About the Department

Old Chemistry Building The Department of Statistical Science is nationally ranked in the top 5 research departments and as a top 10 graduate program. The Department currently (2012) has 18 faculty, 35-40 graduate students, 10-20 research-active undergraduate majors, numerous postdocs, vistors and affiliated researchers listed under People.  

 

Recognized as the world's leading center for Bayesian statistics and its interdisciplinary applications, the Department is a Duke campus hub for statistical and computational research. The Department administers and teaches a broad range of undergraduate statistics courses, including introductory courses and more advanced courses for the Statistical Science major. The PhD program is distinguished by its strong focuses in complex stochastic modelling,  Bayesian statistics,  scientific computation, and inter-disciplinary statistics research. The departmental offers a concurrent Master's degree to PhD students in other Duke departments, and a joint MS in Statistical and Economic Modelling.

 

Some history: The Department began life as a free-standing Duke institute-- the Institute of Statistics and Decision Sciences (ISDS), established in 1987 and becoming fully active within a couple of years. In 1990, ISDS became a full department of the Duke School of Arts & Sciences, but choosing to retain the distinctive and widely recognized "ISDS" name. In 2007, with the establishment of a research-connected undergraduate Major, the name was changed to Department of Statistical Science. 2012 is the official 25th anniversary of the founding of the department by the Duke Board of Trustees.