Yes, absolutely! Proposals for this type of work are generally evaluated favorably. We ask only that you describe your plans in your proposal.

No, teams do not need to be affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania to participate in an academic research project. Researchers from all institutions worldwide are encouraged to submit a proposal!

When the Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative develops an academic research project with a company, we try to assemble a dataset that will provide as much information as possible and then describe that data in the webinar. The webinar slides typically describe the structure of the data and the names of key fields included. We also provide summary statistics that describe the variation in the data so researchers can think about what types of models the data might support. We encourage researchers to ask questions during the webinar, as it provides the opportunity to receive answers directly from company representatives.

If there are variables relevant to your research that were not included in the webinar’s description of the dataset, we encourage you to note these requests in your proposal. We can’t guarantee that it will be available (or even exist), but we are happy to investigate its availability.

When developing an academic research project, Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative (WAIAI) Corporate Partners are encouraged to bring forward their most fundamental and critical business challenges. WAIAI works to stress the fact that while academic projects tackle the most challenging problems, they do tend to take longer than the average consulting engagement and can be somewhat unpredictable. In general, Corporate Partners do not expect the same short timelines or frequent status updates as they might get from a vendor.

Research teams have much more control and creative freedom over their own projects and are encouraged to share the key findings with the data sponsor when the paper is complete.

Selected teams are required to sign a standard data sharing agreement that outlines how the data may be used. The agreement always allows for publication of research findings based on the data but may restrict researchers from using the data for other uses, such as teaching. After the agreement is signed, WAIAI will share further details about how to access the data.

After the academic research project comes to completion, some of our Corporate Partners opt to make their data available to a broader pool of researchers for educational purposes. However, to be fair to the originally accepted research teams, we cannot accept new proposals while the project is ongoing.

Open Projects

Absolutely! All webinars are archived on our research page and can be viewed at your convenience. The archive is typically posted 1-2 days after the webinar.

Generally, there is no funding associated with an academic research project, but if you have a specific need for funding directly related to the project, please let us know and we will consider it.

Please note that we do not provide funding for salaries, fellowships, or computer equipment. We are also happy to work with a team that plans to apply to other funding sources to pursue the academic research project.

While we cannot make any guarantees, requests such as this may be possible. We ask that you describe your plans in your project proposal, making a case for why the company should invest the time and resources necessary to do what you are asking. The company will then evaluate your proposal and decide.

Depending on the Corporate Partner’s questions, the review process is, on average, one week. WAIAI will keep you updated if the process will take longer.