Community

Why do a project with us?

• Receive Masters level insight and research turned into actionable analysis and recommendations
• Increase your talent pool for internships and direct hires
• Any intellectual property (IP) developed during project is owned by the partner company
• Work with student teams who can leverage their access to costly yearly licensed databases, journals and publications, along with their own equipment
• Market your partnership with a top educational institution to your customers and shareholders
• Receive waived fees on all projects (value of $10k-$75k per project)

 What’s required of my company?

• Help define a real project that is comprehensive in scope
• Provide company information, data and resources where necessary
• Name a project liaison to work with the student team- we anticipate the liaison will spend 1-2 hours per week on the project
• Attend your team’s kickoff meeting, midpoint meeting and final presentation

 Who will be on my team?

• All project team members are at the graduate level, overseen by faculty or industry advisors
• Teams are formed by professors who group students together (often in teams of 5) based on their skills and experiences for best results

When do these projects take place?

• Once a project is submitted, you will be contacted by UCI staff to discuss potential opportunities that are a fit for your project(s)
• Projects start at the beginning of every quarter (except summer) and selection will depend on the topic and the availability of project openings. See the academic calendar for more information on the actual start dates

When can I apply?

• Applications can be submitted at any time. It is recommended to submit before the start of the upcoming quarter.
• We typically select projects for the upcoming quarter around 1.5 months prior to the next quarter

What types of project do you accept?

Covering marketing, sales, business analytics, finance, HR, organization and management, operations, supply chain, logistics and overall strategy, our student teams take on almost any business challenge you have.  Not sure if your project fits? Contact Nick Shaffer at nshaffer@uci.edu

 Example projects include:

• Develop a social media digital marketing strategy
• Develop an employee value proposition strategy and action plan
• Research AI and Machine Learning in Financial Services with competitive analysis
• Examine consumer behavior in expanding e-commerce purchases
• Develop strategies on how to move towards a subscription model
• Develop a strategy to monetize data from connected cars
• Develop analytical/evaluation tools and frameworks to evaluate external growth opportunities
• HR issues such as hiring, training, onboarding, engagement, improving work climate/culture

  Projects we do NOT accept:

• Writing business plans / proposals
• Writing marketing plans / proposals
• Creating pitch decks / other fundraising materials
• Sales (i.e., “sell my product”)
• Administrative help or technical support (data filing/management, website/graphics creation, implementation of recommendations etc.). 

Project submission tips

• Try to focus on one major high level issue/decision that is crucial to your business and the work that is required to provide recommendations on such issues.
• Good projects often have a strong research and analysis component
• Projects that include proprietary company information are more attractive as they present an opportunity for our students to work on a “real” project
• Projects must be of strategic importance to the company and supported by senior leadership
• The project is in line to be attempted internally or has been discussed internally among management
• Most projects must be able to be completed in a 10 week period by a team of 5 students.
• Projects must contain specific goals and deliverables

Will we sign NDA's?

• All students/faculty will sign NDA’s when requested.
• UC Irvine waives the ownership position of any intellectual property (models, analysis, findings, reports etc.) developed by the students during the course of the project and defer ownership to the partner company.