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 Station F by the HEC incubator) 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.