinghua professor Andrew Chi-Chih Yao (opens in new tab) spent more than eight months developing the course, which launched in September 2014.
Turing Award winner and Tsinghua professor Andrew Chi-Chih Yao
Spotlight: AI-POWERED EXPERIENCE
Microsoft research copilot experience
Discover more about research at Microsoft through our AI-powered experience
Solidifying knowledge through academia-industry cooperation
On October 9, Hsiao-Wuen Hon (opens in new tab), managing director of Microsoft Research Asia, delivered the course’s first lecture. Dr. Hon stressed that the importance of big data lies not only in its value in academic research but also in its application to real-world problems, which, he said, is why the academia-industry cooperation represented by the course is so critical.
“One of our purposes in launching this course with Tsinghua is to introduce Microsoft’s ideas to students, to let them get to know us better,” he explained. “Meanwhile, our top professional researchers can deepen their understanding of big data while teaching the students. So the course is not just about enhancing the students’ understanding of big data; it’s also about solidifying the researchers’ knowledge of big data.”
Hsiao-Wuen Hon, managing director of Microsoft Research Asia, delivered the course’s first lecture.
Echoing the importance of the industry-academia connection, Professor Yao remarked, “Big data is an epoch-making subject. It has influenced all the other disciplines, including computer science and information technology. We should not only focus on the scientific research. Education development is also a new trend. ”
Leading the forefront of big data science
Wei Chen (opens in new tab), a senior researcher at Microsoft Research Asia, has been a visiting professor at Tsinghua University since 2007. He has helped design and launch several entry-level courses at Tsinghua, and he is a strong proponent of the new big data course.
“We certainly don’t expect this course to become a platform for its product promotion. Instead, it is being established to provide students with cutting-edge knowledge, to get them engaged in research and technology development, and to foster their ability to do research and experimentation,” he said.
Wei Chen, senior researcher at Microsoft Research Asia, talks with student.
Professor Chen pointed out that while the course will provide an academic understanding of big data, it will also introduce students to real-life cases of Microsoft big data research and applications. In addition, students will have the opportunity to conduct experiments using Microsoft Azure (opens in new tab), the company’s cloud-computing platform. He believes these practical, hands-on components distinguish this class from other big data courses.
Feeding the talent pipeline
Microsoft Research has a long tradition of collaborating with universities and has undertaken several initiatives to nurture the next generation of talented researchers. Since 2002, for instance, Microsoft Research Asia has hosted over 4,000 interns and carried out projects with more than 40 universities and institutes. The new big data course comes directly out of that tradition, and both Microsoft Research and Tsinghua University have high expectations for this collaboration. Professor Yao probably put it best, saying, “I believe this world-class course will give students a comprehensive understanding of big data and its knowledge structure, helping them reach their goals in future jobs and research.”
—Kangping Liu, Senior Research Program Manager, Microsoft Research Asia
Learn more