Centre for Doctoral Training: Data Analytics and Society
By Hayley Irving, CDT Data Analytics and Society Co-ordinator
The ESRC-funded CDT for Data Analytics and Society provides postgraduate research training across the Universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield.
In September 2021, the Centre held its first virtual Annual Partner Engagement event, having opted to cancel the event last year. The event saw presentations from students across three of the five cohorts, with the students from the first cohort chairing presentation sessions. Presentation titles included: ‘What’s in a TikTok trend? Understanding what constitutes a social media trend and why they matter for social research’, ‘Improving the representation and spatial effects of alcohol-related violence’, and ‘Exploring spatial patterns of household carbon emissions’, demonstrating the breadth of subject areas students are researching. Representatives from CDT Data Partners, the Department for Work and Pensions, Sheffield City Region, Esri and Geolytix, joined in a panel discussion on how data science is utilised within their organisations and gave students tips on how to prepare for their careers. The event closed with a social pub quiz on the online networking platform GatherTown, which was created and delivered by the students.
This year, our students have enjoyed a number of successes including:
- Victoria Jenneson participated in an internship with the Consumer Data Research Centre, contributing to the National Food Strategy
- Patrick Ballantyne won the Robin Flowerdew Award for Best Postgraduate Paper at the Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference, for his paper ‘American Retail Centre Geographies: Centres, Characteristics and Catchments’
- Ridda Ali secured a place on The Alan Turing Institute PhD enrichment scheme, which will commence in January 2022
- Victoria Jenneson participated in the September 2021 Alan Turing Institute Data Study Group, an intensive collaborative hackathon bringing together organisations from industry, government, and the third sector<
- Danial Owen and Natalie Rose both secured lectureship positions at the University of Liverpool
- Francesca Pontin presented her PhD research at the International Society for Physical Activity and Health Congress