Data Matters 2026

Hosted by the The UNC Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Data Matters returns August 3–7, 2026, with a dynamic week-long virtual short course series. Created for students, industry professionals, and academic researchers across business, research, and government, Data Matters delivers an engaging, skills focused learning experience designed to elevate your data science capabilities and empower your work with data driven insights. 

This year’s lineup:

 Basics of R for Data Science and Statistics
 Introductory and Intermediate Data Visualization
 Introduction to Programming in R
 Introductory and Intermediate Python
 Exploratory Data Analysis Using R Markdown
 Overview to AI and Deep Learning
 Software Development Best Practices in R
 Deep Learning with Python
 Introduction to Machine Learning and Big Data for Social Science Research
 Statistical Machine Learning Using Python

Each 1-Day Class $150

Each 2-Day Class $250

Register now: https://odum.unc.edu/data-matters/