Winners of Dublin Data Open announced

Citadel, a leading hedge fund, and Citadel Securities, a global market maker, have announced the winners of their second annual Data Open competition in Ireland, which took place at University College Dublin on 10 November. The winners are: Ondrej Bohdal, Edinburgh; Jan Mo?ko, Warsaw; Bhargav Velakaturi, London; and Hugo Dolan, Dublin.

The event was the latest in a series of 21 datathon competitions that Citadel and Citadel Securities are holding throughout the year at top universities across the US, Europe and Asia. The competitions are also supported by Citadel’s partnership with Correlation One, a talent-solutions technology company.

The winning teams competed for a total of $20,000 cash prize, with top performing participants moving forward to compete for a $100,000 grand prize at the international Data Open Championship in New York next year. Participating students will also have the opportunity to interview for careers with Citadel and Citadel Securities.

Undergraduate, graduate, PhD and Postdoctoral Research students studying in math, computer science, engineering, physics, biomolecular science and other quantitative areas, competed in the UCD datathon. Approximately 100 participants, selected from a pool of 300 applicants, collaborated in teams to work through a large and complex dataset and then submitted their findings to a panel of judges at the end of the day.

“Our ability to hire talented people is critical to the success of our business, which is why the Data Open is such an important initiative,” said Jonathon Lowey, Ireland Country Head for Citadel Securities. “This weekend’s competition demonstrated the high calibre of talent that Ireland has to offer and we look forward to seeing some of these contestants compete in our Championship next year.”

“University College Dublin were delighted to host the Citadel and Citadel Securities Data Open again this year.” said Assoc. Prof. Patricia Maguire, Director of UCD’s Institute for Discovery. “The combination of creativity, technical talent, speed, and the ability to tell a story with data needed to win the competition is also a winning combination for success in today’s world. It was delightful to see the different approaches and ideas of the teams in gleaning insights from data.”

Kevin Heavey, a participant in last year’s Dublin Data Open who is now working as an options trader with Citadel Securities in Dublin said, “Participating in last year’s Data Open was a game-changer for me. It was a unique experience that gave me insight into the kind of work that I would be doing at a firm like Citadel Securities and it ultimately played a key role in my decision to join full-time.”

Citadel Securities opened its Dublin office, which primarily trades options and equities, in January 2017. The firm employs almost 30 team members in Dublin.