<p>This is the other project suggested by @whuber. Please vote up/down this particular idea depending on whether you want to this to be our first polystats project.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Statistical Analysis of Genomic Variants." "...determine the optimal method of processing a large number of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) data" (see the Wikipedia article on SNPs). There's a large synthetic dataset of 500,000 SNPs for 1000 patients available</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Original Context of @whuber's answer below:</strong></p>

<p>To spice it up a bit, what about engaging in a real problem <em>with a prize offered for the best solution</em>?  Instances are easy to come by at places like <a href="http://www2.innocentive.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www2.innocentive.com/</a> .  Advantages include having a well-defined problem and ready access to appropriate data.  Disadvantages include a time limit (usually a few months) and figuring out what to do with a prize if it's won ;-).</p>
