Analytics for Society Award

Imperial Business School’s Department of Analytics, Marketing & Operations and Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation, together with the UCL School of Management recently hosted the third edition of the  Analytics for Society Awards, proudly sponsored by INFORMS. This is a student-led competition to promote the use of analytics, optimisation, and visualisation tools to explore and tackle problems for the good of our society, specifically addressing one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

This year's awards were presented during the final stage of the event at the LGS Lecture Theatre, Imperial College Business School, South Kensington campus on 12th March 2025. 

How to enter

Stage 1: Video and Summary Submission 

Teams will prepare a five-minute video and a brief summary document that demonstrates how data visualisation tools and/or state-of-the art analytical techniques can be used to:  

• Explore issues threatening, and opportunities contributing to, one or a combination of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) 

• Address these issues and/or explain the impact of these opportunities using data analytics 

• Communicate the findings to a wider audience effectively and creatively 

Participation Criteria: 

• The presentation video is recommended to be over 4 minutes and strictly capped under 5 minutes.  

• Video entries must be submitted on the dedicated platform. 

• The summary should be either in word or pdf format, with a cap of 400 words and should be sent via email to analyticsforsocietyawards@imperial.ac.uk 

• You can participate individually or in a team of up to four.  

• Cross-university teams are allowed.  

• Participants must be currently enrolled as students at a recognized university or college at the time of registration.

Sample projects that teams have formulated in the past include: 

2024 Winner: SkillBridge  

An inventive solution to eradicate extreme poverty by utilizing micro-credentials and Career Map to empower underprivileged young people in securing jobs. (Team members: Ukachi Carol Okere and Jiunn Wen Tan) 

2023 Winner: MicroSentry  

An innovative solution to monitor microplastic contamination in our water bodies. (Team members: Nirmal Thomas, Irene Jia, Grace Duan and Linxi Cao) 

Other Examples include: 

• A ride pooling platform that connects women so they can travel together, safer and cheaper. (SDG # 5)  

• A design plan of an IoT sensor integrated into food packaging designed to tackle food wastage by providing real-time data and insights (SDG # 2,3 AND 12)  

• A formulation of an optimisation problem that ensures the optimal allocation of students to a scholarship program based on their merit and financial background in order to reduce inequalities (SDG #10) 

• An application of time series forecasting to estimate when energy demand will be too high to meet supply in rural areas to enable access to affordable energy (SDG #7) 

• A mock-up for an analytical dashboard that examines the sources of drinking water and their primary usage per province in a country with poor access to clean drinking water (SDG #6) 

The deadline for entry submission has now passed.

Stage 2: Screening  

To ensure that your team has the best chance of being selected for the final round, share your precious work with your friends/colleagues and ask for their support! The selection will be determined by an internal review with a weight attached to public votes. 

The voting platform will be open from 22nd February 2025 (10:00) to 25th February 2025 (23:59).  

Stage 3: Awards Ceremony 

If your team is selected as a finalist, you will have the chance to get mentorship and pitch your idea to a panel of judges on the awards night.  

The winner will receive a grand prize, with additional cash prizes for the runner-ups and participation certificates. The winner(s) will also gain free membership to INFORMS.   Please note the decisions will be made by the judging panel on site and no voting will occur at this stage.  

Judging criteria 

The judging panel will assess submissions based on the following criteria ensuring a comprehensive and fair evaluation of each entry: 

Content (60%)   

• Problem: Identifies the most pressing issues relating to any specific  SDG categories. (30%)   

• Solution: Arrives at a creative solution to address these issues, or explain the impact of these opportunities, in an innovative way using data analytics (30%)   

Delivery (40%)   

• Communicates the findings to a wider audience effectively and creatively. (20%) 

• Leverages data visualization tools and state-of-the art communication/presentations techniques. (20%)   

If you have any questions regarding the award, forming groups, or submission details please e-mail us. 

This event is brought to you by...

A group of students from Imperial Business School and UCL School of Management’s MSc Business Analytics and MBA 2025 cohort passionate about data analytics and sustainability: 

• Ayodeji Faji (President) - MSc Business Analytics, Imperial 

• Dilani Antonvijayakumar (Marketing) - MSc Business Analytics, UCL 

• Elena Lickel (Sponsorship) - MSc Business Analytics, Imperial 

• Emily Peters (Treasurer) - MBA, Imperial 

• Jacques Lin (Program - keynote speaker & judges) - MSc Business Analytics, UCL 

• Margaux Drochon (Event) - MSc Business Analytics, Imperial 

This event is proudly supported by: 

• Prof Wolfram Wiesemann (Head of Analytics, Marketing, and Operations Department, Imperial) 

• Prof Sankalp Chaturvedi (Associate Dean EDI, Co-Director Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation, Imperial) 

• Professor David Alderton (Associate Professor (Education), Program Director, MSc Business Analytics, UCL) 

• Dr Esma Koca (Lecturer, BA/BAO/MBA cohort, Imperial) 

• Hannah Heritage (Gandhi Centre Coordinator, Imperial) 

• Stephen Vaz  (Platform Design and Technical Support - Imperial) 

• The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)

Contact us 

Contact the Analytics for Society Awards team 

Email: analyticsforsocietyawards@imperial.ac.uk 

Instagram: @analyticsforsociety