ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY

MANCHESTER STUDENT PRIZE 2009

Notes for the Supervisors/Tutors

You are invited to encourage your most promising final-year student(s) to submit a project of an applied nature involving a substantial amount of Statistics for entry into the RSS Manchester Student Prize competition.

There are two categories of entries: (1) students having Mathematics and/or Statistics as their main subject; (2) those whose main subject is not Mathematics or Statistics.

Three prizes are available for award in each of the two categories (Gold - £100; Silver - £70; Bronze - £50), and will only be awarded if entries of sufficient quality are received.

The Awards Committee will consider the following characteristics of the projects:

1. Accuracy and skill in the presentation of the data, methods and results. 
2. Understanding and clarity of expression of the method and background to the data.
3. Difficulty of the material (non-mathematical and non-statistical majors will not be expected to have the same depth of understanding as the mathematical or statistical ones). 
4. Originality of the application of existing method(s) to new data (not just reproduction of previously published results).
5. Practical importance and relevance of the results.

Development of new methods and their application to data would also be considered, but it is not expected that this will occur very often.

When your student has downloaded an entry form from the Manchester RSS website,  completed it and sent it to Dr Stephan Rudolfer, Chairman of the RSS Manchester Student Prize Committee,    by 31st May 2009. 

Please email Dr Rudolfer confirming your support of the student.

Only then can the judging begin.