University of Science and Technology
Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology
A proposal for Founding a Data Science
Research Center (DSRC)


1. Introduction
Data Science has emerged as one of the most popular fields of the 21st Century.
Companies employ Data Scientists to help them gain insights into the market and to
better their products.
The Data Science Research Center (DSRC) at the University of Science and
Technology (UST) is founded in March 2022 to bring together a multidisciplinary
group of data scientists in Sudan. The center will focus on encouraging theoretical
and practical research in business intelligence, machine learning, big data, and data
mining. The center will work to build capacity in applying data science methods and
tools to a variety of fields such as machine learning, business analytics, artificial
intelligence, computer vision, cyber security, social network analysis, computational
biology, bioinformatics, precision medicine, digital health, and natural language
processing.
Our Data Science Research Centre (DSRC) is aiming to explore ways to manage,
process, analyze and obtain intelligence from this data for maximum impact. It
features high–performance computing facilities and a state–of–the–art data
visualizations laboratory. It is a hub where students, researchers, and industry
partners can use advanced immersive visualization technologies and interact with
big data sets.
Our data science research center works with businesses, organizations, and other
research disciplines to help them gain insights from their data.
Based on the current impact of data science and its future projection, we believe that
UST has significant potential to contribute to the well–being of Sudanese citizens
and the world community by becoming an internationally renowned leader in data
science research.
2. Vision Statement
Our vision is to:
“Make UST data science research center a focal point for a data science research
in Sudan for academia and business sectors”.
3. Mission Statement
Our mission is:
1– To advance the data science research in Sudan through research in core data
science areas.

2
2– To apply data science methods and techniques to a wide range of fields of
science, health, business, and engineering through collaboration with
intended experts from these fields.
3– To educate new generations and build national capacity in data science
through enhancing programs of study at undergraduate and graduate levels.
4. Objectives
Our objectives are:
1– Extending and deepening high–quality research in the core areas of data science
2– Supporting collaboration between scientists in the core areas of data science and
3– Expanding the capabilities of data scientists for new interdisciplinary
collaborations).
4– Encouraging and supporting collaboration with public institutions and
organizations as well as private companies.
5– Providing technical support for Center members (high computational servers,
cloud services, etc.).
6– Providing teaching support to undergraduate and graduate programs in data
science and related courses.
7– Supporting funding domain–specific databases for researchers and students.
5. Center Members
The current list of the center members is shown below, including 12 faculty members
from 10 different departments of all UST faculties (Engineering, Medicine,
Pharmacy, Business, and Laboratory Science).
No Title Name Department Main Research
Interest(s)
1 Prof. Noureldien A. Noureldien Computer Science Machine Learning
2 Prof.
3 Dr. Abdel Hameed Salih Computer Science Image Processing
4 Dr. Diaeldeen Mustafa Computer Science NLP
5 Dr. Hassan Fadlalla Computer Science Machine Learning
6 Ust. Yousef Haroun Computer Science Data Mining
7
8
9
10

3
6. Our Future Work
Our data science research center can help organizations modernize data processes,
solve problems before they arise, and target customers and clients more effectively.
We will work with public–sector organizations from hospitals to government
authorities, and with businesses including the financial sector and engineering
companies.
We also offer researchers from other disciplines facilities to use advanced
computing techniques and data analysis tools.
7. List of Required Equipment and tools
A Data Scientist is responsible for extracting, manipulating, pre–processing, and
generating predictions out of data. To do so, a data science lab that contains many
equipment and tools is a must. Equipment and tools include:
– High–performance computing machines.
– Statistical programming languages: R and Python. For some seriously heavy
number–crunching, there are Hadoop–based tools like Hive. RStudio Server, Open–
source Jupyter.
– Machine learning: tools including h2o.ai, TensorFlow, Apache Mahout, and
Accord.Net.
– Visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, Bokeh, Plotly, and Infogram.
Every data science lab needs at least one:
Data Scientist: The person who is responsible for creating and refining models that
can make data predictions or detection, the data scientist plays a pivotal role in the
success of a data lab.
Business Analyst: A business analyst supplies the soft skills necessary to understand
business entities and their customers. The business analyst can help in d direct
researchers toward high–priority data projects and help decide ch problems to solve
first.
Data Engineer: A data engineer works with the raw data and then organizes and
transforms it so it is usable by the data scientist for creating program algorithms that
accomplish project goals. They are also tasked with making sure the data is accurate
and relevant, and that their operation complies with governance rules and
regulations.
8. List of Proposed Actions
Here, we list the actions that have to be taken immediately by UST high
administration to establish the DSRC.
8.1 Hiring Faculty Members
The center must assist various departments in finding new high–quality faculty
members who are working in the core and the related areas of data science.
Why: This action is designed to achieve objective no. 1.

4
8.2 Installation of Research Labs
The center must build new highly equipped research labs focusing on specific core
and related areas of data science.
Why: This action is designed to achieve all objectives 1, 2, and 3.
8.3 Collaboration with Other Interesting Parties
The center must support collaboration in research projects involving researchers
from other academic institutes, businesses, or industries.
Why? This action is designed to achieve objective no. 2.
8.4 Data Science Networking Activities
The center must organize scientific activities such as seminars and workshops that
strengthen relationships between data science community members.
Why: This action is designed to achieve objectives no. 2 and 3.
8.5 Interdisciplinary collaboration in data science
The center should support interdisciplinary research projects involving researchers
from at least one related area of data science.
Why: This action is designed to achieve objective no. 3.
8.6 Collaboration with Government and Industry
The center has to encourage and support collaboration activities such as joint
conferences and seminars with the government and industry.
Why: This action is designed to achieve objective no. 4.
8.7 Computational infrastructure
The center must provide state–of–the–art computational infrastructure to the Center
members.
Why: This action is designed to achieve objective no. 5.
8.8 New courses development
The center should support the development of new interdisciplinary data science
courses aimed at students from multiple departments and faculties.
Why: This action is designed to achieve objective no. 6.
8.9 Data Accessibility
The center must support funding domain–specific databases.
Why: This action is designed to achieve objective no. 7
7.10 Public Outreach
The data science research center must organize events for the general public such as
seminars and conferences.
Why: This action is designed to achieve objective