Scholarships
CDS offers a limited number of tuition scholarships to select students admitted to the program. All applicants for admission are considered for these awards on a competitive basis. These scholarships cover a portion of the tuition costs for up to two years.
For more information on financial aid at NYU, visit NYU’s Financial Aid Page.
The CDS Pathbreaker Scholarship
We’re excited to launch the CDS Pathbreaker Scholarship. We are committed to fostering diversity and innovation in data science. To support this mission, we’re offering scholarships for six incoming Fall 2024 MS students, covering half the tuition for our Master’s of Science in Data Science degree. That’s 18 points of tuition and fees support.
Developed in collaboration with our DEI Committee, the scholarship aims to support talented students who may not have previously had the opportunity to pursue a graduate degree.
Students need only to apply for the CDS MS program to be automatically considered for the scholarship. While not mandatory, applicants who believe they qualify for the Pathbreaker are encouraged to highlight their experiences in the personal statement section of the MS application.
First-Generation College Student:
- If students are first-generation college students, then neither of their parents (or legal guardians) completed a bachelor’s degree (or the equivalent degree, if outside the United States).
Non/Post-Traditional Backgrounds:
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) outlines several characteristics of nontraditional [college] students, including:
- Undocumented/DACA student
- Delayed entry into college of at least one year following high school
- Having at least one dependent while pursuing associate/bachelor’s degrees
- Being a single parent while pursuing associate/bachelor’s degrees
- Full-time employment of at least 35 hours per week while pursuing associate/bachelor’s degrees
- Financial independence (for financial aid purposes – i.e., does not have a dependent status)
- Pursued an associate or bachelor’s degree part-time
- Pursued non-traditional educational pathways such as the GED instead of a regular high school diploma, or attended community college
- Veteran/military status
Yueh-Han Chen, CDS Pathbreaker Scholar, 2024-2025
Yueh-Han “John” Chen is originally from Taiwan. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Data Science from UC Berkeley and is thrilled to begin his master’s program at NYU CDS this fall. He is particularly excited about the opportunity to collaborate with some amazing NLP professors and join cutting-edge ML research groups at NYU. Yueh-Han’s long-term aspiration is to become a researcher in AI safety, alignment, and epistemics. In his free time, he enjoys walking and eating ramen, sushi, or pizza. Yueh-Han is also a big fan of Nathan Fielder.
Beisong Liu, CDS Pathbreaker Scholar, 2024-2025
Beisong was born in Songzi and grew up in Beijing, China. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computational Mathematics from UCLA, where he cultivated strong interest in deep learning. He also worked at DeepWise, a tech medical company integrating CV and DL technologies to provide AI diagnosis and solutions for healthcare providers. Beisong now looks forward to use his time at NYU to lay a solid foundation of artificial intelligence and explore the possibilities of how it can tackle real world challenges.
Shuen (Kerr) Tan, CDS Pathbreaker Scholar, 2024-2025
Shuen (Kerr) Tan was born and raised in Guangdong, China, before moving to the Bay Area for high school. As the first member of her family to attend college, she earned her B.A. in Data Science and International Relations from New York University. During her time in college, she developed a keen interest in Data Science, conducting research in computer vision and engaging in creative projects with machine learning. As part of the Break Through Tech program, Kerr actively collaborates with various organizations, including Guidehouse and the New York Botanical Garden, on diverse data science projects. Currently, she is interning at PepsiCo Inc. in the digital commerce department for the supply chain sector. Kerr is passionate about exploring the potential of artificial intelligence, with a goal of designing AI products that leverage these tools to benefit society.
DeepMind Scholarship Program for Underrepresented Students
CDS is thrilled to once again partner with DeepMind in offering a series of scholarships aimed at increasing representation of underrepresented students in higher education AI programs. Increasing representation in AI is a significant opportunity to bring diverse voices to the conversation, ultimately shaping continuing developments in AI as a technology that benefits everyone.
Obum Ekeke, University Relations and Educational Partnerships at DeepMind, said: “AI needs a diverse range of voices, perspectives, and talents, and these scholarships will empower students from underrepresented backgrounds to access master’s level study in AI.”
DeepMind selected New York University’s Center for Data Science as a pioneer not only in the rapidly developing field of data science but also as a leader in recruiting a diverse cohort of students and researchers (for the first time in 2019, CDS welcomed a majority-female cohort to its MS in Data Science incoming class). CDS is honored to be a part of this effort to enable the next generation of AI researchers and engineers, ultimately building a stronger and more inclusive AI community.
DeepMind was CDS’ first industrial partner, sponsoring over 20 CDS students to date. CDS DeepMind scholars are also offered support from a DeepMind mentor and have opportunities to attend leading AI academic conferences and DeepMind events.
For 2023 entry, two fully-funded master’s scholarships will be available for CDS students from backgrounds underrepresented in AI, including DeepMind mentoring support and a grant for academic conference travel. All MS applicants are reviewed for potential scholarship opportunities. Thus, in order to be considered for the DeepMind scholarship, applicants need only to apply to the program.
