Office Hours & Consultations
DataLab offers no-fee research consultations and drop-in office hours during which University researchers can obtain help and advice on theoretical and technical matters relating to data science and working with data. We meet with faculty, students, postdoctoral scholars, and staff from all domains across the University.
The DataLab is prepared to help at any stage of your data pipeline, from data collection and cleaning to final visualizations. However, we are unable to help with technical problems such as software or hardware issues. For this we recommend looking through the UC Davis ServiceHub or contacting your affiliated IT services.
We welcome anyone to come discuss data-driven research ideas, problems, or implementations with our team. However, we are unable to provide support for assigned coursework such as homework assignments or class projects. If you need help with these, we recommend you reach out to your instructor or TA for assistance.
DATALAB WEEKLY VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS
OFFICE HOURS ARE HELD VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
September 21 through November 30: WEDNESDAYS 1:00-2:30PM*
NO Office Hours will be held on the following dates:
- September 14 – No office hours
- November 23 – No office hours
Office hours are held remotely via Zoom until further notice. Pre-registration is required to participate. Please use the “Register for office hours now” link below to register.
Register for office hours now
*Please note exceptions for University holidays and academic breaks. We typically also do not hold office hours during finals week.
Drop-ins are welcome. If you require more extensive help, you may be requested to schedule a consultation. Click the link below to join the Zoom meeting during open hours:
Zoom meeting link for office hours
How do virtual office hours work?
- Review the Zoom tips, below, to prepare for the call.
- Register for the Zoom call to receive an email with the Zoom login information. You need to register for each individual session you plan to attend. The registration form will ask you to briefly (1-2 sentences) describe what question you want help with during office hours. If you have multiple questions, prioritize them so we can help address your most pressing questions problems first.
- Using the link emailed to you, join the Office Hours call on Wednesdays between 1:30-3pm to enter the main room.
- Introduce yourself by typing into the chat window your full name and pasting your research problem description.
- A DataLab member in the main room will then assign you to the most appropriate breakout room where you can talk with one of our data scientists about your problem.
- You can switch back to the main room or leave the call at any time.
Similar to in person office hours, we are often helping multiple people at once. We appreciate your patience and help following the steps above to create a smoother experience for everyone. If our queue is long and/or you have a particularly challenging or complex problem, we may ask you to come back the following week.
Please note that our Fridays 2-4pm General & Health Sciences (Blaisdell Medical Library, Sacramento) office hours are not available at this time and we encourage you to check out our Health Data Sciences & Systems research and learning cluster and/or attend Monday’s virtual hours.
If you are a researcher working on COVID-19 and need immediate assistance with a data science challenge contact us at datalab@ucdavis.edu and we will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
ZOOM TIPS FOR VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS
New to Zoom? Here are some resources to check out before you join a call.
- Get started. Here is a guide for getting started with zoom.
- Use the chat feature. Here is a guide on zoom chat.
- Share your screen. During office hours we may ask you to share your screen so we can see your code. Note that you are sharing your screen with your DataLab host and everyone in your breakout room. How to share your screen.
- Raise your hand. Sometimes we will ask you to use Zoom’s nonverbal features to help facilitate a conversation. You can learn more about zoom’s non-verbal features here.
- Give us remote control. Sometimes when debugging it’s helpful for you to give us remote control of your screen. Here’s how to give remote control.
- Virtual reality. Wait, are you really in the Library right now? Isn’t DataLab’s offices closed?! You are correct, DataLab is working remotely at this time and we’re not really in Shields Library. Some of our staff will use photos of our favorite library for the background in our Zoom calls. Depending on your hardware, you can use a VR background too! How to set up a virtual background.
REQUEST A CONSULTATION
Contact us at datalab@ucdavis.edu to request a longer research or training consultation. Please note that we will typically refer you to attend office hours first to see if we can address your question there before scheduling a consult.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
If you are looking to learn more about data science, the DataLab keeps a curated list of upcoming courses at UC Davis you may find helpful. We also host several Research and Learning Clusters, including ones for R and Python, that may align with your interests.
For more acute assistance, we recommend the following resources.
- Stat Lab: The Stat Lab offers help and hosts office hours for statistical modeling and machine learning.
- Biostatistics Office Hours: Run through the Clinical and Translational Science Center at UCDH, Biostats holds office hours catering specifically to medical researchers.
- Stack Overflow: Stack Overflow is a hub for programing help. Search for your problem or error and you are likely to find a solution!