Empowering Action: Lessons from India’s Data Capacity Accelerator for Climate and Health

BITS Pilani

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Inspiration to start the course and its alignment with larger goals of the university

BITS Pilani, with its strong reputation in interdisciplinary and applied technical education, sought to bridge critical gaps in data science education through two programmes:

  1. Undergraduate Minor in Data Science for Climate and Health (DSCH): Aimed at equipping undergraduate students with foundational and applied data science skills to tackle climate and health challenges. 
  2. Postgraduate Work-Integrated Learning Programme (WILP): Designed for working professionals to integrate advanced data science techniques into their domains. 

The programmes, detailed in the following sections, aligned with BITS Pilani’s commitment to leveraging education for real-world impact. The minor programme targeted undergraduate students with a keen interest in sustainability and public health, while the WILP sought to address gaps in professional technical skills. Both programmes emphasised interdisciplinary collaboration and applied learning, core to BITS Pilani’s academic ethos.

Key Stakeholders Contributing to the Conception of the Programme

The programmes benefited from the involvement of multiple departments, including Computer Science, Biological Sciences, and Humanities.

The minor programme also involved faculty from Computational and Mathematical Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Life Sciences and Humanities and Social Sciences. This was substantially new for the institute, in which minor programmes are typically offered by one or two departments. 

Additional contributions came from the Work-Integrated Learning Programme (WILP) office, which managed administrative approvals and programme structure for the postgraduate certification. 

The Programmes 

Undergraduate Minor Programme:

The DSCH minor worked like other undergraduate minor programmes (which allow undergraduate students to obtain a concentration in another area than their major disciplines), and were delivered in person, with some elements of hybrid learning delivered by the same faculty across different campuses. Each course is semester-long (4.5 months), requiring an undergraduate student to complete all the core courses and at least two electives over their bachelors’ programme spanning four years. It integrated theoretical knowledge with practical applications to prepare students for careers at the intersection of data, climate, and health.

BITS WILP Programme

 Postgraduate WILP Programme: 

The WILP curriculum was structured into four segments:

  • Refresher Modules: Covering Python, statistics, and introductory data science.
  • Techniques Modules: Advanced topics such as regression, classification, and deep learning.
  • Applications Modules: Data science applications in climate and health domains.
  • Capstone Projects: Real-world problem-solving aligned with participants’ professional domains.

The WILP approval process highlighted key challenges and delays in aligning institutional policies with external demands. Lessons from this process will inform smoother coordination for future programme launches. Even though approval for the rollout of WILP was obtained in 2023, the programme faced further delays in enrollment and has yet to launch, as of February 2025. The typical target audience WILP has been private sector mid-career professionals incentivised to upskill with an intent to transform into a new role with changing market demands. However, the WILP team wasn’t able to garner the same enthusiasm for talent in the impact space, showing how both these sectors are fundamentally quite different.

Early Learnings from Implementing the Programme

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Aspects

    • Despite offering scholarships for women, the diversity ratio remained consistently low with the institute’s overall composition.

    • Scholarships were not a deciding factor for undergraduates prioritising broad-based courses (linked to more flexibility while applying for their first jobs out of university) over short-term financial aid.

Sustainability Vision 

Reflections

Undergraduate students often weigh academic choices against external incentives like grades or employability. While some students chose the DSCH minor as a perceived easier alternative to traditional data science minors, others were genuinely drawn to the hands-on project opportunities, which provided practical exposure to real-world challenges. Feedback revealed that while foundational courses were appreciated, students sought more electives focused on areas with wider applicability like machine learning and AI. This underscored the need for programmes to balance academic rigor with broader skill sets that align with competitive job markets, while also leveraging unique, experiential elements to sustain interest.

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