S2DS bootcamp: moving from academia into data science
Oxford University alumnus and Data Scientist at dunnhumby, Jasper Hajonides van der Meulen, participated in Europe’s largest data science training programme, Science to Data Science (S2DS). In the article below, Jasper explains why he applied for S2D2 and describes his experience.
Beyond academia
Finishing your studies and moving into working life can be challenging, especially when wanting to transition into a different field.
During my DPhil in Experimental Psychology (New College, 2017 – 2021), I became increasingly interested in pursuing a position in industry. I enjoyed the neuroscientific research during my DPhil but was uncertain about continuing down this path. Industry seemed to offer much better job prospects and conditions than academia and would still allow me to do what I liked best and conduct data science research.
Finding resources
Most of the career advice and opportunities in and around the university were designed to further a career in academia. Though I actively sought out talks and conversations with alumni and other researchers in data science, getting a good view of key skills and challenges in industry remained difficult, let alone finding the right job vacancies. This is where I came across S2DS, a 5-week programme which was aimed to fill this gap and help PhD students or post-docs move to data science positions in industry.
My Science to Data Science (S2DS) experience
I participated in S2DS a couple of months before my viva. (In truth, I was behind on schedule and still editing my thesis, but I would definitely advise to submit before the programme starts!) Over the 5-week period, you are teamed up with other academics - from various countries and disciplines – and you work on a real world data-science project for a client while being mentored by experienced data scientists. Apart from this collaborative project, the weeks were packed with networking events, seminars, and Q & A sessions with researchers in industry. There was also a lot of personal guidance on writing a CV, advice for job interviews, and links to advertised data science positions. All-in-all, I found it to be a well-rounded and useful programme that not only gives you practical tips but also allows you to get involved and build a better perspective of life beyond academia.
Since then, I have moved into a research data scientist position though a contact that I made during S2DS.
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.
Article by Jasper Hajonides, Research Data Scientist at dunnhumby
About S2DS
S2DS offers five weeks of intensive, project-based training for MSc and PhD graduates and students in the final year of their studies who can commit to a full-time programme. Candidates need to have at least intermediate programming experience in Python or R to be suitable for the course.
SS2DS runs three times each year, in Spring, Summer and Autumn, and a scholarship for Oxford University students is available.
