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Partners

Industry Partners
Academic Partners
Prospective Partners
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Our centre is unique in the strength of its links with industry matched with high quality research methodology. We achieve this by working with leading industries that recognise and support the need for highly skilled researchers.

STOR-i meets the need to produce highly employable graduates equipped with the broad skills needed for rapid career progression. Our industry partners pledge significant financial support and have committed to extensive, long-term involvement in the Centre’s activities. Strong industry involvement has been key to STOR-i’s continued success.

STOR-i is committed to developing and disseminating research of direct relevance to industry and government as well as to the academic community. To this end, STOR-i hosts an annual conference to showcase research progress and achievement. The workshops are open to our industrial partners, visiting PhD students and our external advisers.

Industry Partners

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Academic Partners

As part of STOR-i’s international working, we have developed major strategic academic partnerships with Big Insight (Oslo, Norway), MIT (Cambridge, US), Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, US), Northwestern University (Evanston, US), University College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland) and University of Washington (Seattle, US). These key cross-disciplinary centres also have international research reputations and aligned agendas to STOR-i.

The nature of each of these academic partnerships is to:

  • Foster longer-term collaborative research opportunities between the groups;
  • Enable researchers in each organisation to spend extended visits with one another leading to a range of new collaborations between staff directly;
  • Provide opportunities for students at the different centres to visit and work with each other;
  • Facilitate academics from Naval Postgraduate School and Statistics for Innovation to actively co-supervise STOR-i students, and vice versa; and
  • Collaborate on the design and delivery of joint workshops and training events.

Big Insight

Big Insight, based at the Norwegian Computing Center/Norsk Regnesentral in Oslo, is one of the fourteen Norwegian Centres for Research-based Innovation. Big Insight develops core statistical methodologies to achieve innovation goals in four key sectors: petroleum, finance, marine and health.

Their aim is to “enhance the capability of the Norwegian economy to innovate by focusing on long-term research, forging alliances between research-intensive enterprises and prominent research groups". The research and development team at Big Insight consists of around forty statisticians and researchers from partners, forming a strong, internationally recognised group.

"Bringing advanced statistical sciences deeper into industrial innovation processes is a common aim for STOR-i and Big Insight. The most exciting scientific challenges originate from ambitious industrial goals. We develop new statistical methodology and train brilliant PhD students to contribute to progress in science, industry, technology and society. The Professorial and focus of STOR-i and Big Insight make our centres quite unique: together we are stronger in promoting and developing industrial statistics."

- Professor Arnoldo Frigessi, Center leader of Big Insight

Activities and Visits

  • Oct 2017 — Research visit: PhD student Emma Simpson visits Big Insight
  • May 2017 — Christian Rohrbeck visits Oslo to present at the Building Bridges workshop
  • Apr 2017 — Dr Ingrid Hobæk Haff visits STOR-i to give a seminar
  • Oct 2015 — Research visit: Jamie-Leigh Chapman visits Big Insight to work with ABB
  • Jan 2015 — Arnoldo Frigessi visits Lancaster to meet STOR-i students and give a presentation at STOR-i Annual Conference
  • Nov 2014 — Research visit: PhD student Christian Rohrbeck visits Big Insight
  • Feb 2014 — Research visit: PhD student Christian Rohrbeck visits Big Insight
  • Nov 2013 — Research visit: PhD student Christian Rohrbeck visits Big Insight
  • Jun 2013 — Research visit: PhD student Christian Rohrbeck visits Big Insight
  • Jan 2013 — Research visit: Dr Thomas Jaki and Dr Matthew Sperrin visit Big Insight
  • Nov 2012 — Key staff and PhD students from Big Insight visit STOR-i.
  • Jun 2012 — Research visit: Two STOR-i students, Shreena Patel and Christopher Nemeth to visit Big Insight to deliver research presentations
  • Apr 2012 — Professor Jonathan Tawn and Professor Idris Eckley visit to Big Insight to give seminars, identify research collaborations, potential exchanges, and joint activities
  • Mar 2012 — Professor Arnoldo Frigessi visit to STOR-i to develop STOR-i appointment strategy
  • Jan 2012 — Professor Nils Hjort visits STOR-i and speaks at annual STOR-i workshop

MIT

MIT’s Operations Research Center (ORC) is the world’s premier graduate program in operations research (OR).

Established in 1953 by renowned physicist Philip M. Morse, a pioneer in the field of operations research (OR) and the first president of the Operations Research Society of America (ORSA). Under his esteemed leadership, the Centre introduced a rigorous OR curriculum—the first program of its kind in the U.S.—that challenged students to apply scientific methods to decision-making and taught them how to use those techniques in such fields as education, industry, and public service. The Centre also has a long-standing heritage of making significant research contributions to society in areas of health care, transportation, manufacturing and services.

Naval Postgraduate School

The Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, provides master and doctoral training programmes in a diverse range of disciplines with the ultimate aim to improve national security.

