ADAPT Trinity College Dublin researcher, Matt Murtagh, has been named among the winners of the 2025 OECD–UNHCR Datathon for his collaborative project “The UNified Model: Predicting Education Outcomes for Displaced Children in Data-Scarce Contexts”. As part of his NGI Research Fellowship at Penn State University, Murtagh joined forces with William Paja (Research Manager, IMPACT Initiatives) and Wooyong Jung (PhD Researcher, Penn State) to develop the project.
The international team was one of two winning teams and selected for their innovative use of geospatial machine learning to predict education outcomes in regions where data is limited, with a particular focus on Iraq and Uganda. Their work aims to support better-informed decisions in humanitarian education planning by addressing long standing data gaps affecting displaced children.
In recognition of their achievement, the team was invited to present their work at the International Forum on Migration Statistics (IFMS 2025) in Malmö, Sweden last week. William Paja represented the team at the forum.
In addition to the forum presentation, the project will be featured in communications materials for IRMS 2025, amplifying its reach among international policymakers and researchers.
