Independent Research Project

News

📢 (supervisors only) Call for Supervisor-Proposed Projects

We invite supervisors to propose IRP2026 projects for our students this summer.

• More information: Supervisor-Proposed Projects

• Deadline: Monday, 2 February 2026, 10:00 GMT.

🤓 (students only) Student-Proposed Projects Welcome

Students are strongly encouraged to propose their own project by identifying a supervisor and developing a project proposal. You may approach any academic or professional at any university or company worldwide.

• More information: Student-Proposed Projects

• Deadline: Monday, 13 April 2026, 10:00 BST.

Anonymous and Confidential Feedback

To give anonymous and confidential feedback, use Marijan’s feedback box and select IRP for question 1.

Only Marijan has access to the responses and is monitoring them in real time to address any issues that may arise.

Introduction

The Independent Research Project (IRP) is the capstone module in the Ada Lovelace Academy at Imperial College London for the following MSc courses:

• Applied Computational Science and Engineering (ACSE)

• Environmental Data Science and Machine Learning (EDSML)

• Geo-Energy with Machine Learning and Data Science (GEMS)

• Renewable Energy with AI and Data Science: Geology and Geophysics (READY)

The IRP enables students to work independently on a relevant real-world research question or an industrial challenge by designing and implementing a computational solution. It takes place over the summer following completion of the taught modules (for the full IRP schedule, see Schedule; for the MSc curriculum, see MSc curriculum). The IRP is a full-time commitment, and students are expected to dedicate approximately 40 hours per week to it. Upon successful completion, students should be able to:

• Develop a computational solution from scratch, substantially extend the capabilities of existing code, or build a model to analyse and interpret a substantial dataset.

• Contribute to an active research field or commercial project.

• Creatively and critically employ techniques to solve open-ended, real-world, challenging problems.

• Effectively communicate their work through written reports and defend it under critical questioning.

MSc curriculum

Fig. 1 The IRP is the last module students do after the completion of taught modules.