STOR-i’s collaboration with NPS is focused on the Operations Research Department at NPS, one of the oldest and most highly respected OR departments in the U.S. The OR training and research at NPS is strongly influenced by a commitment to solve real military problems. This application-driven research philosophy is one that is shared by STOR-i.

"The Operations Research faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School are proud to be an academic partner with STOR-i at Lancaster University. Our partnership builds on long-standing research collaborations with Lancaster faculty and provides us an opportunity to help guide talented STOR-i PhD students. We expect our collaboration to develop new approaches that address technically-challenging defence-related problems of importance to national security."

- Dr Robert Dell, Chairman and Director of Operations Research, NPS

Activities and Visits

  • Jul 2018 — Research visit: PhD student Jake Clarkson and Kevin Glazebrook, STOR-i Chair, visit NPS
  • 2018 - 2021 — STOR-i student, Livia Stark, working on a PhD project supervised by Michael Atkinson, Professor at NPS
  • Mar 2018 — Roberto Szechtman visits STOR-i
  • Jan 2018 — Professor Michael Atkinson visits STOR-i and speaks at annual STOR-i workshop
  • Jul 2017 — Research visit: PhD student Jake Clarkson visits NPS
  • 2017 - 2020 — STOR-i student, Stephen Ford, working on a PhD project supervised by Michael Atkinson, Professor at NPS
  • Jul 2016 — Research visit: James Grant and Kevin Glazebrook visit NPS
  • 2016 - 2019 — STOR-i student, Jake Clarkson, working on a PhD project supervised by Kyle Lin, Professor at NPS
  • Jan 2015 — Professor Kyle Lin visits STOR-i and speaks at annual STOR-i workshop
  • April 2014 — Research visit: PhD student Lisa Turner visits NPS
  • March 2014 — Research visit: PhD student Jak Marshall visits NPS
  • Jan 2014 — Research visit: Nedialko Dimitrov from NPS visits STOR-i and gives a STOR-i Seminar
  • Oct 2013 — Research visit: Roberto Szechtman from NPS visits STOR-i
  • July 2013 — Kevin Glazebrook, STOR-i Chair, visits NPS
  • June 2013 - Sept 2016 — STOR-i student, Lisa Turner, working on a PhD project supervised by Nedialko Dimitrov, Professor at NPS
  • April 2013 — Research visit: PhD students Terry James and Jak Marshall visit NPS as part of continued collaborative research
  • March 2013 — Research visit: PhD student Terry James visits NPS
  • Jan 2013 — Research visit: PhD student Jak Marshall visits NPS
  • April - May 2012 — Research visit: PhD students, Terry James and Jak Marshall visit NPS to deliver research presentations and work with joint supervisors
  • March - April 2012 — Professor Kevin Glazebrook sabbatical visit to NPS, joint research and identification of future collaborative projects between NPS and STOR-i
  • Jan 2012 — Professor Roberto Szechtman visits STOR-i and speaks at annual STOR-i workshop
  • April 2011 - Sept 2014 — STOR-i students, Terry James and Jak Marshall working on PhD projects jointly supervised by professors from NPS, Kyle Lin and Roberto Szechtman respectively.
  • Aug 2010 — Professor Kevin Glazebrook visit to NPS to identify research links

Northwestern University

The Department of Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences (IEMS) at Northwestern University provides doctoral training in operational research, engineering statistics, production and logistics, financial engineering, healthcare engineering, and social network analysis. IEMS has particular strengths in optimisation, stochastic simulation, and data analytics methodology, and is the #4 ranked doctoral program in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.

“The synergy of operations research and statistics in the STOR-i program aligns perfectly with IEMS strengths, and makes STOR-i doctoral students a great fit with our faculty’s interests. We are pleased to be an academic partner with STOR-i at Lancaster University, and to host STOR-i students on our campus.”

- Dr Barry L. Nelson, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences

Activities and Visits

  • Jul 2018 — Research visit: PhD student, Lucy Morgan, visits IEMS
  • Dec 2016 — Research visit: PhD student, Lucy Morgan, visits IEMS
  • Oct 2016 — Research visit: PhD students, Lucy Morgan and Emma Stubington, and Professor Kevin Glazebrook visit IEMS
  • Jan 2016 — Masterclass on stochastic simulation and seminar at STOR-i by Barry Nelson IEMS
  • Nov 2015 — Research visit: PhD student Lucy Morgan visits IEMS
  • June 2015 — STOR-i student, Lucy Morgan, working on PhD project supervised by Barry Nelson IEMS
  • June 2015 — STOR-i student, Emma Stubington, working on PhD project supervised by Omid Nohadani
  • March 2015 — Masterclass on stochastic simulation and seminar at STOR-i by Barry Nelson IEMS
  • March 2014 — Research visit and seminar at STOR-i by Barry Nelson
  • Jan 2014 — Research visit by Sanjay Mehrotra IEMS at STOR-i Annual Conference
  • Dec 2012 — Masterclass on stochastic simulation at STOR-i by Barry Nelson IEMS

University College Dublin

The Statistics Group at UC Dublin is part of the highly regarded School of Mathematics and Statistics. The School is the largest of its kind in Ireland and offers the greatest choice of programmes at undergraduate, master's and PhD level, reflecting the ubiquity of the mathematical sciences in the modern world.

