The ITTs can be really fun. The best part is that each time you participate you come out with a head full of new ideas and knowledge. Truly amazing
Before joining SAMBa, I was studying MMORSE and the University of Warwick. My final year was strongly focused on uncertainty quantification and a niche little field called probabilistic numerics.
With SAMBa my research revolved around machine learning and computer vision methods applied to Psoriatic Arthritis Diagnosis. I worked in an inter disciplinary team spanning mathematical sciences, computer science and Pharmacy and pharmacology. Apart from doing machine learning, I also went twice to Mongolia to help give seminars on R. I also went to Japan in 2017 to join the National Informatics INstitute’s internship program where I worked on image denoising while also finding time to travel around Japan.
I am currently working in the Institute of Mathematical Innovation as a Mathematical Innovation Research Associate. My main responsibilities involve finding creative ways to use mathematics and machine learning to solve problems or assist research in various interdisciplinary settings. In addition to this, I spend my time applying machine learning to medical imaging problems.
Apart from providing me with the opportunity and technical skills to design the project during the June 2016 ITT, I think the soft skills that I got during my various involvement with SAMBa helped me with the people side of things. The project involves talking to various stakeholders who each use a different language to describe the same problem. Being able to turn this into maths while also explaining to people the limits and strengths of the methods used is something that we learned during the ITTs.
Samba is redefining the borders of academic discipline. This can feel daunting at first, but the training and support you receive is more than enough for you to feel comfortable and confident as a young budding researcher.
The ITTs can be really fun. The best part is that each time you participate you come out with a head full of new ideas and knowledge. Truly amazing.
I enjoyed the big portfolio of opportunities I was given, which I believe is an essential property of SAMBa and something which truly makes the programme worth it
I joined thinking I wanted to do one type of PhD but ended up doing a completely different one due to the flexibility that was provided in finding/forming a PhD during the masters year
The SAMBa team understands how to efficiently bridge the gap between the abstract world of mathematics and statistics to industrial research
Being a part of SAMBa was a great way to broaden my research interests and to apply this knowledge to cross-displinary problems
The experience and the skill set acquired during my years in SAMBa helped me develop my academic career in a growing inter and trans disciplinary world.
Shortly after joining SAMBa I broke my neck in a bicycle accident. But thanks to the support from the amazing team, I was still able to make a success of my PhD. The SAMBa environment surrounds you with wonderful people and fantastic opportunities.
I was able to use the SAMBa training in statistics, to support training workshops in Mexico and in fact took a break from my PhD to take on a statistics teaching assistant role.
My experience in SAMBa shaped me as a versatile researcher with the ability to use maths to make an impact.
The ITTs were invaluable in providing experience in collaborating effectively with others on large projects, understanding and synthesising new information quickly, and liasing with academic leads and commercial partners
Being part of SAMBa is like being part of a little community: everyone is super supportive and there is always someone to talk to if you need it (usually with cake!).
