The ESSEC PhD program in Data Analytics, launched in 2022, provides doctoral training with advanced courses and research opportunities in econometrics, machine learning, risk analysis, statistics and related fields. The program aims at preparing the next generation of experts in data analytics, equipped with a modern skill set for the analysis of high-dimensional complex data and for the quantification of emerging risks. These skills are paramount to the evaluation and the execution of high quality decision making. With the guidance of ESSEC faculty at the forefront of research in Data Analytics and with the support of an extensive network of international collaborators, students are prepared for outstanding careers in academia, in public organizations or in data-intensive industries. Students and faculty in this program hold themselves to the highest standards of integrity and scholarship, and are deeply committed to fostering an environment that encourages creativity, diversity and collegiality.
The program starts with a preparation period with compulsory and elective courses, where students discover and consolidate fundamental skills in modern Data Analytics. Compulsory courses include core econometrics and statistics, big data analytics, stochastic modeling, machine learning, optimization, Python/R programming and decision theory. Elective courses can be chosen among a large catalog at ESSEC as well as in other graduate programs. The course roadmap can be personalized in coordination with the students’ advisors and the program coordinator.
Research starts from the first year through research apprenticeship modules. Research activities intensify over the years as students focus on their dissertation under the guidance of one or multiple faculty members. The program prepares PhD candidates to make significant contributions to their fields, to publish articles describing these advances and to present them at international conferences.
The program supports the students’ participation in seminars and workshops by developing their communication skills and providing networking opportunities at and outside of ESSEC.
The core faculty in Data Analytics at ESSEC is an international team across the Cergy/Paris and the Singapore campuses. We are hosted by the Department of Information Systems, Data Analytics and Operations, IDO, and the list of faculty specialized in Applied Probability, Econometrics, Statistics.
In their research, our faculty contributes to active topics in applied probability, Bayesian inference, computational statistics and simulation methods, econometric theory, extreme value theory, forecasting, high-dimensional statistics, machine learning. Our main themes of research are described here.
Our team regularly publishes in the best journals in statistics, econometrics and applied probability, and is well connected, through on-going collaborations and partnerships, to other leading experts in France and worldwide. We host seminar series at which renowned researchers present their latest works (see eco-stat-seminars and WGRisk-seminars). We are part of active research groups such as the CREAR - Center of Research in Econo-finance and Actuarial sciences on Risk and the Metalab for Data, Technology and Society.
The concentration in Data Analytics has just been created, but its faculty have a strong record in the supervision of PhD students, who went on to become faculty at Bocconi University in the Marketing department, at University College of Dublin in the Economics department, at Purdue University in the Statistics department, at Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas in Ecuador and ESPRIT School of Engineering, Tunis. Our former students received awards or prizes such as the Savage Award (finalists) by the International Society for Bayesian Analysis, the Laplace Award by the American Statistical Association, or the Prix des Sciences du Risque. Outside of academia our former students have started their careers at the European Central Bank, in national institutes, or in the financial and technological industries.
