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Statistics

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PhD Statistics - 3 Years (Full-time)

PhD Statistics - 6 Years (Part-time)

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Contact information: Postgraduate Secretary
Phone: +44 (0) 131 650 5048
Fax: +44 (0) 131 650 6553
Email: pg.maths@ed.ac.uk; Mrs Gill Law (Postgraduate Research Administrator)
Phone: +44 (0)131 650 5085
Email: G.Law@ed.ac.uk; Address: School of Mathematics
JCMB
The King's Buildings
Edinburgh
EH9 3JZ

Our society revolves around variation, uncertainty and risk. By gaining a greater understanding of these variables through the study of statistics, we are able to create systems and techniques that benefit areas as diverse as science, the law and finance.

The Statistics group explores a wide range of statistical theory and practice, often applying its findings in collaboration with researchers in related fields, such as informatics and biomathematics.

Entry requirements

International students

All applicants must meet our general entry and language requirements. Detailed advice for international students is available here:

Research profile

Our work is balanced between classical and Bayesian statistics. Our particular areas of interest include hierarchical multivariate random effects models, wavelets, nonparametric regression and resampling.

While the group has a strong theoretical base, we are also heavily involved in specific application areas, particularly forensic science, the law, agriculture, and functional genomics data, such as gene expression microarrays.

Staff and student numbers

We have 80 staff members and 80 students.

Training and support

Our students are assigned two supervisors from the academic staff. As well as working on their research project, students are expected to take part in other regular activities of the School, such as graduate lecture courses, research seminars and colloquia, and the postgraduate colloquium (organised by and for postgraduates).

The Scottish Mathematical Sciences Training Centre runs a series of training courses designed specifically for first-year graduate students of mathematics. Students also have access to a transferable skills programme for further professional development.

Facilities

As a research student, you will find a wealth of expertise available to you via our links with theorists and practitioners in related fields.

The University’s School of Informatics, for instance, is the largest and most prestigious in the UK, and features a Machine Learning research group whose work is linked to some forms of statistical research.

In addition, the Scottish Government-backed research provider Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland is an associated research institute of the University. With its main base in our building, it provides access to other researchers with an interest in statistical genomics and bioinformatics, process and systems modelling and statistical methodology.

If your research is in the expanding area of forensic statistics, you will benefit from our link with the Joseph Bell Centre for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning. The centre applies and teaches statistical techniques for interpreting evidence, such as binomial probabilities, conditional probability and Bayes’ Theorem.

Funding

Please see Scholarships and Student Funding Services for information about funding opportunities:

Scholarships and Student Funding Services

Careers in statistics

You will gain a qualification that is highly regarded in both academia and industry. Future career options are diverse, with past students finding positions in academic institutions, forensics, finance, the law and biological and agricultural organisations.

Further Information

This article was published on Apr 25, 2013