Institute for Data Science

AI-based methods for the benefit of society and economy.

Our interdisciplinary computer science institute develops artificial intelligence methods for projects that address real societal challenges. In collaboration with external partners, we develop new AI-based solutions in various sectors of society, including the economy, health, environment, and space sciences.

Our researchers teach in the Data Science and Computer Science programs. This provides students with the opportunity to participate in top-tier, international research projects.

Competencies

Machine Learning

Classification and regression models, predictive modeling, time series analysis, recommendation systems, deep learning

Natural Language Processing

Topic modelling, sentiment analysis, text analysis and generation, speech recognition

Exploratory Data Science

Explorative data analysis, descriptive statistics, data visualization, analysis of (social) networks

High Performance Computing

Parallelisation on distributed systems, performance optimisation in the use of GPUs, hybrid computing, design and construction of infrastructures for data management and processing

Image Analysis and Image Processing

Image reconstruction, image segmentation, object recognition, data compression and dimension reduction

Fields of competence

Cooperation with business and industry

Interesting opportunities for cooperation

Astroinformatics and Space Sciences

Digital society

Selected projects

STIX for Solar Orbiter

The Spectrometer / Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) is an X-ray telescope that makes images and spectra of solar explosions called flares. It is one of the ...

to STIX for Solar Orbiter

Yooture - The app for job seekers

The School of Engineering FHNW has developed an elaborated matching method for the innovative start-up Yooture.

to Yooture - The app for job seekers

Compressed Sensing for Solar Flares

For the RHESSI satellite we develop an algorithm to reconstruct X-ray images of solar flares.

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FHNW Myosotis Garden

Playing games with elderly people can be fun. It can facilitate communication between people from different generations.

to FHNW Myosotis Garden

IRIS Big Data

Machine learning methodology to detect, analyse and possibly predict solar flares from data provided by NASA's space telescope IRIS.

to IRIS Big Data

Optimizing hydro power plant maintenance planning

The School of Engineering FHNW has developed a method to support operators of AXPO hydro power plants.

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SySTEM2020: Connecting Science Learning Outside The Classroom

Research participant recruitment, data collection and mapping STEAM initiatives in Switzerland.

to SySTEM2020: Connecting Science Learning Outside The Classroom

kennwerte.ch: Web application for estimating construction costs

An innovative solution for the estimation of characteristic values for the construction and real estate industry for the start-up company ‘kennwerte ag’.

to kennwerte.ch: Web application for estimating construction costs

Euclid Space Telescope – dark energy and dark matter

A software infrastructure that enables efficient and robust pipeline processing of the vast amount of data in distributed processing sites.

to Euclid Space Telescope – dark energy and dark matter

DrugSafety: Semi-automated reporting of side effects of drugs

A system for extracting relevant information from medical reports in order to report side effects of drugs semi-automatically to the responsible authorities.

to DrugSafety: Semi-automated reporting of side effects of drugs

Speech Recognition for Swiss German

The FHNW Institute for Data Science is working on speech recognition technology to transform speech in various Swiss dialects to Standard German text.

to Speech Recognition for Swiss German

Projects with partners from the industry

Price prediction in the real estate market (construction costs, insurance prices, bid prices, rental prices etc.)
Recommender system for job placement solutions, auction platforms, investment instruments etc.
Chatbots for various industries
Automatic processing of medical documents (e.g. side effects of medication)
Predictive logistics management (for seasonally fluctuating business segments)
Algorithms for image reconstruction in Astrophysics and image segmentation in Neuroscience
Data processing pipeline development spanning multiple European supercomputing facilities
Prediction of customer churn to stabilize business performance
Predictive modeling to identify client potential for cross-selling
Optimization of industrial production planning