The University of California, Los Angeles, recently announced it received a $1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation for a project that looks to expand upon "compressive sensing," a method to improve the way large data sets are collected and analyzed.

In its simplest definition, compressive sensing is a way to condense information without hindering its ability to be interpreted by scientists. The UCLA press release announcing the award compares the practice to removing vowels from words without detracting from the meaning of words. For instance, "sndwchs r bttr wth mstrd," can convey the message that "sandwiches are better with mustard," using just the consonants.

"Our goal is to leverage mathematical advances to transform the way imaging and related data are acquired, analyzed and understood," said the project's lead principal investigator, Paul Weiss, director of UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI). "The result will be richer, more meaningful data through significant changes in how experiments are currently conducted and analyzed."

UCLA plans to develop these new capabilities for use in detecting epilepsy and improving brain imaging.

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