What can you expect from Danish Data Science Academy in 2023? Managing Director Sofie Castella reveals some of the DDSA activities which are in the pipeline, and sends a special thank you to the data science community in Denmark.


Dear All,

First and foremost, I would like to thank you all for co-creating, shaping, and growing a Danish data science community. I am very thankful for all your enthusiasm, inputs, and ideas. From members of our board, panels and committees, participants at our events to our social media followers and readers of this – our very first – DDSA Newsletter. You all play an important role on the DDSA mission – to support a national collaborative network of data science experts across universities, public institutions, and industries, and to inspire and train the next generation of data scientists through educational, interdisciplinary, and collaborative activities.

Some of our first steps on this journey was awarding 10 talented young data scientists with a DDSA PhD Fellowship at our Grand Opening in June with more than 250 attendees. We had our first Pre-graduate Retreat with 60 participants, funded visit and travel grants and launched our Mentoring Programme. More than 3,000 people has attended in 29 DDSA-funded events, and we have reached 3,500+ followers on LinkedIn. In November, more than 300 data scientists participated in our two-day conference, Danish Data Science 2022, at Hotel Legoland. Final, but not least, we have established the DDSA organisation with more than 70 people within Danish Data Science, thank you!

Looking into 2023, I am thrilled about our upcoming activities which includes, but is not limited to, awarding the first 6 DDSA Postdoc Fellows and another 10 young DDSA PhD Fellows. We will provide a number of travel and visit grants relevant for Danish data science, offer another Pre-graduate retreat and create both a spring and an autumn edition of the Mentoring Programme. We will continue working towards growing the Danish data science community, with a particular focus on young researchers.

We are also thrilled to join forces with DIREC – Digital Research Centre Denmark and the Pioneer Centre for AI at our first shared national conference in 2023, with the goal of an annual recurring event. One of the strategic objectives of DDSA is to support network creation and knowledge sharing across data science in Denmark. With this joint meetup, we are creating a space for knowledge sharing across sub-fields and sectors within Danish research and development, thereby creating an essential framework towards establishing Denmark as a strong international player on AI, digital technologies, and data science.

Finally, a special thanks to The Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Villum Foundation for making it all possible. Also, a special thank you to our good friends and collaborators at Danish Cardiovascular Academy, Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy, Pioneer Centre for AI, Digital Research Centre Denmark, Algoritmer, Data & Demokrati and Danish Data Science Community.

Happy New Year, I’m looking forward to seeing you at DDSA activities in 2023.

All the best,

Sofie, Managing Director DDSA