Dr. Sam Lau

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Sam Lau is an Assistant Teaching Professor at the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at the University of California, San Diego. He specializes in creating innovative learning interfaces in data science education. He is known for designing and teaching flagship data science courses at both UC Berkeley and UC San Diego. Among his notable contributions to the field is the development of the Pandas Tutor, a tool that has effectively served 40,000 learners annually. Lau is also the author of 'Learning Data Science: Data Wrangling, Exploration, Visualization, Modeling with Python', published by O’Reilly Media in 2023, which reflects his commitment to advancing data science education and practice.

Research Interests

Data Science Education Learning Interfaces Data Wrangling Data Visualization

Requirements for University of California, San Diego

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3
TOEFL
Total
Required:85
IELTS
Overall
Required:7
Duolingo
Overall Score
Required:120
Overall
Required:120
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in physical, biological, or earth sciences, mathematics, or engineering. Differential and integral calculus. One year of calculus-based physics with laboratory. One year of chemistry with laboratory.
Application Checklist
  • Statement of Purpose (max 2 pages)
  • Unofficial transcripts
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • Application fee ($135 domestic / $155 international)
Specialization Notes

Administered by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Curricular groups include Climate-Ocean-Atmosphere (COAP), Geosciences (GEO), and Ocean Biosciences (OBP).