This year’s capstone course will run May 4, 2020 - June 30, 2020 (8 weeks).
The approximate timeline is below, followed by additional detail on each event.
| Event | Deadline/Period |
|---|---|
| Suggested initial submission of proposal | November 15, 2019 |
| Proposal deadline | December 20, 2019 |
| Selection of proposals | January 15, 2020 |
| Capstone fair | February 13 and 14, 2020 |
| Students rate the projects | late February, 2020 |
| Partners are notified of our decisions | March 1, 2020 |
| Partners demonstrate/declare readiness of data | April 1, 2020 |
| Kickoff meetings | March - April, 2020 |
| Project | May 4 - June 30, 2020 |
| Kickoff hackathon | May 4 and 5, 2020 |
Proposal revision process
Members of an organization interested in participating as a capstone partner should submit a project proposal.
Members of the MDS leadership team will review the proposal, and work with the potential partner to establish a finalized proposal. Potential partners should feel free to ask us for our opinion on any aspect of this step ahead of time, such as whether the main idea of the proposal is appropriate.
We recommend your first submission of the proposal to be well before the December 31st deadline, so that we can offer suggestions in case it needs revision.
Selection of proposals
The MDS leadership team will select proposals based primarily on student interest, and will invite the successful organizations to be a capstone partner.
Partners accept invitations
The successful capstone partners accept the offers, and confirm their attendance at the capstone fair.
Capstone fair
Capstone partners must attend the Capstone Fair to meet with the students and answer any questions they may have. The Capstone Fair takes place at the UBC Robson Square campus in downtown Vancouver. Detailed information will be emailed to each capstone partner. An example of a Capstone fair slide deck can be found here.
Students rate the projects
After the capstone fair, the students assign a final rating to the projects.
Partners are notified of our decisions
Based on student interest, the MDS leadership team decides which projects will move forward. Student groups are assigned to the projects at the same time..
Partners provide data
Before a project is accepted, the partner must provide MDS with a demonstration or written (email) declaration that the data has already been collected and prepared, and exists in its entirety (in the form specified in the proposal), and is ready to be shared with the students.
Partners should feel free to ask us for our standard agreement at any point in the selection procedure.
Kickoff meetings
The students will arrange a date and time with their capstone partner and teaching fellow mentor to have an initial meeting to discuss the project. It is common that students sign any required legal documents at this meeting, which means the students should be sent the documents for review well in advance.
Project
The project itself. At the end, partners can expect the students to present at the partner organizations. Partners will also be invited to an end-of-program celebration at UBC.
Hackathon
The Capstone project starts with a 2-day hackathon at the UBC main Point Grey campus. Capstone partners are strongly encouraged to attend the morning of the 2nd day of the hackathon. In the past, students have found this very valuable, as they were able to ask questions about their dataset and clarify other data science issues with the partner.