University Catalog 2025-2026

EXPLORE PROGRAMSAPPLY

Data Science Foundations (Certificate)

This online/on-campus program is well suited for working professionals who have some formal training in Computer Science and/or Statistics and wish to acquire a basic understanding of data science. Whether to improve their on-the-job experience or career prospects, one can expect to acquire a basic understanding of data science through this certificate program. Applicants admitted to the certificate program can enroll part-time, completing one class per semester, or enroll full-time at 9 or 12 credit hours.  

Financial aid is not available through our program.  Interested applicants will need to review other means of assistance, if needed.

More Information

Data Science Foundations Program Website

Applicants are expected to have an accredited Bachelor of Science degree in either a sciences or engineering discipline, Computer Science or Statistics.  A minimum GPA of 3.0, on a 4-point scale, is also expected.  The GRE is not required for admission.

Applicant Information

  • Delivery Method: On Campus, Online, Hybrid
  • Entrance Exam: None
  • Interview Required: None

Application Deadlines

  • Fall: May 1
  • Spring: October 15

Certificate in Data Science Foundations

Required Courses6-9
Complete a minimum of two courses from "Core Courses" listed below
Elective Courses3-6
Complete minimum of one course from "Elective Courses" listed below
Total Hours12

Required Courses 

Select minimum of two courses from the following: 16-9
CSC 505
Design and Analysis Of Algorithms
CSC 541
Advanced Data Structures
ST 517
Applied Statistical Methods I
ST 563
Introduction to Statistical Learning

Elective Courses

Select minimum of one course from the following3-6
CSC 522
Automated Learning and Data Analysis 2
CSC 540
Database Management Concepts and Systems
CSC 591
Special Topics In Computer Science (Topics include: Data Driven Business Intelligence; Graph Data Mining; Spatial and Temporal Data Mining)
ST 540
Applied Bayesian Analysis
1

Students must take at least one ST and one CSC course

2

Credit cannot be given for both CSC 522 Automated Learning and Data Analysis and ST 563 Introduction to Statistical Learning

Faculty

Department Head

  • Gregory E. Rothermel, Professor

Distinguished Professors

  • Tiffany M. Barnes
  • Laurie A. Williams, Co-Director - NCSU Science of Security Lablet

Distinguished University Professor

  • James C. Lester II, Director of the Center for Educational Informatics
  • Michael A. Rappa, Director, Institute for Advanced Analytics

Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor

  • Georgios N. Rouskas, Director of Graduate Programs
  • Munindar P. Singh, Co- Director - NCSU Science of Security Lablet

Full Professor

  • Min Chi
  • Rada Y. Chirkova
  • Huaiyu Dai
  • Rudra Dutta, Associate Department Head
  • William H. Enck, Director of Wolfpack Security & Privacy Research (WSPR) Laboratory
  • Edward F. Gehringer
  • Xiaohui (Helen) Gu
  • Christopher G. Healey, Goodnight Distinguished Professor Analytics, Institute for Advanced Analytics
  • Steffen Heber
  • Timothy J. Menzies
  • R. Frank Mueller
  • Xipeng Shen
  • Matthias F. M. Stallmann
  • R. Raju Vatsavai

Associate Professors

  • Wesley K. G. Assunção
  • Dror Zeev Baron
  • Marcelo d'Amorim
  • Zhishan Guo
  • Khaled Harfoush
  • Arnav H. Jhala
  • Alexandros Kapravelos
  • Sandeep K. Kuttal
  • Xu Liu
  • Collin F. Lynch
  • Noboru Matsuda
  • Kemafor Anyanwu Ogan
  • Sharath Kumar Raghvendra
  • Bradley G. Reaves
  • David L. Roberts, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Programs
  • Alessandra Scafuro
  • Muhammad Shahzad
  • Donald R. Sheehy
  • Kathryn T. Stolee
  • Sharma Vallin Thankachan
  • Benjamin A. Watson
  • Wujie Wen

Assistant Professors

  • Samira Mirbagher Ajorpaz
  • Veronica M. Cateté
  • Anupam Das
  • Shiyan Jiang
  • Jung -Eun Kim
  • Chin Ho Lee
  • Jiajia Li
  • Jianqing Liu
  • Xiaorui Liu
  • Yuchen Liu
  • Yuan Liu
  • John-Paul Ore
  • Thomason W. Price
  • Dongkuan (DK) Xu
  • Dominik Wermke
  • Bowen Xu
  • Chenhan Xu
  • Man Ki Yoon
  • Ruozhou Yu

Teaching Professor

  • Sarah S. Heckman, Director of Undergraduate Programs

Teaching Associate Professors

  • Kimberly J. Titus
  • Tzvetelina (Lina) Battestilli
  • Jamie A Jennings
  • Jason T. King
  • Chandrika Satyavolu
  • Jessica Y. Schmidt
  • David B. Sturgill

Teaching Assistant Professors

  • Suzanne M. Balik
  • Abida Haque
  • Caio Batista de Melo
  • Alexander Card
  • Ignacio X. Dominguez
  • Adam Gaweda
  • Shuyin Jiao
  • Sterling M. McLeod

Lecturers

  • B. Jasmine Adams, Director of Undergraduate Advising
  • Scott Gerard
  • Margaret Heil, Director of Senior Design Center
  • ToniAnn Marini, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Advising

Research Professor

  • Franc Brglez

Assistant Research Professor

  • Bita Akram

Director

  • Leslie Rand-Pickett, Graduate Career Services

Emeritus Faculty

  • Dennis R. Bahler
  • Wu-show Chou
  • Jon Doyle
  • Edward W. Davis, Jr.
  • Robert J. Fornaro
  • Thomas L. Honeycutt
  • David F. McAllister
  • Harry Perros
  • Douglas S. Reeves
  • Woodrow Robbins
  • Carla D. Savage
  • William J. Stewart
  • Alan L. Tharp
  • David J. Thuente

Adjunct Faculty

  • Ram Chillarege
  • Aldo Dagnino
  • Steven Hunter
  • Chris Martens
  • Wookhee Min
  • Peng Ning
  • Christopher Parnin
  • Injong Rhee
  • Robert St. Amant
  • Xiaogang (Cliff) Wang
  • Tao Xie