The STOR-i Programme

The STOR-i doctoral training programme spans four years, and is designed to give you the skills, knowledge, and confidence to succeed within the fields of Statistics and Operational Research.

Image of a student working within an MRes lecture

Programme structure

The STOR-i Centre for Doctoral Training is a joint venture between the School of Mathematical Sciences and the Management Science department. It offers students a four-year PhD programme in Statistics and Operational Research developed and delivered with industrial partners.

During your first year you will undertake a Master's of Research (MRes), and in years 2-4 you will complete a PhD project. Depending on your project, you may also have the chance to undertake an industry placement or internship during your studies.

  • MRes Programme (Year one)

    The MRes year includes taught courses, projects and group activities providing you with a grounding in Statistics and Operational Research, an overview of thriving research areas, and an opportunity to develop a formal research proposal for your PhD.

  • PhD Programme (Years two to four)

    In years 2-4 you will complete a PhD project, encountering real-life commercial challenges, developing leading-edge STOR research and making a real impact on major industrial and scientific applications. During this time you will also participate in a range of training activities to help develop other essential transferable skills.

Programme features

Undertaking your MRes and PhD through the STOR-i programme gives you the opportunity to experience multiple benefits beyond a regular PhD.

PhD project selection and support

The primary source of support and direction for each STOR-i student is their supervisory team. All students are supervised by a team representing at least two of STOR-i’s four constituencies (statistics, OR and industry, international partners).

Before picking a PhD topic, students are presented with multiple project options. They are offered the opportunity to discuss these with their supervisors and current PhD students, as well as given time to investigate their areas of interest to help decide which projects are best suited to them. The final project allocation will be made by the Executive Committee after meeting individually with the students to discuss their preferences and motivation, to help ensure students are happy with their assigned project.

Students pointing together at a whiteboard
A student talking to another within the STOR-i communal area

Outreach and engagement

All students undertake an element of outreach and engagement. There are three varied options to appeal to different students.

  • Charity-based internships - students will work with a specific charity for a short period of time on an internship. During this time they will support the work of the charity using their developed STOR skills.
  • Science Festivals - students will run events and give presentations at leading UK science festivals. This will include events such as the Royal Society Summer Festival and the Cheltenham Science Festival.
  • Schools’ Outreach - student will deliver motivational workshops based on their research, to Maths students in year 12 at a variety of schools and colleges.

Our student centred approach allows everyone to give back to the local and national community.

Research events

STOR-i hosts research events throughout the year, both to invite external academic and industrial participants to share their research with our students, and to develop and disseminate research conducted within STOR-i with our industrial partners, external advisers, and visiting PhD students.

All STOR-i students are encouraged to take part in these events, as they provide an excellent opportunity to keep up-to-date with current internationally-leading research and to inspire collaborations with external academics and new industrial partners.

Examples of these are STOR-i's Annual Conference, Problem Solving Days, Research Workshops, and Research Seminars.

Explore our research events
A student writing on a whiteboard at a Spring School event
Students sat listening to a Masterclass

Masterclasses

We hold three STOR-i masterclasses per year for the continuing development of STOR-i students’ research knowledge. Typically these masterclasses are given by visiting international experts in areas of Statistics and Operational Research, not covered by our in-house training.

Examples of recent Masterclasses are:

  • 9-11 April 2024, Dr Francois-Xavier Briol
  • 15-19 March 2024, Professor Selin Damla Ahipasaoglu
  • 13-15 February 2024, Professor Vittorio Maniezzo
  • 20-22 March 2023, Professor Edward Malthouse

Research management skills

STOR-i students assume a high degree of ownership of their research, and the have the opportunity to develop research management skills throughout their MRes and PhD.

They have wide-ranging opportunities to practice and develop the skills they learn such as:

  • Applying for and managing grants via competitive proposal to the STOR-i Research Fund. Successful applicants manage the award, including undertaking the supervision of a STOR-i summer researcher to support this work, and report outcomes.
  • Dissemination - Development and regular updating of a personal web-page with material accessible to both specialists and non-specialists.
  • Management - Students can get involved by nominating, inviting and organising visiting researchers for STOR-i Research Events.
  • Impact Fellowships - On PhD completion, STOR-i students will be eligible to apply for a 1 year post-doctoral Impact Fellowship in STOR-i.
A student sat chatting to another student in the communal STOR-i hub
A student listening to a lecture

Personal development pathway

As part of our core STOR-i training, your Personalised Development Pathway takes you through your PhD study and consolidates all your hard work on skills and personal development.

You can choose from defined courses to build your expertise in key areas of personal development, including inter-personal and leadership skills, effective communication, and industry partner-led development with skills for the real world.

Towards the end of your PhD, you can benefit from training on writing your PhD, presentation and interview skills, and career planning, ensuring you leave STOR-i with a broad level of skills to support your success in your future career.

Student community and activities

STOR-i students host and engage with multiple social activities throughout the programme, including:

STOR-i forum and coffee catch-ups

The STOR-i Forum is a series of informal weekly talks from STOR-i PhD students, intended to inform other students and staff about their current research projects. After the forum, all STOR-i students and staff are invited to socialise and catch-up in the STOR-i hub for a coffee meeting.

STOR-i support group

The support group is a student-led, self-electing help network, that was created to provided a safe and friendly environment for peer support and the promotion of mental health and wellbeing. Sessions take a variety of forms, including mood-boosting activities and working together to discuss common problems.

STOR-i computing group

STORC is a student computing group for all years and subject areas. These sessions allow for sharing knowledge on common programs and techniques that can be useful when tackling academic research, in a friendly and understanding environment.

DiverSTOR-i

DiverSTOR-i is an innovative student group that aims to create a more inclusive and supportive community for all students, including hosting events and organising a range of interesting and informative talks relating to equality, diversity and inclusion.

STOR-i reading groups

Students lead reading groups throughout the year on topics such as Changepoints, Computational Statistics and Machine Learning, Epidemics, Extremes, and Operational Research.

After STOR-i

STOR-i graduates go on to use the training they received at STOR-i to pursue many different career fields, including within both academia and industry.

We regularly invite our STOR-i alumni back to speak in the form of career talks and seminars, which offers our current cohorts unique and highly-relevant early-career guidance and advice. It is also a great opportunity for our alumni to demonstrate where and how their statistics and operational research training can be applied in their chosen career fields.

You can learn more about our former STOR-i students here:

  • Testimonials

    Hear about the experiences of other students who have attended, or are still attending, STOR-i.

  • Alumni

    Discover the different ways STOR-i graduates have used their STOR-i training after their studies.

Ready to apply?

If you're interested in joining the next cohort of STOR-i students, or would like more information about the process, visit our application page.

Apply to STOR-i