I can't imagine studying for my PhD anywhere other than SAMBa; I needed to learn mathematical tools that I didn't even know existed when I arrived, and SAMBa was the perfect environment, filled with clever, supportive people, in which to do just that.
Before joining SAMBa I was an undergraduate in mathematics at the University of Bath
My research concerned waves moving in random materials – I studied the differential equation governing these waves, proved properties of its solution, and developed and analysed a new methods for accelerating the numerical solution of this equation.
I also attended some great international conferences, in the USA, Chile, and Austria! Back at SAMBa I helped organise our student-led symposium, and was part of team that organised a national postgraduate conference with over 100 attendees!
After completing my PhD, I changed direction, and I’m training at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, to be a Church of England minister.
As a theology student, I need to think clearly about complex topics – something I had lots of training for in SAMBa! And had lots of opportunities to give talks about my research, which have honed my skills in presenting those complex topics to other people.
I can’t imagine studying for my PhD anywhere other than SAMBa; I needed to learn mathematical tools that I didn’t even know existed when I arrived, and SAMBa was the perfect environment, filled with clever, supportive people, in which to do just that.
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 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 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!).
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.
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
I had the opportunity to get involved in some international training and capacity building activities with international partners and was able to travel to Brazil and Mongolia to share my knowledge of statistical methods and applications, which was really rewarding.
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
Being a part of SAMBa was a great way to broaden my research interests and to apply this knowledge to cross-displinary problems
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
