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!).
After completing my MMath at the University of Bath, I joined SAMBa as a SAMBa-aligned student to work on a project funded by one of SAMBa’s industrial partners, ANSWERS. The project involved developing stochastic models to analyse the long-term behaviour of systems of neutrons in nuclear reactors.
During these three years I spent several weeks at the ANSWERS team’s offices in Dorchester understanding their software and explaining my work, as well as attending and presenting at their annual conference. I was also exposed to many other opportunities, including participating in ITTs (including one in Mexico!), presenting at the annual summer conference and teaching a statistics course in Mongolia.
My PhD taught me how to bring together research from different disciplines to tackle real-world problems, which has been instrumental in shaping my research and the path my career has taken. The additional opportunities offered as part of SAMBa were also invaluable and something not many PhD students get exposed to. For example, working with academics from other departments and industrial partners has given me the confidence and fluency to speak with non-mathematicians and develop new connections and collaborations.
SAMBa exposes students to a wide range of cutting edge statistical and mathematical research that will be useful to them in their PhD and later career
I found the one-on-one reading courses an incredible opportunity to both learn about a topic in detail, and to get to know a potential area and supervisor before starting my PhD
I can't imagine studying for my PhD anywhere other than SAMBa
You get a lot of freedom to choose your research area...and there is a wide range of research areas within the department from which to choose
The SAMBa team understands how to efficiently bridge the gap between the abstract world of mathematics and statistics to industrial research
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
SAMBa provided a uniquely supportive yet challenging environment, in which one is encouraged to explore their interests and question their limits
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.
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
