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Title
Brown University
Category
undergraduate
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f923c316473047fab27d143cef7b812f
Source URL
https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/undergraduatecertificates/dtfl/
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https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/undergraduatecertificates/
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2026-03-16T05:02:26+00:00
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Brown University

Source: https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/undergraduatecertificates/dtfl/ Parent: https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/undergraduatecertificates/

The Certificate in Data Fluency provides a formal pathway for undergraduates in concentrations other than applied mathematics, computational biology, computer science, math, and statistics (see details below) who wish to gain fluency and facility with the tools of data science. The driving intellectual question motivating certificate students is how we can infer meaning from data whilst avoiding false predictions. The required experiential learning component provides you with the opportunity to apply your data-science skills in applied settings, engage in research that uses data science, teach data science as an undergraduate teaching assistant, or undertake an internship that has a substantive data-science component.

As with all undergraduate certificates, the certificate has the following requirements:

Excluded Concentrations: Applied Mathematics, Computational Biology, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Statistics. This includes joint concentrations in these areas; for example, Applied Mathematics-Economics is also excluded. According to the certificate guidelines, a student’s concentration and certificate cannot have substantial overlap.

For more information on the Certificate in Data Fluency, please visit the Data Science Institute website.

Certificate Requirements

Certificate Requirements

Core Courses:
DATA 0080 Data, Ethics and Society 1
CSCI 0111 Computing Foundations: Data 1
or CSCI 0150 Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming and Computer Science
or CSCI 0170 Computer Science: An Integrated Introduction
or CSCI 0190 Accelerated Introduction to Computer Science
or CPSY 0950 Introduction to programming
DATA 0200 Data Science Fluency 1
Elective Course: Select one follow-up Applied Math, Biostatistics, Computer Science or domain-specific course with a significant data component from the following list (or another course with approval from the certificate advisor): 1
ANTH 1201 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis
APMA 1650 Introduction to Probability and Statistics with Calculus
BIOL 0495 Statistical Analysis of Biological Data
BIOL 1555 Methods in Informatics and Data Science for Health
BIOL 1565 Survey of Health Informatics
CPSY 0900 Statistical Methods
CPSY 1291 Computational Methods for Mind, Brain and Behavior
CPSY 1580C Visualizing Information
CSCI 1411 Foundations of AI
CSCI 1420 Machine Learning
CSCI 1450 Advanced Introduction to Probability for Computing and Data Science
CSCI 1470 Deep Learning
CSCI 1951A Data Science
DATA 1030 Hands-on Data Science
DATA 1150 Data Science Fellows 1
DATA 1500 Data Visualization & Narrative
ECON 1620 Introduction to Econometrics
ECON 1660 Big Data
EDUC 1230 Applied Statistics for Ed Research and Policy Analysis
ENVS 1105 Introduction to Environmental GIS
EEPS 1320 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications
EEPS 1330 Global Environmental Remote Sensing
EEPS 1340 Machine Learning for the Earth and Environment
HIST 1825J History of Artificial Intelligence
MATH 1210 Probability
MUSC 1210 Seminar in Electronic Music: Real-Time Systems
PHP 1501 Essentials of Data Analysis
PHP 1510 Principles of Biostatistics and Data Analysis
PHP 1560 Using R for Data Analysis
SOC 1020 Methods of Social Research
SOC 1100 Introductory Statistics for Social Research
SOC 1340 Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems
Capstone: 0-1
The required experiential learning component provides students with the opportunity to apply their data-science skills in their concentration, engage in research that uses data science, teach data science as UTAs, or undertake an internship that has a data-science component. The capstone may be completed for credit via an independent study course or not for credit. 2
Options for fulfilling this requirement include:
1. Participate in a Brown University credit experience (i.e. independent study).
2. Participate in a non-credit experience: summer Internship; TA for data-related course; work with a local organization on a data-related project. A 10-12 page reflective paper is required for this option.
3. Be a Data Science Fellow. 1
Total Credits 4-5

1 : Students may complete DATA 1150 and the concurrent Data Science Fellows project to fulfill both the elective and experiential components of the certificate.

2 : Students must submit a proposal for their experiential component by the end of the sixth semester.