Alumni
Zsófia Talyigás

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

Before moving to Bath for a PhD with SAMBa, I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in pure mathematics at TU Budapest with an Erasmus semester at KTH Stockholm.My first year at SAMBa gave me a good picture of what research looks like in applied mathematics and introduced me to several interesting topics in probability, which is my area of research. 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. It is thanks to these reading courses that I chose a topic I truly enjoyed and that I met my supervisors who I found very easy to work with. Another aspect of my first year at Bath, that was both challenging and useful, is that we had to present our work several times: we gave many talks of different lengths to both general and expert audiences. It is also thanks to these talks that I have been getting positive feedback on my presentations later on. The ITTs were also an essential part of the first and later years, that taught us communicating ideas to industrial partners, kept us sharp with lots of programming to do at each event, and showed us the countless opportunities of statistical and applied mathematics.My PhD project at SAMBa involved branching processes with selection. These are stochastic processes, which we think of as toy models for an evolving population under natural selection. In my final year of PhD I was lucky enough to participate in a branching processes conference in Montreal, where I had the chance to meet and present my work to leading researchers in this area. Although my project was in theoretical probability, our results are interesting for researchers in population genetics as well. This is important for my current position as a postdoc at the University of Vienna, which is still in probability, but with opportunities to consult with biologists. In this new environment it is particularly important to have practice in presenting my work to non-mathematician audience, and I am glad to have gained this practice during my SAMBa training.In the course of the four years I spent in Bath I enjoyed working on my research project, but of course it would not have been the same without the people around me. SAMBa offers a very supportive environment, and being part of a cohort is a great experience not only in the first year, but later on as well, when we start working on completely different projects, but continue drinking coffee together.

Alumni case studies

Matt Durey

Being a part of SAMBa was a great way to broaden my research interests and to apply this knowledge to cross-displinary problems

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Robbie Peck

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

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Eleanor Barry

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

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Gianluca Detommaso

SAMBa offers high level training in statistical and applied mathematical disciplines, as well as direct engagement with industrial partners

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Federico Cornalba

SAMBa’s most remarkable feature is the variety of study options it offers

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Aoibheann Brady

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. 

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Emma Horton

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!).

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Anna Senkevich

SAMBa provided a uniquely supportive yet challenging environment, in which one is encouraged to explore their interests and question their limits

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Dorottya Fekete

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.

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Adwaye Rambojun

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

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