Jack Strong

I completed my integrated master’s in mathematics at Lancaster University in 2025. I was originally mainly interested in pure mathematics, but during my degree my love for statistics increased year after year. This culminated with me specialising in statistics in my final year. I applied to STOR-i, because I wanted to continue studying statistics to a higher level and was additionally interested in studying operational research for the first time.

I would describe myself as quite an active person and when I’m not studying you will often see me doing some type of activity. I quite enjoy running, trying to go a few times a week, and enjoy playing pretty much any sport, especially football and tennis. Furthermore, I am interested in other academic subjects, which I try to study in my spare time.

Cassandra Durr

I completed an undergraduate degree in Actuarial Science, where I first discovered my passion for statistics. This led me to pursue a postgraduate degree in Mathematical Statistics, followed by a Master’s degree in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. During my studies, I worked part-time in the healthcare and biology sectors, applying statistical and machine learning techniques to various problems within these fields. Upon completion of my Master's degree, I worked at an AI consultancy based in Amsterdam.

The decision to join STOR-i was driven by my desire to refocus on my passion for statistics, while still leveraging my background in machine learning and industry experience. STOR-i also appealed to me because the MRes year provides the opportunity to explore different areas within statistics and operations research, while also engaging with leading professors, to help define my focus for the PhD phase of the programme.

Fiona Wilson

I graduated from Lancaster University in 2024 when I completed my MSci in Mathematics. Despite starting the course with a strong interest in pure maths, I became more interested in statistics as I considered their usage in solving real-world problems. I particularly enjoyed my modules on extreme value theory and likelihood inference, and I look forward to exploring them further.Joining STOR-i is also an exciting chance to return to operations research after taking modules of it in my first year. The collaborative working environment, the variety of topics and the training opportunities at during the MRes year at STOR-i will help me further develop my skills and research interests before starting on my PhD.

Harry Ellingham

In 2024, I completed my integrated master's in physics at the University of Oxford, where I specialised in theoretical physics and computational atmospheric physics. I joined STOR-i because I saw a PhD in statistics as a logical next step to build on my ability to solve interesting problems in physical systems. I hope to take on a PhD project where I am able to leverage my knowledge of physics to answer deeper questions than one can answer with purely analytical methods.

Outside of my degree I enjoy keeping active through sports like cycling and bouldering, and I am also proud to say I am STOR-i Footballs newest (and least talented) member.

Jasmine Burgess

I graduated with a Master's of Mathematics in 2023 from Durham University, where I focused on pure maths and mathematical physics. After my degree, I worked for a year as a Business Analyst for an insurance software company, using SQL to work with large databases.

However, I wanted to continue my education and explore new branches of mathematics. Statistics and operations research interested me due to their real-life applications, and the connections with industry at STOR-i particularly appealed to me. I also liked STOR-i’s focus on collaboration and outreach opportunities; during my degree, I worked for several programme designed at increasing participation in mathematics.

Outside of maths, I enjoy playing chess, reading all genres of books, and cooking.

Jimmy Lin

My interest within the field of statistics and operational research stemmed from my undergraduate studies at the University of Glasgow, where I graduated in 2024 with a BSc in Economics and Statistics. During my time there, I became very interested in the capabilities of probabilistic modelling of simple, realistic and explainable scenarios. This interest motivated me to pursue the STOR-i internship after my final year of studies, where I had the opportunity to explore the applications of probabilistic modeling, particularly within queueing systems.

Following the internship, I decided to continue STOR-i due to its strong emphasis on research with real world applications, as well as the department's emphasis in the community, whether that would be collaborative tasks or community-run events.

Malcolm Connolly

I am a mature student studying for an MRes and PhD with STOR-i. I studied Mathematics as an undergraduate at the University of York, graduating with an MMath. After my degree, I knew I wanted to make a positive difference and so I trained as a Mathematics teacher and ended up working in a challenging and diverse part of East Manchester. I developed an interest in Statistics through teaching Core Maths and A-level Statistics, and unlocked the side-quest of studying for an MSc in Statistics on a part-time basis at the University of Sheffield whilst working full-time as a teacher. I completed the side-quest, graduating in January 2024. I chose the programme at STOR-i because of the support to make an informed decision and plan before embarking on the PhD project. Most recently before joining STOR-i, I was a tutor at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Mark Holcroft

My start in STOR-i coincided with my fifth year in Lancaster - I started on a Bachelor's in maths, and quickly changed onto an Integrated Master's in financial maths. This has now turned into what will become eight years at the university as I continue my academic journey in Lancaster.

