The Department of Statistics is soliciting nominations for the newly established Department of Statistics Award in Data Science, an award to recognize the importance of developing and applying tools to answer important questions through the analysis of data. This $1000 award is offered to an undergraduate or graduate student who has demonstrated initiative and creativity in making outstanding contributions in the field of Data Science. The award is made on the recommendation of the Department of Statistics Awards Committee and, in the case of a graduate student, in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
The nominee must be an undergraduate or graduate student currently enrolled at UBC Vancouver. The nominator must be a faculty member or someone in a suitable supervisory position such as a co-op program supervisor or research supervisor. Student self-nominations will not be accepted.
The nominator is to submit the following material in pdf form to headsec [at] stat.ubc.ca, with subject line Data Science Award Nomination, by WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25:
- a description written by the student of his/her achievements related to Data Science (not to exceed one page);
- student resume/curriculum vitae;
- supporting letter from the nominator (not to exceed one page).
While the Committee will consider high grades in relevant courses, the Committee will look beyond grades to more substantial achievements related to Data Science. Some examples of achievements are:
- creative and impactful data analysis via visualization techniques;
- development of software to implement an innovative statistical approach;
- improvement of the computational aspects of a data analysis approach.
Such activities might have been as a course project or thesis, an end-product of a relevant co-op experience, or participation in an on-line Data Science competition such as Kaggle.