The unusual hedge fund quant challenge with no trading involved

If you're looking to enter the world of quant finance, there's an array of events and competitions that you can attend. Most are (naturally) trading competitions, but there are some unusual exceptions.

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IMC Trading's Prosperity competition is well known. Hedge fund Citadel also runs a number of Datathons throughout the year with big cash prizes. However, another competition courtesy of quant hedge fund Qube Research and Technologies, has its contestant working on problems in healthcare, rather than finance.

Qube's 2025 Data Challenge tasks applicants with "predicting disease risk for patients diagnosed with blood cancer," using data from 24 real-world clinical centres, in partnership with cancer research institute Gustave Roussy. Quants will have to analyse the data to predict the overall survival time of patients from the date of their diagnosis. Qube provides a benchmark using a Cox Proportional Hazards model, but encourages applicants to build their own models and features to analyse the data. 

There's not a cash prize for the challenge, but it gives you an opportunity to tout real world application of your quantitative modelling. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin previously told Cambridge University students that hedge funds working in a hedge fund can be good for the world as it "generates the productivity that we need to improve people’s lives;” this competition is an indication that he might be onto something.

Depending on where you work, you'll get opportunities to work on quantitative challenges outside of finance when you're a full-time quant, too. Quant fund D.E. Shaw has its own research arm, and has built its own biotech supercomputer which simulates biological molecules on an atomic level. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADIA, meanwhile, has 'ADIA Lab', where its quants can work on academic publications. 

Sometimes the quant side gigs are a little more selfish. Steve Cohen's hedge fund Point72 gives its sports-loving quants the chance to work on data for his baseball team, the New York Mets. Two Sigma meanwhile has a 'hacker lab' where employees can craft their own keyboards and coded earrings.

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