Xerox Research Centre India Vies Budding Innovators at ‘Research Innovation Challenge’

Xerox Research Centre India (XRCI), claimed as Xerox’s latest global research location has spearheaded the registration process for the ‘Xerox Research Innovation Challenge’. The disruptive challenge will stance as an unprecedented competitive forum to design innovative models and algorithms for real life analytics problems in the healthcare segment.

The challenge is open to all PhD, Masters and senior undergraduates (3rd year and above) students from all Indian universities. The challenge will be conducted in multiple phases, beginning with a ‘Data Science Challenge’, moving to a ‘Preparatory/Winter school on Machine Learning’ hosted at XRCI, followed by a grand challenge (phase 3) to design novel machine learning models and algorithms for big data in healthcare.

Break-up of the 3 phases in detail:

1st Phase: Data Science Challenge, is a qualifier round to select students for Phases II and III. Over a period of two weeks, 12th – 25th October, students can form teams of up to three members for participation (teams of less than three members are not encouraged).

2nd Phase: Winter School on Machine Learning hosted at XRCI, 14th – 18th December. It will present a breadth of topics ranging from fundamentals of Machine Learning to state-of-the-art research and applications to Big Data Analytics. Tutorial talks by invited academicians and XRCI scientists addressing both theoretical and practical aspects of Machine Learning will be conducted during this period. Detailed program will be made available soon.

3rd Phase: Grand Challenge/Research Innovation Challenge will look at students analyze past data of patients and design novel machine learning models and algorithms that can predict these complications before they occur. The challenge will be held over two weeks, December 15th – January 1st, 2016. The winning team in the Research Innovation Challenge will receive a MacBook for each member and the Runners-up will receive an iPad for each member.

Sharing insights on the challenge, Dr. Manish Gupta, Vice President, Xerox Corp. and Director of Xerox Research Centre in India said, “Xerox has been actively engaged with reputed institutions & universities through a number of initiatives to help researchers and scientists work on key problems in the area of healthcare and help the wider community at large. This challenge is a step ahead in that direction by encouraging aspiring researchers to develop innovative predictive analytics techniques to address real-world issues in healthcare. It will also provide inspiration to the youth of the country to embrace R&D as a desired career path in India – giving them the right platform to leverage their true potential.”