The Statistics Group is also a core partner of the SFI Centre for Research Training in Foundations of Data Science.

University of Washington

The Department of Statistics at the University of Washington is one of the strongest and most diverse Statistics groups in the USA. The department has a range of strengths that link with, and support, cross-departmental research at the University of Washington. Like STOR-i, the Statistics Department engages closely with industrial partners, in particular, Seattle-based companies such as Microsoft and Amazon.

"Over the past decade, we've seen dramatic changes in both the types of data routinely collected and used for research or decision-making and in the availability of advanced statistical and computational tools. This environment means that working collaboratively with scientists and experts outside of statistics to ensure that our contributions as statisticians expand scientific or policy-relevant frontiers is perhaps more critical now than at any point in the history of our profession. I am pleased that the University of Washington Department of Statistics is a STOR-i partner and that, through this partnership, we've built this relationship for the mutual benefit of research excellence and the support of training for high-calibre PhD students at both institutions."

- Professor Tyler McCormick - Department of Statistics, University of Washington.

Activities and Visits

  • Feb 2018 — Research visit: Lecturer Christopher Nemeth visits UW
  • Aug 2017 — Research visit: PhD student Kathryn Turnbull visits Tyler McCormick in Seattle
  • Jun-Aug 2017 — Research visit: PhD student Jack Baker visits Emily Fox in Seattle
  • July 2016 — Seminar: Tyler McCormick visits Lancaster
  • Jan 2016 — Research visit: PhD student Jack Baker visits Emily Fox in Seattle

Prospective Partners

Industrial partners greatly add to the rich variety of research collaborations on offer to STOR-i students. If you would like to explore possible collaborative opportunities with your organisation or arrange to visit the centre, please contact STOR-i.

Our model is based on the tried and tested UK Research Council’s CASE PhD scheme. We will collaborate on a project, which addresses key questions arising from your business requiring leading-edge statistics and/or operational research. For examples of existing projects, please visit our research page. A specific PhD student will work on the project for 3 years under the supervision of a STOR-i academic. Our model also encourages additional supervision provided by a member of the partner’s staff. You will gain access to STOR-i’s unique range of industrial engagement and knowledge transfer activities offering benefits not available in standard academic-industrial project collaborations.

We have found that consultancy projects do not tend to be suitable for PhD projects due to the short time frames required to achieve project deliverables. In addition, such projects tend not to contain substantive research problems that are essential for the successful completion of a PhD.

By collaborating on a project, you will work with a highly motivated research student skilled in statistics and operational research. Training during their MRes has specifically prepared them for collaborative research with industry. They will work on this project for the three years of their PhD allowing either substantive long-term projects to be addressed or a series of inter-linked shorter projects. Your organisation will collaborate with the student’s supervisor, an academic within Lancaster University’s internationally recognised statistics and operational research groups.

There will be opportunities to network with other STOR-i students - like-minded, high potential students with a proven record of academic excellence and a focus on careers at the interface of statistics, operational research and industry. Don’t take our word for it – take a look at the list of organisations already partnering with STOR-i. Other benefits include access to STOR-i research activities including our seminars, research group meetings and a range of other knowledge exchange events designed to help our partners find out about the centre’s activities and network with colleagues in other industrial sectors.

All industrial partners make a modest financial contribution to the project. This money enhances the stipend for the student over and above our standard stipend for STOR-i studentships (encouraging recruitment to the project) and contributes to other activities within STOR-i. We additionally require supervision time to provide problem specific input and help ensure the effective integration of the project within your organisation.

We ask for travel and subsistence costs for the student when working on placement with you, their partner. Such placements provide a valuable opportunity for knowledge exchange between student and partner. There is no fixed model for such visits, with placement types varying between partners and projects. Typically, students spend between 1-2 months a year at the partner’s offices. These visits can be anything from several two-day visits on a regular basis or one longer visit per annum. More frequent, shorter visits have the advantage of ensuring regular input into the project and good team building with the industrial supervisor. Longer visits can ensure better integration of both the work and student within the partner organisation. We would be happy to work with you to identify the visit plan which best suits your needs.

Contact Us

Please get in touch for more information on how your organisation can work with STOR-i.

Idris Eckley

Professor Idris Eckley FLSW

 Distinguished Professor of Statistics

Changepoints and Time Series, DSI - Foundations, Energy Lancaster, STOR-i Centre for Doctoral Training

+44 (0)1524 593066