38-615 Computational Modeling, Statistical Analysis and Machine Learning in Science

12 units, Carnegie Mellon University

The purpose of this course is to provide a practical introduction to the core concepts and tools of machine learning in a manner easily understood and intuitive to STEM students. The course begins by covering fundamental concepts in ML, data science, and modern statistics such as the bias-variance tradeoff, overfitting, regularization, and generalization, before moving on to more advanced topics in both supervised and unsupervised learning. Students will choose a large dataset from a selection of biology, chemistry, math, or physics datasets hosted by PSC and use this dataset throughout the MS program. The topics of the course are taught with students analyzing the chosen dataset. An intensive knowledge of Python or another computing language is not a pre-prerequisite since students will be given at first simple scripts that they work with and then expand upon. Only students enrolled in the MS in Data Analytics for Science (MS-DAS) program are permitted to register for this course. Students not in the MS-DAS program should register for 09-615.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Fall 2026, Fall 2025

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