Sample Space
Welcome to Sample Space where the department of Statistical Science engages with the public to explore the subject and people of statistics.
Sample Space is a place where statisticians and everyone else can sample the world of statistics. Join us as we regularly share with you stories, insights and the tools to separate the signal from the noise. We do this in two formats:
Magazine
The Sample Space magazine in a newsletter that aims to keep our community of past and present students and staff in touch with what’s happening in Statistical Science at UCL.
Podcast
Hosted by members of the UCL Statistical Science department, the Sample Space podcast is a place where statisticians explore this fascinating subject.
Some episodes will take the form of interviews of members of the department, external speakers or students.
Other episodes will be more expository around particular projects, statistical ideas or talking points.
The podcast will showcase the amazing work in the department and in statistics generally to make the world a better place.
Previous Episodes
Episode 1: Professor Tom Fearn
The history of statistics and eugenics at UCL with Professor Tom Fearn
In this contributed series from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with Professor Tom Fearn about how UCL is acknowledging and addressing its historical links with the eugenics movement, and in particular the roles of the prominent statisticians and eugenicists Francis Galton and Karl Pearson.
Listen to our Podcast on SoundCloud
Episode 2: Dr Anna Heath
Statistical Developments in the Calculation of Value of Information
In this contributed interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with a former member of the department, Dr Anna Heath. Dr Heath is currently a bio-statistician at SickKids hospital in Toronto within the Child Health Evaluative Sciences (CHES) program, and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
We discussed with Anna about the application of health economic ideas to the conception, design and analysis of clinical trials, and in particular the concept of the Value of Information whereby we can quantify the economic value of obtaining information through research.
Listen to our Podcast on SoundCloud
Episode 3: Dr Clair Barnes
Uncertainty quantification in weather forecasting and doing a PhD in Statistics at UCL.
In this interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL Clair Barnes, a recent PhD student, talks to Dr Terry Soo about her research into weather forecasting and her experiences of doing a PhD. We discover the difference between weather and climate and how to tell if ancient homes were randomly built!
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Episode 4: Prof Chris Holmes
Bayesian predictive inference
In this contributed interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with Professor Chris Holmes. Chris is Professor of Biostatistics at the departments of Statistics and the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford. He is also the Director for the Health Programme at the Alan Turing Institute. We discussed a recent presentation given at the department on Bayesian predictive inference and his involvement with statistical modelling to support the UK government’s COVID response.
UCL seminar recording: https://youtu.be/Y9S4n42n0cY
Martingale posterior distributions: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.15671
Interoperability of statistical models in pandemic preparedness: principles and reality: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.13730
Chris Holmes’ group website: https://www.chrisholmeslab.com
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Episode 5: Dr Hakim-Moulay Dehbi
Controlled backfill in oncology dose-finding trials
In this podcast we speak with Dr Hakim-Moulay Dehbi, who is currently Head of Statistics at the Comprehensive Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, about his last paper on controlled backfill in oncology dose-finding trials. He tells us about the motivation for this work, and more importantly how the interests of patients with cancer need to taken into account in dose-finding designs.
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Episode 6: Dr Mine Dogucu
Teaching Bayesian statistics and accessibility in education
In this interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with Dr Mine Dogucu who is a Lecturer in the department of Statistical Science at UCL. Dr Dogucu shares with us her experiences of teaching both frequentist and Bayesian statistics to undergraduates. She also explains what accessibility means in education and in the context of statistics, including being part of changing knitr and R Markdown to improve accessibility with image alternative text.
Bayes Rules! book: https://www.bayesrulesbook.com/
New in knitr: Improved Accessibility with Image Alt Text: https://www.rstudio.com/blog/knitr-fig-alt/
Teach Access: https://teachaccess.org/
BrailleR: https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/BrailleR/
Writing Alt Text for Data Visualization, Amy Cesal: https://medium.com/nightingale/writing-alt-text-for-data-visualization-2a218ef43f81
gradetools R package: https://federicazoe.github.io/gradetools/
Papers:
Framework for Accessible and Inclusive Teaching Materials for Statistics and Data Science Courses: https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.06355
Teaching Visual Accessibility in Introductory Data Science Classes with Multi-Modal Data Representations: https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.02565
Listen to our Podcast on SoundCloud
Episode 7: Prof Tim Swartz
Statistics and sports analytics (part 1 of 2)
In this two-part interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with Tim Swartz who is a Professor of Statistics at Simon Fraser University. We discuss a variety of topics including: synchronicity in cricket, pulling the goalie in ice hockey, and horse racing.
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Episode 8: Dr Sam Tickle
Change Point Detection and Global Terrorism
In this interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with Sam Tickle who is a Data Science Research Fellow at the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research, based at the University of Bristol. We discuss Sam’s research in changepoint detection, his new method called OMEN and the study of the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) that inspired it, and some milestones of his career path into statistical science.
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Episode 9: Dr Kevin Murphy
All of Machine Learning is now probabilistic
In a conversation with Kevin Murphy, the distinguished researcher at Google DeepMind, we explored his multifaceted career spanning academia and industry. Born in Ireland and educated at prestigious institutions in the UK and the US, Kevin’s academic journey led him to become an associate professor in Canada, before transitioning to manage a research team at Google DeepMind in California.
We dived into the inspiration behind his acclaimed three books on “Probabilistic Machine Learning” and discussed some of the practical applications of his research. Kevin also offered valuable advice to early career researchers and Ph.D. students in Machine Learning.
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Episode 10: Michael Baxter
Seat belts, buses and inflation - Government statistics with Michael Baxter (Alumni series)
In this alumni series from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with Michael Baxter about his time at UCL and subsequent years working in government, including a wide variety of projects, from unearthing a national Census undercount to informing on the effects of compulsory seatbelt wearing.
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Episode 11: Warren Luk
An interview with Warren Luk, CEO of Good Lab, a Hong Kong-based social innovation think-and-do tank
We speak with Warren Luk, a former student in Economics & Statistics at UCL, about his time at the university, how important extra-curricular activities are, and what his career path has been since he ventured into the world.
Links: https://www.goodlab.hk/
Listen to our Podcast on SoundCloud
Episode 12: Prof Jim Griffin
Sustainability in Relation to Statistical Science
In this episode we interview Professor Jim Griffin from the Department of Statistical Science at University College London. This is the first in a series of interviews with Statistical Science academics about how their research crosses over with the discipline of Sustainability.
We discuss the potential of environmental DNA analysis for biodiversity monitoring, highlighting its cost-effectiveness but also the challenges associated with reliability. Jim emphasized the crucial role of statistics in environmental monitoring and decision-making, emphasizing the importance of mathematical modeling and statistical modeling to quantify environmental phenomena. They also acknowledged the need for better data and understanding to inform decision-making and lead to more sustainable outcomes. Finally, the importance of statistical literacy in comprehending environmental concerns and improving decision-making in various fields is covered.
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Episode 13: Domna Ladopoulou
Sustainability in Statistical Modelling of Wind Energy
Domna Ladopoulou, a researcher in the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, is working on improving the efficiency and reliability of wind energy production through statistical and machine learning modelling approaches. Her research focuses on developing a probabilistic condition monitoring system for wind farms using SCADA data to detect faults and failures early. This system aims to enhance the sustainability of wind farms by reducing maintenance costs and improving overall reliability.
Domna’s methodology involves non-parametric probabilistic methods like Gaussian processes and probabilistic neural networks, which offer flexibility and computational efficiency. She emphasizes the importance of informed decision-making in sustainability and the potential for her research to be scaled globally, particularly in regions with high wind power reliance.
Listen to our Podcast on SoundCloud