The Duke University Master in Interdisciplinary Data Science (MIDS) program is requesting proposals form external partners for year–long capstone projects. Capstone projects pair external partners with teams of second year MIDS students. External partners can include any agency external to the MIDS program and have historically included companies, NGOs, health care centers, and researchers. Partners provide a problem directly related to their interests, and meet with the student team throughout the year. The student team works on the partner’s problem to provide related deliverables that often include both insights/understanding to the problem and relevant code bases.
The capstone projects allow our partners to explore a domain they may not otherwise have the
resources to investigate and to work with (and potentially recruit) our students. For our students,
these projects provide an educational project in which the students can investigate real–world
problems while interacting with and learning from people with vested interest in the project outcome.
Capstone Projects are one of the most critical components of the MIDS program. Throughout the two semesters of a Capstone, MIDS students participate in a Capstone course dedicated to establishing team expectations, creating work plans, and improving team communication. The MIDS program also
provides each team with a faculty mentor to guide the student progress, provide technical expertise, and to help facilitate the connection between the partner and students. MIDS students work collaboratively in Capstones, and each team must achieve specific outcomes of interest for the participating outside party and give a final presentation with an accompanying white paper about the outcome’s implications.