Capstone project

The Capstone project is the academic and practical culmination of the CPES in year 3 (L3). It brings together all the skills acquired throughout the programme, mathematics, computer science, data science and the specialisation discipline, within a demanding framework, grounded in professional and scientific reality. It is a large-scale project, carried out in teams, on a concrete problem posed by a partner laboratory, company or startup. The topics vary from year to year and cover a broad spectrum: economics, health, environment, society, technology, etc.

The Capstone is designed with HEC Paris. CPES students are either embedded within a partner startup/company (including some structures incubated at HEC) or work on an opendata challenge with partner companies, creating an unprecedented interdisciplinary collaboration. This dimension allows the project to be approached in all its complexity: technical, organisational and economic.

Format and timeline

• Project carried out over the whole of L3, with one dedicated day per week, ensuring a gradual and sustained immersion without encroaching on disciplinary teaching.
• Supervised by a CPES lecturer-researcher and, where appropriate, a mentor from the professional world or from the partner structure (startup or company).
• Expected deliverables: scientific or technical report, documented source code, presentation and public defence before a jury.

Assessment

Assessment covers several dimensions:

• The scientific and technical quality of the work produced.
• The individual contribution within the team.
• The quality of the presentation and of the communication of results.
• The ability to contextualise the results: stakes, limitations, perspectives and potential impact.

Objectives

The Capstone aims to prepare students for two complementary horizons:

• Entry into the professional or entrepreneurial world with real project experience and exposure to the startup and business ecosystem.
• Continuation in a master’s, grande école or research programme, with a concrete demonstration of their ability to lead a project from start to finish.