About the workshop
What We Do
The InSciDa workshop brings together postgraduate students and outstanding undergraduate students to work collaboratively on real-world problems in statistics, data science, and analytics. The problems are submitted by industry partners, and students work under the joint supervision of experts in the field and the industry partners themselves. Full funding is available for successful applicants currently registered at any South African university to travel to and participate in the workshop.
The goal of the event is to develop practical skills in the areas of statistical modelling, analytics and data science. We believe the best way to do this is by tackling the challenges of a real-world problem head on. We have selected five exciting research problems from diverse application areas: banking, bioinformatics, cosmology, ecology, and online marketing.
The six-day workshop takes place from Monday 18th to Saturday 23rd January 2016 at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Muizenberg in Cape Town, South Africa. The workshop is co-hosted by AIMS and the Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Cape Town. It is funded by the National Research Foundation, AIMS, and industry partners.
Workshop format
The event takes the form of an intensive six-day hands-on workshop during which each group, consisting of 4 - 6 students and one expert, work collaboratively on their chosen problem.
Before the workshop, participants divide into problem groups and are expected to do some (not too much!) background work, so that the time during the event is maximally productive. During the event, groups assemble at AIMS and each group works collaboratively on its research problem. Each group works with an expert who provides supervision and guidance to keep the group moving forward.
The aim is for the groups to work hard but also have time for discussion and exchanging ideas. To this end all participants meet on the first morning in an introductory session, at the start of Day 3 and Day 5 to review their progress, and at the end of the final day to present their work. Outside these times groups will be free to decide how to organise their work schedules. Accommodation at or close to the workshop venue at AIMS will be provided for all students and experts, maximising the amount of time available for working together. Informal discussions and evenings spent working on the problems are expected. Industry partners choose whether to stay on site but in either case provide regular feedback to their groups throughout the week.
On the final day of the event students report back to their industry partners in the form of a presentation. After the event, each group completes a written report to be submitted to industry partners.
Information for applicants
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Students need to apply to participate in the event here. Students that are currently registered at any South African university can apply. Places are available for 25 participants, to be divided roughly equally between 5 research problems. All transport costs to and from the workshop (flights, trains, airport transfers, etc) as well as all accommodation and subsistence costs (meals) are covered through funding kindly provided by our sponsors. Participation in the workshop is therefore free of charge to all selected participants. Please note that this funding is only available for students currently registered for a degree at any university in South Africa.
Students should ideally be currently enrolled for a postgraduate degree (i.e. honours, masters, PhD) in one of the following areas: statistics, computer science, applied mathematics, operations research, industrial engineering, or a related quantitative area. Excellent undergraduates in these fields will also be considered. Some training in statistical modelling would be an advantage. Advanced programming skills are not required but students should be competent enough in at least one programming language (e.g. R, Python, Matlab, C++) to conduct their own modelling and analysis. Some projects are more computationally demanding than others. Participants are asked to bring their own laptops to work on during the event, if at all possible. We have a small number of desktops available if you do not own a laptop, but spaces are limited. On the application form, please specify if you have your own laptop.
The student group is the focus of the event. Prior to the event, they select a problem area and complete some background work in the form of an assignment. During the event they work intensively on the problem, with the expert providing assistance to the group primarily in the form of guidance and supervision.
If you would like to partipate in the workshop and fulfill the requirements above, the first thing to do is make sure that you are free from 18 - 23 January 2016! Then, read the descriptions of each of the available research problems and choose your more preferred one or two options. Then follow the application instructions here. Applications close on 25 November. We will inform all applicants whether they have been accepted or not by 1 December.
Information for experts
Experts participate in the event by invitation. They are well known in their field, with substantial practical experience. Experts guide and supervise the student group assigned to them, and so impart some of their skills to the students.
Experts are expected to select preliminary background material, set a short assignment to be completed before the event, and provide feedback to students on their assignments. During the event they work closely with students, doing some research work but primarily providing guidance and supervision, and feedback on completed work. After the event they co-ordinate the written reports and, at their discretion, any further publications that are derived from the work.
Further information about each expert is available here.
Information for industry partners
Interested parties from industry submit their problems in the form of a short proposal outlining the research problem and objectives. One of our aims is to showcase the diversity of problems to which statistical modelling and data science can be applied, so that industry partners come from a range of application areas. For this workshop, we are proud to be working with industry partners from fields as diverse as banking, bioinformatics, cosmology, ecology, and marketing. Industry partners come from both the private and public sector. Academic researchers can also submit problem proposals provided these have a strong practical component.
Before the event, industry partners submit a proposal detailed enough to allow students to decide which problems to apply for. These are available here. They may also work with the expert to select preliminary background material. On the first morning of the event industry partners present their problems in more detail and answer questions from the group. During the rest of the event the industry partner is expected to be reasonably available for feedback and to answer questions, perhaps daily. At the start of day 3 each group meets with its industry partner to review progress and plan the remainder of the week. On the final day of the event partners are present at the final group presentations, where they provide feedback to the group.
Further information on industry partners is available here.
Workshop venue
African Institute for Mathematical Sciences
6 - 8 Melrose Rd
Muizenberg 7945
Cape Town
South Africa
The workshop is co-hosted by the Department of Statistical Sciences at UCT and AIMS.
It will be held at the AIMS South Africa campus in Muizenberg, with accommodation provided for all participants in nearby B&B's and backpackers.
Contact
If you have any questions about the workshop, fill in the adjacent form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. To apply to attend the workshop, see the "How to apply" section