Award 1: Data Science Faculty Fellowship
About the Fellowship
The Data Science Center will support two Faculty Fellows each academic year. Fellows are scholars who have demonstrated interest in data science and are motivated to contribute to a growing interdisciplinary community of researchers at the University of Wyoming. The fellowship is open to faculty in any discipline.
Each fellow will receive a discretionary fund of $7,500 to be used during the fellowship year to support travel, equipment, salary, software, data acquisition, student assistance, or other needs that advance their data science work.
Eligibility
- Open to all University of Wyoming faculty (tenure-track, tenured, and instructional) in any discipline.
- Applicants should have demonstrated prior engagement with data science through research, teaching, or service.
- Faculty who have completed a previous Data Science Center Fellowship within the last three years are not eligible to reapply during that period.
Application Materials
Applicants should submit the following to uwyo-soc@uwyo.edu with the subject line “Data Science Faculty Fellowship Application”:
- A current curriculum vitae or resume.
- A statement of previous data science activities (up to one page) describing your engagement in data science through research, teaching, and/or community engagement at the University of Wyoming or in your broader field.
- A statement of planned activities (up to one page) describing what you intend to pursue during the fellowship year and how the $7,500 discretionary fund will support this work. Applicants are encouraged to describe potential collaborators within or beyond the Data Science Center.
- An optional one-paragraph description of how your work connects to data science methods or domain applications, particularly if your home discipline is outside computing or statistics.
Fellowship Expectations
Data Science Faculty Fellows are expected to:
- Be active, engaged members of the Data Science Center community throughout the fellowship year.
- Contribute expertise to discussions around academic programming, research priorities, and strategic directions in data science at UW.
- Present a seminar on their data science work in the Data Science Center seminar series.
- Participate in at least one Data Science Center event, workshop, or community activity during the fellowship year.
- Be available for occasional informal mentorship or consultation with students and junior researchers engaged with the Data Science Center.
- Submit a short report (1–2 pages) at the end of the fellowship year summarizing outcomes, activities supported by the fellowship fund, and any publications, grants, or other outputs resulting from the fellowship.
Fellowship Funds
The $7,500 discretionary fund will be administered by the School of Computing. Funds may be expended in any manner compliant with UW regulations to support the outlined data science activities, including but not limited to:
- Domestic or international travel for research collaboration or conference presentation.
- Computing equipment, software licenses, or cloud computing resources.
- Data acquisition, storage, or processing costs.
- Summer salary or student worker support.
- Workshop attendance or professional development in data science methods.
The SoC Assistant Director for Business Operations should be notified of any significant changes to planned expenditures. All funds must be expended by June 30th of the fellowship year.
Award 2: Curriculum Development Award
About the Award
The Data Science Center Curriculum Development Award supports University of Wyoming faculty who wish to dedicate focused time to developing or substantially revising course materials that incorporate data science content, tools, or methods. The award will support faculty or graduate students, up to $5000. This is a separate award from the Faculty Fellowship described above; applicants may apply for both awards but will be evaluated independently for each.
The award is intended to support meaningful, substantive integration of data science into existing or new courses across the curriculum, not routine course updates. Priority will be given to proposals that will reach students in disciplines where data science exposure is currently limited, or that develop reusable open materials that benefit the broader university community.
Eligibility
- Open to all University of Wyoming faculty (tenure-track, tenured, and instructional) in any discipline.
- Faculty developing courses in fields where data science methods are not yet widely taught are especially encouraged to apply.
- Collaborative proposals involving faculty from more than one department are welcome.
Application Materials
Applicants should submit the following to uwyo-soc@uwyo.edu with the subject line “Data Science Curriculum Development Award Application”:
- A current curriculum vitae or resume.
- A course development proposal (up to two pages) that describes: the course or courses to be developed or revised; the specific data science content, tools, or methods to be incorporated; the student population to be served and the expected enrollment; a timeline for development and anticipated first offering; and how the award funds (including any summer salary requested) will be used.
- A brief statement (up to half a page) describing your current familiarity with data science methods relevant to the proposed course, and any support or professional development you may need.
Award Expectations
Curriculum Development Award recipients are expected to:
- Complete the proposed course development or revision within the award period.
- Offer the developed or revised course within one calendar year of receiving the award.
- Share developed materials with the Data Science Center for potential use in outreach, as examples, or as open educational resources (with the faculty member retaining authorship and copyright).
- Submit a short report at the end of the award period describing the materials developed, the courses affected, and lessons learned for future curriculum development efforts.
- Present or discuss their curriculum work at a Data Science Center event (e.g., a teaching showcase, seminar, or workshop).
Award Funds
Award amounts will be determined based on the scope of the proposed work and available funds. Summer salary support is available for faculty who will dedicate substantial summer effort to curriculum development. Awards will be administered by the School of Computing via the Assistant Director for Business Operations and are subject to standard UW regulations. All funds must be expended by June 30th of the award year.
Important Dates
Application deadline: June 15, 2026
Target date for decisions: June 30, 2026
Fellowship/Award period: August 1st – June 30th
End-of-year report due: June 30th, 2027
Applications for both awards are due simultaneously. Please indicate clearly in your subject line and application which award(s) you are applying for.
About the Trent and Mary McDonald Data Science Center Excellence Fund
Trent and Mary McDonald were both raised in Wyoming and graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1988 — Trent with a B.S. in Statistics and Computer Science, and Mary with a B.A. in Psychology. Trent went on to earn an M.S. in Statistics from New Mexico State University in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Statistics from Oregon State University in 1996. Mary further obtained an M.S.W. in 1992 from the University of Washington. Trent and Mary have three children, two of whom also graduated from the University of Wyoming.
Trent’s career has centered on innovative wildlife research, specifically through the application of statistics and data science. He worked with WEST, Inc., a Wyoming-based research company, from 1996 to 2020, at which time he founded McDonald Data Sciences, LLC. The Trent and Mary McDonald Data Science Center Excellence Fund reflects Trent’s and Mary’s deep commitment to the importance and relevance of applied data science, and their desire to support the work of faculty and students at the University of Wyoming.
How to Apply
Submit all materials to uwyo-soc@uwyo.edu. Use one of the following subject lines depending on which award you are applying for:
- “Data Science Faculty Fellowship Application”
- “Data Science Curriculum Development Award Application”
- “Data Science Faculty Fellowship and Curriculum Development Award Application” (if applying for both)
Questions may be directed to uwyo-soc@uwyo.edu. We encourage prospective applicants to reach out before the deadline if they have questions about eligibility or fit.
