Dylan Bahia

I studied Mathematics at the University of Manchester, during which time, I became particularly interested in probability and statistics. Confident that I wanted to continue my education in these areas, and with the prospect of applying for a PhD being a possibility for my future, I decided to apply for the summer internship at STOR-i, which I completed after the second year of my degree. The internship gave me a clearer picture of the work involved when completing a PhD and enabled me to observe the day-to-day life of a student at STOR-i in particular. Following my bachelor's degree at Manchester, I wanted to continue my education and so completed a Master's in Statistics at Lancaster University. It was during this year that I decided for certain that I wanted to pursure a PhD and consequently applied to STOR-i.

My decision to join STOR-i comprised numerous factors. With Operation Research being an area that I covered in little detail during my education, the MRes provides me with an opportunity to gain insight into several topics and to decide whether it is an area in which I want to conduct my own research. Furthermore, with there being many areas of statistics which interested me during my education, I can further inform my decision about which areas interest me the most. As well as the academic knowledge I gain on the MRes, I also greatly value the plethora of opportunities to build skills which will aid me when I come to completing my PhD. Finally, from my summer internship, I saw the focus on community at STOR-i, something which I value and which was important in my decision to apply.

Kajal Dodhia

In 2023, I graduated with a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Glasgow. During my undergraduate degree, I developed a particular interest in Statistics and its wide variety of applications to real world problems, which motivated me to complete a summer internship. I explored the UK measles outbreak between 1944 and 1962 using the hhh4 model to explore the best fitting model and to predict future outbreaks with the vision to find an endgame scenario to the Covid-19 pandemic with its many challenges. My internship and degree increased my passion for problem solving and gave me valuable insight inot the current world of research in which Statistics and Operational Research is used.

I decided to join STOR-i because of its collaborative research environment and links to industry partners. In addition, the MRes year is a great opportunity to participate in engaging courses which will help me to identify areas of research that interest me and develop my skills in research before undertaking a PhD

Lauren Durrell

My enjoyment of solving operational problems was sparked at A-level whille taking decision mathematics models. I carried this forward into my BSc in Mathematics and Psychology at Royal Holloway, where I took elective courses on graphs and optimisation.

After my degree, I worked for a number of years in transport research, where I specialised in transport safety research and active travel infrastructure evaluation. More recently, I've worked in market research for the energy and regulated industries. It was during this work that my interest in statistics grew.

The STOR-i programme appealed to me as it offered a way to re-engage in academia, explore a range of both statistics and operational research topics and their intersection, and work alongside industry partners on cutting-edge problems.

Kristina Grolmusova

Prior to joining STOR-i, I completed my MPhys Physics course at the University of Manchester. As part of my MPhys project, I worked on developing a dynamical rating system to rank footballers based on their duel performance. This was in collaboration with the Manchester City, which gave me a chance to work on something with real-life application. I have also gained an insight into working with an industrial partner.

During my studies, I took part in the STOR-i internship where I worked a time series analysis via Kalman filtering. Many of the topics that I learned about during the internship were something I had not encountered before. For that reason, I'm looking forward to exploring these in depth before I decide what the focus of my PhD project will be.

In my free time, I enjoy climbing, running, baking and learning languages.

Harry Newton

I graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2022 with a Master's in Physics and a desire to shift my attention away from Physics, to a field more applicable to understanding social systems, rather than physical systems. I decided STOR-i was an excellent choice for pursuing this goal.

Before University, I was never really a fan of statistics, it was only as I approached the end of my degree where I began to appreciate the power of statistical methods. I gained a greater affinity for statistics on my dissertation; focused on modelling the strange behaviour of the liquid like organelles within the cell.

What made STOR-i an excellent choice for me, was its emphasis on group collaboration, outreach work, and the chance to explore a wide range of topics in Statistics and Operations Research. But on top of all that, STOR-i and its research is focused on the areas of our society which are often unseen, but extremely important. To have the opportunity to be trained and eventually contribute to this field is an honour.

Joe Rutherford

In 2023, I completed my BSc in Mathematics at Lancaster University. During the 2nd year of my BSc, I started to feel more intrigued about probability and statistics, and my interest increased further when I took more statistics modules in my 3rd year. I particularly enjoyed learning about Bayesian inference, and I have never conducted research or done a dissertation before, so this may be something that I will focus more on through my time in STOR-i.

I decided to join STOR-i because of the amount of teamwork that's involved, and I find it exciting and interesting to get to know people who have different life and educational experiences. I am also fascinated by the applications of statistics and organisational research in the real world, and that's something I can explore more by doing this course.

In my free time, I enjoy playing the Tenor Horn in a brass band, reading, doing puzzles, and watching lots of reality TV.

Lanya Yang

I earned a BSc in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2020. I then obtained MSc degrees in Financial Math and Statistics from King's College London and the University of Warwick. During my Financial Math degree, I specialized in machine learning for solving PDEs and focused on Deep Pricing of American options in the CEV model. In my Statistics degree, I developed a strong interest in Bayesian Statistics and MCMC methods, which deepend my desire for further research.

I appreciate the focus on teamwork and problem-solving within STOR-i. Moreover, I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to collaborate with industry, allowing me to witness firsthand how theoretical concepts and methodologies are applied in practical contexts. Additionally, the prospect of delving into diverse topics during the MRes year, enabling me to pinpoint my specific research interests excites me. I am eagerly anticipating the day I can embark on my independent research journey.

Rui Zhang

Born and raised in China and spent several years in Singapore, I did my undergraduate degree in Math and Stats at UCL. I also did an undergraduate thesis on Markov chain Monte Carlo, studying things like PDMP-based algorithms and the Barker proposal. I hope to spend more time thinking about them in my MRes year, and also explore other things in Statistics and Operational research, especially those that are closely related to computation.

Aside from work, I enjoy reading and arts. I am a huge fan of Haruki Murakami, and I enjoy paintings by artists like Lucian Freud, Francis Bacond, and Edward Hopper.