Images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features galaxies that are all hosts to both Cepheid variables and supernovae
Image credit: NASA, ESA

The Astronomy + Data Science major incorporates simultaneously a strong foundation in Data Science and Astronomy. The field of Astronomy is being transformed by the advent of large astronomical data sets. For example, astronomers are about to be awash in data in a way that has been unheard of to date with the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, to which Illinois is an important contributor.

Graduates of the Astronomy + Data Science program will learn how to work with modern large data sets using current computational and statistical methods, with a strong grounding in data curation and ethics. These skills are transferrable to the many jobs and careers that need workers who can handle and communicate about data across the knowledge economy, such as agribusiness, computing, education, engineering, finance, government, insurance, marketing, medicine, supply chain, and many more.