Guy LansleyUniversity College Londong.lansley@ucl.ac.uk @GuyLansley

• The programme gives students the opportunity undertake their dissertation which solves a problem set by a large company

• Students are entered into a competition to win three cash prizes (£500, £250, £250) funded by the CDRC.

• Students are also offered a £500 bursary upon successful project completion

• Students usually carry out the research at their universities with the support of their university supervisors

• Students and supervisors will be invited to an academic conference in October 2017

Summary

Sponsors (2012-17)

Students (2012-16)

• Apply for projects on the CDRC website from January 2017

• Successful students will undertake their dissertations in accordance with the deadlines from their own institutions• Although they will be required to submit a copy of their

dissertation to the CDRC in early September!• Students will have occasional meetings with their

industry sponsors during the research process, but also have the support of supervisors from their own institutions

• Students will also be offered a £500 stipend (plus reasonable expenses) upon successful project completion

Students

Outputs

www.cdrc.ac.uk/retail-masters/archive

• The CDRC will fund 3 cash prizes, judged by an independent panel• £500, £250, £250

• Prizes will be awarded at an academic conference in October 2017

Prizes

Two of the prize winners from the 2015 programme accepting their

awards from Bruce Jackson (ESRC)

Academic Conference

All participants involved in the programme are invited to an annual academic conference• The conference is attended by a mixture of business

representatives and academics• The focus of the event is consumer data• Students present posters of their research• The three cash prizes are awarded

The Demographics Users Group Conference 2016The Royal Society, London

Incentives

• An exclusive opportunity to conduct research with commercial data

• The possibility of undertaking a dissertation on a real-world problem with commercial value

• Having the support and advice of an industry partner

• Excellent exposure to the academic and industry data analytics communities and a valuable addition to your CV

All projects must involve data on consumers or the retail sector

• Explore new data• Open Data• In-house Data

• Explore new techniques

• Understanding phenomena

• Data access

Research Directions

Previous Projects

Yiran WeiUniversity College LondonSainsbury’s

• Created a composite indicator of local ethnic and cultural heritage from 2011 Census data

• The was produce a data set on the local ethnic composition to assist how Sainsbury’s stocks world foods across its network

New DataOpen Data

New DataIn-house Data

Nicholas SamsonUniversity College LondonBritish Gas

• Clustered thousands of smart readers based on their typical daily energy usage profiles

• The aim of the project was to identify vulnerable customers who could qualify for free energy saving measures

New Techniques

Clemens ZauchnerUniversity of WestminsterEasyJet

• Applied novel textual topic modelling techniques to customer reviews data

• The aim of the project was to identify a means of understanding large volumes of customer data quickly

Understanding Phenomena

Brendon EdwardsUniversity of LeedsThe Co-operative

• Investigated the effects of a relaxation of the current Sunday Trading Legislation on the Co-operative’s convenience stores

Timeline

JanuaryProjects are

advertised on the CDRC website

Jan - AprThe application process is open.

Successful candidates will be interviewed by industry sponsors

May - AugResearch is undertaken either at the students own institution or

on-site with the industry sponsor

SeptemberDissertations are

submitted to the CDRC and industrial sponsors

OctoberParticipants are invited to an Academic conference where

the prizes are awarded

• Visit www.cdrc.ac.uk/retail-masters from January 2017 to browse the available projects for the 2017 programme

• Read the guidelines on how to apply• If a project takes your fancy submit a project

application form with a copy of your CV to projects@cdrc.ac.uk

• Selected students will be invited to a interview with the prospective sponsor

• Projects will be allocated on a rolling basis so apply early to avoid disappointed

To Participate

• Should be studying a Masters level degree at a UK based institution

• Should be predicted a merit or distinction, or your degree equivalent

• Should have the essential skills specified on the project proposal form describing your project of interest

• Should be able to attend the office of the company for occasional meetings from May until August. • Or be able to attend the office more regularly if the

company has specified that they can only offer onsite access to data

Candidates

• Students may be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (as set by their sponsor)

• Students will be expected to attend occasional progress meetings with their sponsors during the research process

• Students are required to send a copy of their dissertation to the CDRC and to their industry sponsor in September 2017

• Students will be asked to present a poster of their research at an academic conference in October 2017

• Students will be invited to produce an extended abstract to be published on the CDRC website

Requirements

Application Form

• Use the cover letter to demonstrate that you have: • Academic skills and experience relevant to

the research proposal • Enthusiasm to work with the retailer, and

motivation to deliver a successful project • A good understanding of the research topic

and possibly some ideas about taking the research forward

• Practical problem-solving and communications skills

Guidelines

• Take advantage of the advice offered by your academic and industry supervisors

• Be organised, plan ahead

• Don’t be afraid to be innovative. You may have to go beyond the techniques you learnt from the taught part of your course. Most topics are multidisciplinary

• Take care with your presentation. Your dissertation is going to be read by both academics and non-academics

Tips

• Three-tier Data Access

• Secure Facilities• Trusted

Researchers• Governance• Safe resultswww.cdrc.ac.uk

www.cdrc.ac.uk/retail-masters