DeepMind is a leading artificial intelligence research company that aims to solve real-world problems and advance scientific discovery. For more information on their scholarship programs, please visit the DeepMind website.
Hejun Chen, CDS DeepMind Scholar, 2024-2026
Hejun was born in Fuzhou City, China. He eventually moved to New York City where he earned his undergraduate degree in Statistics & Quantitative Modeling at CUNY Baruch College. While at Baruch, he interned with organizations such as the American Red Cross, Nationwide Mutual Insurance, and EisnerAmper, and explored a wide range of data science applications in the industry. Through the MSDS program at NYU, he aims to build a stronger data sense and strengthen his technical skills, which will bring him closer to his career goal of working in the field of AI after graduation.
Mariam Abdullah, CDS DeepMind Scholar, 2023-2024
Upon obtaining her B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland, Mariam has pursued data roles in various industries. Subsequently, while a researcher at Activision Blizzard, her interests shifted from experimentation to behavioral prediction, drawing her to the ads space. She now looks forward to enriching her prior industry applications with a deeper theoretical focus on personalized ML.
Einstein Oyewole, CDS DeepMind Scholar, 2023-2024
Einstein was born in Lagos, Nigeria and grew up in Southern Ontario, Canada. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Data Science from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, where he cultivated a strong interest in data science, machine learning, and its applications. After graduation, he worked at Amazon Connect, Vancouver as a Software Engineer. Einstein’s aim is to use his time at NYU to explore the cutting edge of data science and artificial intelligence. His goal is to leverage these powerful tools in a way that makes the world enjoyable, efficient, and safer for everyone.
Kathleena Inchoco, CDS DeepMind Scholar, 2022-2023
Kathleena was born in Manila, Philippines and grew up in Fairfield, CT. In 2018, she graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. in Economics and minor in Mathematics. As an undergraduate, Kathleena enjoyed studying cross-disciplinary problems related to economics, ethics, and math. After college, she worked at the Brattle Group, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Morgan Stanley. Kathleena intends to use her time at NYU to delve more deeply into how data science can solve complex problems in our society.
Mary Nwangwu, CDS DeepMind Scholar, 2022-2023
Mary was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She earned her undergraduate degree in Bioengineering at the University of California, Riverside. After graduating, Mary worked as a research associate at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope. There, she utilized machine-learning-based software and statistical tools to analyze extensive sets of patient-based data to find correlations with clinical outcomes. Mary is enthusiastic about the opportunity the Fellowship presents and is passionate about advocating for the advancement of diversity in the tech industry.
Akram Reshad, CDS DeepMind Scholar, 2021-2022
Akram was born in Las Vegas, Nevada to two Ethiopian immigrants. Helping his community was always a big part of his childhood, as both his parents loved volunteering. He has always loved math and science from a young age. He has a passion for AI and data science because he believes it will be the future. Akram’s hobbies include reading books, playing chess, and playing basketball.
Fellowships
The Center for Data Science is proud to showcase the achievements of our exceptional students through various fellowships and awards. These prestigious recognitions, granted by both CDS and external organizations, highlight our students’ outstanding contributions to the field of data science. Fellowships provide financial support and unique opportunities for students to pursue advanced research and studies. They range from industry-sponsored programs like the DeepMind and Microsoft Research fellowships to academic honors such as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
ADEPTMIND FELLOWSHIP, Phu Mon Htut (2017)
CAPITAL ONE FELLOWSHIP, Caleb Lewis (2018), Tatenda Ndambakuwa (2018), Yada Pruksachatkun (2018), Nabeel Sarwar (2018)
CDS MEDICAL FELLOWSHIP, Lavendar Yao Jiang (2021), Yanqi Xu (2021)
DEEPMIND FELLOWSHIP, Etienne Dejoie (2017), Yassine Kadiri (2017), Hollis Nymark (2017), Ksenia Saenko (2017), Deja Bond (2018), William Falcon (2018), Micaela Flores (2018), Chris Ick (2018), Sheetal Laad (2018), Angela Lai (2018), Trevor Mitchell (2018), Irina Espejo Morales (2018), Esteban Navarro Garaiz (2018), Laureano Nisenbaum (2018), Nyla Ennels (2019), Khasi-Marc Jamieson (2019), Aishwarya Kamath (2019), Polina Kirichenko (2019), Lakshmi Menon (2019), Travis Trusty (2019), Sanae Lotfi (2020), Boyang Yu (2020), Lily Zhang (2020), Akram Reshad (2021), Joseph Stansil (2021), Kathleena Inchocho (2022), Mary Nwangwu (2022), Einstein Oyewole (2023), Mariam Abdullah (2023)
DEVRIES FELLOWSHIP, Jing Ping (2013), Joseph Sloan (2017), Mohamed Saad Lahlou (2017), Calliea Pan (2018), Dieter Erben Vasconcelos (2018), Alene Rhea (2019), Chinelo Ibekwe (2021), Sasha Richardson (2022), Muqiao Cui (2022)
GOOGLE PHD FELLOWSHIP, Nan Wu (2020)
MICROSOFT RESEARCH PHD FELLOWSHIP, Lucius Bynum (2023), Sanae Lotfi (2023)
NATIONAL DEFENSE SCIENCE & ENGINEERING GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP, Samuel Stanton (2018)
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP, Wesley Maddox (2017), William Falcon (2019), Michael Hu (2022), William Merill (2022), Claudia Skok Gibbs (2023)
NYU URBAN DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP, Chris Ick (2020)
WARNER MUSIC GROUP FELLOWSHIP, Matthew Agard (2020), Pedro Galarza (2020), Sasha Richardson (2021)
Featured Fellows
Darren Jian, CDS Warner Music Fellow, 2024-2025
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Darren Jian graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University in 2022 with dual degrees in Mathematics and Government. During his undergraduate studies, Darren researched the effects of restrictive voting laws on U.S. election turnout, specifically among marginalized voters. After graduating, he spent two years as a data analyst at Mathematica, where he used growth analytics and data visualizations to guide business operations. He is looking forward to studying at NYU CDS and exploring the potential of machine learning to address socioeconomic disparities across urban communities. In his free time, Darren enjoys cooking, listening to live music, and traveling to new places.
