RI Masterclasses in Data Science 2026

Lobby of the Warwick Statistics Department

RI Masterclasses in Data Science

What are the Royal Institution Masterclasses at Warwick?

Ri masterclasses at Warwick are an exciting opportunity for young people to explore the fascinating worlds of data science, mathematics and engineering. Through hands-on, interactive workshops we aim to raise students' enthusiasm and nurture their continued engagement with STEM disciplines.

What are the Ri Masterclasses in Data Science?

Whatever we do, from online shopping and social media to using music and podcast services or browsing the internet, data is collected.
Data science is concerned with turning this data into actionable knowledge, improving decision making and solving real-life problems.

The Warwick Ri Masterclasses in Data Science is a new series that was established in 2025.

Each masterclass consists of an interactive workshop that explores an aspect or method in data science including modern statistics and probability theory and is delivered by academics and students from the Department of Statistics.

Successful students will attend the Saturday morning Masterclasses at the Department of Statistics, at the University of Warwick in the spring term. These classes start on 31st January 2026 and finish with a celebration event on 21st March 2026. Teachers and families are invited to this celebration event.

Inspiring talks
Subject experts
Labs and hands-on sessions

Can students from my school get involved?

For Teachers: local schools (within easy transport to Coventry) are invited to nominate up to 5 pupils from Year 10, attempting to ensure a mix of genders in the group of nominated students.

How to register?

If you are a parent, you will have to fill in an online registration form with your contact details and medical information.

Application for the Ri Masterclasses in Data Science 2026 are now open.

Complete the application form

For any information, please get in touch by contacting: francesca.basini.1@warwick.ac.uk

When are the Masterclasses taking place?

The dates for the Ri Masterclasses 2025 Series are:

Saturday mornings January 31st, February 7th, February 28th, March 7th, March 14th and March 21st.
Please note there is a two week break over the February half term.

What will each Masterclass be about?

The sessions that have provisionally been organised for Spring 2026 are listed below*:

Session Title	Led by	Date
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics: an Exploration of Statistical Fallacies Data is not the be all and end all when it is misused or misapplied. Sometimes this misuse is accidental, but other times it is intended to deceive. In this session, we will discover various ways data can be used to lie or support incorrect assertions, along with methods to help identify and uncover the deception.	Dr. Conor Hughes	31/01/2026
*From Puzzles to Machines that Learn: a Journey through the History of AI* What is Artificial Intelligence, and how did it all begin? In this session, we’ll take a fun tour through the history of AI: from the early days when computers were taught to solve puzzles and play games, to how they began using knowledge and reasoning, and finally to today’s world of machine learning.	Dr. Yudong Chen	07/02/2026
Do you wish to stay on top of your game? Game Theory, Strategy and Cooperative Behaviour Game theory is a broad area of mathematics with multiple applications, including economics, finance, computer science, politics, etc. It sometimes appears in films as well, a notable example being the film A Beautiful Mind, about the mathematician John Nash. In this session, we will introduce game theory, and will illustrate notions such as strategies, payoffs, Nash equilibria.	Dr. Miryana Grigorova	28/02/2026
*Rolling into Probability and Statistics: an Introduction through Games of Chance* We will explore some fundamental concepts in Probability and Statistics with some hands-on activities and games involving flipping coins and rolling dice.	Dr. Andi Wang	07/03/2026
*Introduction to Classification* Classification is the practice of assigning data to different categories, and is a fundamental question in data science across multiple domains. For example, how do financial institutions decide whether they should loan money to an individual or not, based on the person's financial credentials? How does automated handwriting recognition software decide what letter of the alphabet you have written? Judging from a patient's medical record, at what point should doctors decide the patient is at risk of a heart attack in the next twelve months, and so medical intervention is necessary? In this mini masterclass, we will discuss some of the common mathematical techniques applied to all of these problems, and how the effectiveness of various classification algorithms is evaluated.	Dr. Paul Skerritt	14/03/2026
*Mini Masterclass: Crash, Boom, Stats! Designing Experiments in the Car Sector* How do statistics help save lives? In this workshop, we’ll explore the role of experimental design in testing automobile airbags. Drawing on real-world industry experience, the speaker will show how statistical methods guide safer, smarter, and more efficient testing—from planning trials to interpreting resuls.	Prof. Tim Davis	21/03/2026
Celebration Event (Families welcome)

* note there may be some changes to the final plans.

More interested in Maths or Engineering?

Royal Institution Mathematics and Engineering Masterclasses are held at Warwick on the same dates as above.

Click the links below to find out more about the other streams.

Maths Masterclasses for Year 9 and 12 Engineering Masterclasses for Year 9