Atlassian Gets Ahead with PhD Intern

ATLASSIAN GETS AHEAD WITH PhD INTERN

When Information Technology leader, Atlassian, needed a smart innovation solution to optimise their lead product, Confluence, they turned to APR.Intern.

“We wanted to access the expertise to develop a content recommendation engine to provide Confluence customers faster access to relevant content so they could get back to what they do best,” said Derek Ho, Senior Data Scientist at Atlassian.

Australia’s leading all-sector, all-discipline national postgraduate internship program matched Atlassian to University of Technology Sydney (UTS) PhD student, Nazanin Borhan.

“Her research expertise and her full-time dedication were the qualities we needed most. Her great work led to the successful implementation of the content recommendation proof of concept,” said Derek.

For Nazanin, it was a chance to apply her background in data mining and machine learning to a real-world industry challenge and work with a sector leader. It was also a great way to get a foot in the industry door and fast track her career.

One of the keys to success for Nazanin was the support of academic mentor, UTS Associate Professor Paul Kennedy. He helped both Nazanin and the Atlassian team bridge the research-industry divide, bringing unique insights to advance the project.

Thanks to the project, Atlassian is keen to pursue further research collaboration, and is keen to take on future APR Intern placements.

“This project has shown us that research collaboration with academia can be a fruitful process. We definitely have plans for further engagement with the program,” added Derek.