Muqiao (Ivy) Cui, CDS De Vries Fellow, 2022-2023
Muqiao (Ivy) was born in Anshan, China and moved to New York 6 years ago. She had several personal delays in her pursuit of her education, however, she finally earned her undergraduate degree at Baruch College majoring in Statistics and Quantitative Modeling and minoring in Mathematics. She keeps her dreams alive and wishes to show women’s power in the area of data science and to inspire more women to join the field. She is excited to have the opportunities to learn about and research AI and data science in the upcoming 2 years. Muqiao loves playing the piano, dancing, and traveling.
looks forward to use his time at NYU to lay a solid foundation of artificial intelligence and explore the possibilities of how it can tackle real world challenges.
Lavendar Jiang, CDS Medical Fellow, 2021-2022
Lavender Jiang is a senior at Carnegie Mellon, majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. Lavender Jiang is interested in geometric deep learning and its application in healthcare. In the past, Lavender had the pleasure of working on signal processing, neuroscience and robotics projects with Prof. José M.F. Moura, Prof. Pulkit Gover and Prof. Howie Choset. In her free time, Lavender enjoys cooking, bouldering, and playing video games.
Sasha Richardson, CDS Warner Music Fellow, 2021-2022
Sasha Richardson grew up in Jamaica and moved to the USA to attend college at 16. In 2021, she graduated magna cum laude from Fayetteville State University of North Carolina with a B.S. in Computer Science. As an undergraduate student, Sasha loved to explore knowledge in different areas of Computer Science, participating in research in bioinformatics, natural language processing, machine learning, and robotics. She also worked as an undergraduate learning assistant for the Introduction to Computer Science course. When she is not working or studying, she is spending time reading, being with family, and enjoying the outdoors.
Lily Zhang, CDS DeepMind Fellow, 2020-2021
“It’s an honor to be awarded the DeepMind Fellowship, and I’m especially excited to be joining such a vibrant, interdisciplinary community at CDS.”- Lily Zhang, CDS DeepMind Fellow 2020
Boyang Yu, CDS DeepMind Fellow, 2020-2021
“I’m so excited and grateful to be awarded the DeepMind Fellowship. The best thing about joining a supportive and inspiring community, such as CDS, is that we never run out of brilliant ideas. Just keep an open mind when going deep with data science.” — Boyang Yu, CDS DeepMind Fellow 2020
Khasi-Marc Jamieson, CDS DeepMind Fellow, 2019-2020
Born in Kingston Jamaica, Khasi-Marc graduated from Vassar College in 2016 with a Double Major in Mathematics and Economics. During his undergraduate studies Khasi-Marc focused my research on the impact of highly skilled and educated immigrant workers on the US economy. After graduating from Vassar College, he spent three years teaching Middle school Mathematics and Computer Science in Brooklyn, New York. He is thankful and excited for the opportunity to study at NYU thanks to the DeepMind Fellowship and intends to channel his passion for mathematics and programming into a career in data science.
Aishwarya Kamath, CDS DeepMind Fellow, 2019-2020
Aishwarya is originally from Goa in India and grew up in Dubai, U.A.E, where she completed most of my school education. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology In India.
Towards the end of her bachelor’s, she developed an interest in machine learning and was delighted to be accepted into the Computer Science Masters program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. There, she had the privilege of working with Professor Andrew McCallum, and with his support, she began exploring research in the field of natural language processing.
After graduating from UMass, she decided to experience working in industry and have been at the Machine Learning Research Group at Oracle Labs for the past year. In her capacity as a Machine Learning Engineer, she has been exposed to several interesting paradigms that are unique to industry and it has broadened her perspective on challenges in deploying machine learning algorithms in real environments. In the meanwhile, she continued to work on research projects and applied to PhD programs. She was thrilled to be accepted into the CDS PhD program at NYU and extremely honored and grateful for the DeepMind fellowship.