Each year we award a number of graduate students in Marketing Research a project assistantship. Selected students will work 13 1/3 hours per week for the academic year. They work closely with a faculty member, University research-related project, or an industry grant research project. Students find these projects to be the perfect opportunity to build their resume and apply academic knowledge. Examples of PA assignments include:

• Qualitative research for a new product development firm
• On-line research for a marketing research provider
• Tracking research for a local financial institution
• Research into the audience composition of public and non-profit media
• Evaluating the effectiveness of state-of- the-art measurement tools
• Academic marketing research for faculty members

Project Funding

Students receive full tuition remission, health benefits and a monthly stipend. The cost of a PA for companies is $9,500. For more information on hiring a PA, please contact Kristin Branch.

Applicant Requirements

All applicants to the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research are considered for project assistantships. Project assistantships are awarded based on merit. The Center's selection criteria include undergraduate GPA, GMAT score, TOEFL score (for international students), essays and personal interviews.

Student Experience

"Receiving a project assistantship was a major factor in my decision to attend the A.C. Nielsen Center at the UW - Madison for my MBA. It was a thrill to be accepted into the only program I was aware of that allowed me to learn from respected faculty, practice important technical and business skills through the assistantship assignment, and build my resume while attending a full-time program. All of that was made even more incredible when I learned that the project assistantship included a tuition waiver and generous monthly stipend which essentially made my studies free. It has been wonderful to start a career armed with unbeatable knowledge and experiences I otherwise would not have had and not weighed down with debt from student loans."

Carrie Breisach, Class of 2007