Choosing to join STOR-i was an obvious decision for me: Between a fulfilling and interesting course; a range of hobbies from bouldering to ale society; and many friends I have made along the way, I loved my life in Lancaster. Despite these, the main reason I joined was, of course, the programme itself. Hardly anywhere else can a course be found that offers such a range of PhD options in Statistics and OR, and with a cohort or like-minded individuals and full-funding, it was hard to consider any other options once I had found it.

Niharika Reddy Peddinenikalva

Originally from Bangalore, India, I lived in Scotland from 2020-2024 where I completed an Integrated Master's (MMath) in Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. I have always enjoyed applying Mathematical concepts to real-world problems. For my degree, I took courses mainly in statistics and operational research (OR). These courses provided exciting opportunities to apply maths to real-world problems such as University Course Timetabling, predicting risk factors for dementia and obesity, predicting hotel cancellations, energy supply modelling, etc. In my final year, I completed my dissertation in Mathematical Optimization for the Nurse Rostering Problem when I discovered my deep interest in OR and research. This motivated me to consider pursuing a PhD in Operational Research and STOR-i was the perfect fit for me!

The pathway of an MRes followed by the PhD at STOR-i offers a smooth transition from a taught Bachelor's/Master's to a PhD allowing me to gain formal research skills. With the extensive range of options for PhD projects in both Statistics and Operational research at STOR-i which allow you to work with industrial partners too, STOR-i was the perfect next step in my academic journey!

When I’m not doing maths, I enjoy music, hiking, long walks, repurposing waste into DIY crafts, and, more recently, bouldering!

Rebekah Fearnhead

In 2024 I graduated from Durham University with a MSci in Mathematics and Computer Science. During my undergraduate degree I became particularly interested in statistics, especially in its real life applications and how coding and simulation can be used to improve statistical models. In the summer after my second year I took part in the STOR-i internship where I investigated how surrogate functions can be used to improve Bayesian optimisation. The internship gave me the opportunity to get a taste of many topics in Statistics and OR which I had not previously encountered, and it also gave me a taste of what doing a PhD here would be like.

I decided to join STOR-I because of its focuses on problem solving and group collaboration, and I am also looking forward to getting opportunities to experience a wide range of areas in statistics and OR before choosing what the focus of my PhD will be.

Roberto Vasquez Martinez

I was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, and grew up in the delta of different cultures and unique customs. As a part of my culture and daily life, pursue versatility. I have found this naturally in math. Consequently, I did a five-year BSc in Mathematics at the University of Guanajuato. At the end of my bachelor’s journey, I realised that Probability and Statistics combine the beauty of two worlds: theoretical aspects and real-life problem-solving. Then, I did an MSc in Probability and Statistics at the Research Centre of Mathematics in Mexico. I contributed with novel works in Statistics and did a master's thesis on new methodologies in Functional Time Series. I joined STOR-i because I wanted to be part of the broad background community and teamwork philosophy, in addition to the possibility of exploring current research topics in Statistics and diving into world lead Operational Research. I enjoy practising and watching several sports as part of my daily work. I also like to play the piano and read novels. Moreover, I enjoy customising my computer’s workspace with new tools and designs.

Shahnaz Abdul Hameed

I did my undergrad in Physics at the University of Delhi (finishing in 2022) and then switched to pure math for my MSc at IIT Jodhpur. The change felt right because I wanted to better understand the science I’d studied in my BSc and do more formal math. During my MSc, I took my first real course in Statistics, and it was a bit of a shock—realising that something as arbitrary and inanimate as data could drive a field as beautifully scientific and mathematical.

I wanted to know where Stat sits today and looked for work where I could apply/refine statistical tools in modern problems. This led to working on projects using statistical methods in nuclear physics and PDEs (with DU and REYES, Berkeley), some package development (in Rcpp/Julia) and writing my MSc dissertation in the intersection of representation theory and statistics.

I enjoyed all of it. It made me realize being a scientist in the modern, data-driven world perhaps also meant being a well-trained statistician. I found out about STOR-i in the last semester of my MSc and felt it had everything I was looking for in a PhD in statistics, and more. I’m excited for all the problems ahead!

Outside of academics, I like literature, philosophy, cinema and history—especially experimental stuff (in lit and cinema, not history).