A Lancaster University statistician has been selected as an inaugural Fellow of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences.

Idris Eckley, a Distinguished Professor of Statistics at Lancaster University’s School of Mathematical Sciences, is among 100 people chosen to form the Academy’s inaugural cohort of Fellows.

The initiative brings together the UK’s strongest mathematicians across academia, education, business, industry, and government to help solve some of the UK’s biggest challenges.

The Fellows of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences have been recognised for being leaders in their fields, through fundamental discoveries, exceptional work in education, or driving the application of mathematics across society as part of our critical national infrastructure.

Professor Eckley’s current research focuses on the development of efficient methods for the detection of changes and anomalous structures in data streams. This work is typically inspired by, and feeds back into, challenges faced by a range of industrial collaborators, including BT, Shell, ONS, Tesco Mobile and Unilever.

Professor Eckley is Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Statistics and Operational Research in partnership with Industry (STOR-i), and he is also project lead of the EPSRC-funded Detecting Anomalous Structure in Streaming data settings (DASS) programme and currently serves as a member of EPSRC’s Mathematical Sciences Strategic Advisory Team.

Professor Eckley said: “It is a great honour to have been selected as one of the inaugural Fellows of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences. I look forward to supporting the Academy’s important work to champion the role of the UK mathematical sciences in addressing the important challenges faced by government and industry.”

Professor Dame Alison Etheridge, the President of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences, said: “I’m delighted to welcome our inaugural Fellows — individuals of exceptional distinction who collectively advance the mathematical sciences through discovery, leadership, education and real-world application.

“As Fellows of the Academy, they will come together in service of the wider public good: bringing independent expertise to bear on national priorities, championing excellence in mathematics education, strengthening the UK’s research and innovation base, and helping to ensure that mathematics continues to deliver opportunity, resilience and prosperity across our four nations.”