It’s a January tradition for Hunter Computer Science department — sending a group of Hunter College undergraduates to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a week for its esteemed Quantitative Methods Workshop. Each year, Hunter computer science faculty members Susan Epstein and Saad Mniemneh, along with Biology Professor Weigang Xiu, choose a group of students to send to the workshop, where they learn to collect and analyze numerical data and use statistics for research.
The students spent a week at MIT, soaking in knowledge from neuroscientists, cancer researchers, and regenerative-medicine specialists while honing their research interests with the professors.
“The experience was truly transformative for the students,” said Epstein, an interdisciplinary scholar who has worked since 2011 with Professor Mandana Sassanfar of MIT’s Biology Department to develop opportunities for Hunter undergraduates. “They all returned exhilarated, inspired, and with a remarkable sense of purpose. They are now more interdisciplinary in their thinking and are excited to apply their newfound skills and techniques to their respective fields.”
Student Nicholas Cheung, a senior, said spending the week with heavy hitters at QMW made the saying “computer science is applicable to every field” click for him.
"It was not until I had the pleasure of obtaining first-hand experience with using Python to solve these complex biology research questions, that I started to truly grasp the extent of that statement,” Cheung said.
Sarah Khaldi, also a senior, said that even sharing lunch with MITers was an experience she will never forget.
“I had the chance to discuss one of my greatest interests, artificial intelligence and its ethical applications, with these professors. It made me realize how essential diversity in background and education is for fostering creativity and driving success in research,” she said.
Epstein said QMW is an invaluable opportunity for Hunter students. In fact, some Hunter alumni of the program also return to QMW to teach sessions at the conference.
“It allows them to broaden their horizons, learn about research, and it changes their lives. The Center for Quantitative Biology heavily subsidizes QMW, but its partner schools must also contribute,” she said. Epstein thanked President Nancy Cantor for supporting the program.
