The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on three data science communities

The goal of the Moore-Sloan Data Science Environments (MSDSE) program established jointly by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 2014, was to create positive conditions for data-driven discovery at academic institutions. The program funded three MSDSEs: the Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS) at the University of California Berkeley, the Center for Data Science (CDS) at the New York University, and the eScience Institute (eScience) at the University of Washington. While the program ended around 2019, the centers remain active. Abt Associates conducted an external evaluation of the MSDSE program. One of the key observations made by our team, as well as by ethnographers embedded in the centers, was the importance of the physical spaces where MSDSEs were housed to the growth of local data science communities. The COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the temporary closure of the centers, offered a unique opportunity to re-examine attitudes toward space among MSDSE scientists and staff. In addition, we explored the short-term and anticipated longer-term impacts of the pandemic on the professional norms, career plans, research programs, teaching style, collaborative networks, and other aspects of academic life and culture.Prepared for Joshua Greenberg, Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio