Being a part of SAMBa was a great way to broaden my research interests and to apply this knowledge to cross-displinary problems
Before joining SAMBa, I was at the University of Oxford.
My research was on classical pilot-wave phenomena, a dynamical system in which a millimetric droplet may bounce and self-propel on the surface of a vertically vibrating fluid bath, guided by its accompanying Faraday wave field.
My research was supervised by Paul Milewski, but I also spent three months at MIT as a visiting student, working with John Bush and Ruben Rosales. When I wasn’t doing maths, or boring people by talking about maths, I went climbing to stop myself thinking about maths…
I’m now an Instructor of Applied Mathematics at MIT, continuing my research in pilot-wave systems.
SAMBa helped me develop skills for pursuing a career in academia. SAMBa also supported my placement at MIT, which later led me to apply to MIT for the instructorship.
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 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
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!).
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
(My supervisors) encouraged me to take my own research direction, guided by my interests, and to be involved in the wider community, presenting at and attending a wide range of national and international conferences
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.
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
I can't imagine studying for my PhD anywhere other than SAMBa
My experience in SAMBa shaped me as a versatile researcher with the ability to use maths to make an impact.
I really valued the experience of being part of a cohort of students in SAMBa, which guaranteed that we were not doing our PhDs in isolation, despite working intensively on independent projects
