Vitali Sikirzhytski describes his work as “nonstop.”
As director of the microscopy core in the College of Pharmacy, Sikirzhytski processes and analyzes large datasets every day, using a combination of artificial intelligence, algorithms and advanced statistics. He’s also an avid user of DataCamp, a learning platform available to USC faculty and staff that offers instruction in a wide range of data skills.
Though Sikirzhytski is experienced with AI, the integrated learning platform has expanded his understanding of what the field has to offer, allowing him to explore new tools that he can use to interact with data.
It’s critical in his line of work. “We are dedicated to public health and human health through pharmacy, including landscaping for new drugs, the development of new drug delivery systems. Almost all these projects use microscopy, which gives you datasets terabytes in size,” he explains. “You have to process this data. A manual approach is not possible in terms of the amount of data and the complexity of tasks. Extracting information requires very comprehensive data processing and AI.”
Sikirzhytski uses Python-based tools to work with microscope-generated images, including Napari, PyTorch and TensorFlow, but he’s always looking for new platforms to expand the scope of his research. That’s why he’s been working through DataCamp’s Python courses systematically, developing knowledge and skills to adapt to an evolving field.
“We are waiting for a new super-resolution microscope which will provide even more data for processing. It will require even more complex approaches,” he says. “Our need for AI tools for big data and computations is really exploding.”
We are excited to make this tool available to our faculty so they can build skills in new technologies that will help them advance their research.
Carolyn Harmon, professor of nursing informatics and director of Healthcare Leadership, Nursing Informatics and Nursing Education programs in the College of Nursing, is another DataCamp enthusiast who likes to start each day with a couple of lessons.
She enjoys the bite-sized structure of the lessons, which she can fit into any day, and the way lessons are set up with a three-to-one ratio of hands-on activities and questions to video-based instruction for effective learning and retention. Harmon is learning about data literacy on DataCamp and plans to focus on R and Python next to better understand the finer numerical details of her data, a task currently left to statisticians. Most recently, she completed the AI Fundamentals course to build a strong foundation of knowledge in artificial intelligence history and basics.
Informatics nurses use data-informed, real-time decision-making in patient care, which requires a certain level of discretion in AI use that Harmon aims to teach her students. “I became a nurse because of my grandfather passing away because of a mistake,” Harmon says. “I want my students to use the tools and be innovative, but I don’t want them to lose their critical thinking skills and blindly believe things. This is going to change the future of health care, and we need to know this to remain relevant in our teaching and research.”
Get started with DataCamp
With over 400 courses available, in addition to career and skill tracks, there are lots of ways to get started on DataCamp—so many, in fact, that it can be hard to know where to start. Follow one of the five below paths into DataCamp to make the most of its career-advancement opportunities.
Find your path into DataCamp
DataCamp curates a page for its most popular topics, with offerings across various formats exploring areas including artificial intelligence, data engineering, business intelligence and Cloud. You can take standalone courses or enroll in tracks that progress through pre-determined courses to build skills in specific areas.
According to our DataCamp colleagues, the most popular course is Introduction to ChatGPT, which was recently refreshed with more prompt-writing activities to help users develop their skills through real-world use cases.
Here are some of DataCamp’s popular options:
- Understanding prompt engineering
- AI ethics
- Understanding Cloud computing
- Introduction to Java
- Advanced Excel functions
- Developing Large Language Models
DataCamp offers adaptive assessments that evaluate your current skills in a particular topic, adapting prompts to your responses to deliver personalized recommendations for courses and tracks that fit your needs. In just ten minutes, you can take one of 28 different assessments to find out where you stand.
Through DataCamp, users can earn three types of certifications. These certifications provide an opportunity to develop valuable career skills that will help you level up your career and enhance your resume at low or no cost.
- Technology certifications: prove your knowledge in specific technologies to earn additional
credentials or demonstrate competence.
- Free partner certifications: KNIME Analytics basic proficiency, Alteryx Designer Core
- Partner exams: AWS Cloud Practitioner
- Discounted partner exams: Microsoft Azure fundamentals (50% off), Exam PL-300 Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst (50% off), GitHub foundations (75% off)
- Prepare with DataCamp: Tableau Certified Data Analyst
- Created by DataCamp: SQL Associate, Python Data Associate
- Career certifications: boost your career by demonstrating your ability to perform in key data roles, including data analyst, data scientist, data engineer and AI engineer for data scientist.
- Fundamentals certifications: showcase knowledge of foundational concepts in Data Literacy or AI Fundamentals.
DataCamp offers a risk-free sandbox training environment that allows users to work with real-world data without compromising the security or integrity of their own data.
- Try your hand at real world projects: Users can use data notebooks and BI applications to apply knowledge to one of 164 real scenarios, testing or refining understanding of their data knowledge.
- Join weekly Code along sessions: Users can work through one of 148 real world problems from start to finish with
instructor guidance.
- Learn techniques to analyze and visualize data, design dashboards and understand various features used for business reporting within Tableau.
- Practice using PivotCharts and PivotTables in Excel to visualize sales data.
- Build chatbots with long-term memory using OpenAI API and Pinecone.
DataCamp’s dynamic leaderboard provides a real-time snapshot of the top users at USC, changing with each experience point earned. Once you have registered and set up your profile, you can explore the leaderboard and challenge your peers to a friendly competition.
Register now for free and download the mobile app.
You can activate your DataCamp account by entering your university-affiliated email address and going through the USC single sign-on (SSO) screen. Registration and login are also available via the mobile DataCamp app, offered through both Apple and android.