Designed and delivered by researchers and guests at the University of Cambridge, the Cambridge Data Schools are intensive, application-only programmes made for individuals committed to engaging critically with digital and analogue data.
Our programmes offer enriched and expanded access to the tools, methods and methodologies required to investigate data meaningfully, and currently encompass three key strands – cultural heritage data; social data; and teaching – with further offerings in development.
Each curriculum involves hands-on workshops and critical and conceptual activities which invite participants to scrutinise current ways of doing data collection, analysis and investigation, and audience engagement and interaction.
Collaborating with journalists, investigators, activists, educators, curators, artists, academics, librarians, gallerists and beyond, successful applicants are invited to join a dynamic community of practitioners, working in corresponding fields across the world, to develop more meaningful strategies and methods for working with (and sometimes against) data(fication).
In an era dominated by misinformation, hype and conspiracies – such as the ‘Dead Internet Theory’ – collaborating across borders and disciplines to develop such strategies is increasingly urgent. But how do we work in such an era? How do we form solidarity and actionable understandings in the face of noise and hype?
The Data Schools aim to provide a space where we can work together to answer these questions and create new approaches to our work with data which are fit for the urgencies we all face.
The following Data Schools are planned with exciting new curriculums and further formats to be announced:
- In-person Cultural Heritage Data School (April 2026): Applications Closed
The Cultural Heritage Data School brings together participants from academia and the wider Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums and Arts (GLAMA) sectors to critically explore a range of methods and practices used to create, visualise and analyse digital archives and collections and engage audiences with them.
The curriculum will be structured around an array of experience design approaches, including prototyping digital and analogue games; interactive performance; co-design workshops; Worldbuilding in 3D with the industry standard software, Blender, as well as with recycled materials and found objects to create interactive stories about cultural heritage data.
Confirmed dates: 13 – 17 April 2026
- Teaching and Learning Critically in an Age of Generative AI Data School (July 2026): Applications Open
Deadline: 26 April 2026
How can we ensure that our teaching and learning remain grounded in reality and alert to the ecological, social and educational implications of artificial intelligence systems? How can we teach these potentially complex subjects and processes to diverse learners? How can we better understand these processes ourselves – as teachers, educators, leaders and learners?
Teaching and Learning Critically in an Age of Generative AI is a brand new course offering in the Cambridge Data Schools suite that investigates these timely questions.
Please note, applicants must be able to attend all dates of this Data School:
- 14 – 15 July 2026 (in person at the University of Cambridge)
- 21 July (online all day)
- 28 – 29 July (in person at the University of Cambridge)
Apply for the Teaching and Learning Data School via the application portal by 26 April 2026
- In-person Social Data School (September 2026)
The Social Data School is an application-only intensive teaching programme held in Cambridge structured around the life-cycle of a digital research project, covering principles of research design, data collection, cleaning and preparation, methods of analysis and visualisation, and data management and preservation practices. The Social Data School includes modules exploring the challenges to data protection principles in a world where networked surveillance is fast becoming the norm. We will also analyse the social and cultural impact of recent advances in machine learning-driven systems for classifying and generating images and texts and discuss and deploy data-intensive methods for analysing disinformation on social media platforms.
Confirmed dates: 7 – 11 September 2026
Call for applications to follow
- Constituent Data School
We are also launching the Constituent Data School, which exists as a set of principles followed up by events and publications, aiming to activate the Data School as a space where ideas and data practices are gathered and questioned and all participants are ‘active members of a constituent body, whom it facilitates, provokes, inspires and learns from’ (Bryne et al, 7, 2018).
Call for papers to follow. To find out more about this opportunity, please contact the convenor.
- Cambridge Festival 2026: Data School Taster Workshop
What is data? What isn’t data? Where does it come from and what can we do with it? During this free taster workshop, we will collectively devise and implement a participatory data collection and data visualisation project, on themes that will be decided among participants. We might gather data about local trees, water quality, transport, arts, history, activism… whatever the group decides is important and interesting. We will then explore how to gather and represent appropriate data using physical and digital methods.
The in-person workshop will also explore the history of data visualisation and critically examine ways in which it might deceive or elucidate, while acknowledging that data collection and visualisation is always an act of interpretation. Participants will leave the workshop with a greater sense of what CDH (Cambridge Digital Humanities) Data Schools involve, and what happens when materials, ideas, arts and data sciences are brought together to generate new forms of knowledge.
Confirmed date: Saturday 28 March, 12:30 – 15:30 (UK time), University of Cambridge. This workshop has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. Ticket holders have been informed via Eventbrite.
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Reflections and Responses from Data School Alumni
Roni Satria, CNN Indonesia Correspondent (SDS 2025)
How can it be, that the more knowledge I gather, the more I realize my thirst is unquenchable?
This week at the Cambridge Social Data School 2025 has sharpened my grasp of how digital investigations truly work, rigorous, and thought-provoking! It also reaffirmed my commitment to AI is not just rhetoric; I walk the talk, step by step, experiment by experiment.
Between the intensive sessions, the riverside walks, and the serene mornings framed by centuries-old colleges, I found myself unexpectedly falling in love with Cambridge. The beauty of Cambridge doesn’t just decorate the learning, it amplifies it, making every idea feel more alive, every debate more meaningful. I realized how much Cambridge has etched itself into my memory.
Thank you to Dr Eleanor Dare, the course convenor and the entire cohort for the insights, exchanges, and shared journey that made this experience unforgettable.
Last month, I completed the Social Data School at Cambridge Digital Humanities — a competitive and intensive programme on using data for social good.
It was an incredible learning experience filled with insightful lectures, hands-on work, and inspiring conversations. I’m very grateful to the organizers — especially Dr Eleanor Dare — and to all the lecturers for creating such a rich space for learning and exchange.
The week was packed with fascinating topics — from tracing where laptop components come from, to practicing Python, exploring Gephi, and so much more.
Read Valentyna’s LinkedIn post
Nayara Fernandes, Digital Journalist
It’s inspiring to see how the discussions from the Social Data School at Cambridge Digital Humanities keep resonating through new projects and reflections around the world. Since then, I’ve been exploring how Artificial Intelligence intersects with communication, media literacy, and gender equality. These themes shaped much of our conversations during the programme and were also central to the project I developed at Cambridge, which I continue to investigate with great interest.
Shweta Kothari, Anchor & Senior Editor at News9
Earlier this month, I was selected to be part of the September 2025 cohort of Cambridge University’s Data School. The program focused on AI infrastructure, investigative methodologies, and critical analysis of artificial intelligence. With full-day classes, hands-on learning, group projects, and expert lectures, it was intense and incredibly rewarding. I was expecting nothing less from [Cambridge University].
See Shweta’s Instagram post below:
