-
The (exponential) thirst for data – The March 2024 Data Champions forum
The Data Champions were treated to a big data themed session for the March Data Champion forum, hosted at (and sponsored by) the Cambridge University Press and Assessment in their amazing Triangle building. First up was Dr James Fergusson, course director for the MPhil in Data Intensive Science, who described how the exponential growth in data accumulation, computing and artificial intelligence (A.I.) capabilities has led to a paradigm shift in the world of cosmological theorisation and research, potentially changing with it scientific research as a whole. As he explained, over the last two decades cosmologists have seen a rapid increase of data points on which to base their theorisation –…
-
What we can learn from the ‘promise and pitfalls of preregistration’ meeting
Dr Mandy Wigdorowitz, Open Research Community Manager, Cambridge University Libraries The promise and pitfalls of preregistration meeting was held at the Royal Society in March 2024. It was organised to address the utility of preregistration and initiate an interdisciplinary dialogue about its epistemic and pragmatic aims. The goal of the meeting was to explore the limitations associated with preregistration, and to conceive of a practical way to guide future research that can make the most of its implementation. Preregistration is the practice of publicly declaring a study’s hypotheses, methods, and analyses before conducting a research study. Researchers are encouraged to be as specific as possible when writing preregistration plans, detailing…
