Statistical Science
Interested in applying to Duke’s Master’s of Statistical Science or Ph.D. program? Join our Program Directors, Dr. Funda Güneş and Dr. Merlise Clyde, to learn more about our world-class programs. Dr. Güneş, the Master's Program Director, will give an overview of the MSS program and the admissions process, followed by a Q&A session with the participants. Session One: Wednesday, October 25th, 8 am EDT Session Two: Thursday, October 26th, 1 pm EDT Register here. Dr. Merlise Clyde, Director of Graduate… read more about Upcoming Graduate Program Info Sessions »
A number of Statistical Science/ISDS alums currently based in and around the Bay Area convened over a weekend in early September. Among the interactions and events was a lovely reunion gathering on September 2nd. The alum reunion was coordinated by Viri Lourdes and Omar Aguilar, with the help of Raquel Prado and Liang Zhang. Viri and Omar generously hosted the event at their home in Portola Valley. The fine September afternoon and evening saw much catching-up, connecting and reconnecting among alums… read more about CA StatSci/ISDS Alums Meetup »
Incoming assistant professor Filippo Ascolani, who starts in the spring semester of 2024, has been awarded one of the Lawrence D. Brown Ph.D. Student Awards. He will deliver an invited talk at the 2024 IMS meetings. More information about the award is at https://imstat.org/ims-awards/ims-lawrence-d-brown-ph-d-student-award/ read more about Incoming assistant professor Filippo Ascolani wins IMS award »
We kicked off our first Proseminar session with Liberty Mutual. The Liberty Mutual team generously shared invaluable insights and tips on internship applications, demonstrating their dedication to nurturing young talent. Enhancing the event's depth, three accomplished data scientists, including two program alumni, shared their industry expertise. They answered student questions and explained how to start a data science career at the company. This session not only provided information about Liberty Mutual internships… read more about Master's Program's Proseminar with Liberty Mutual: Insights and Alumni Wisdom »
Professor David Dunson has been selected as the 51st lecturer in the Hogg and Craig Lecture series at Iowa State University. The Hogg and Craig lecturer is given annually to a distinguished statistician. He will deliver two lectures at Iowa State in 2024. Details about the lectureship are available at the link below. Hogg and Craig Lectures read more about David Dunson to deliver Hogg and Craig Lecture »
The Master of Statistical Science program welcomed 33 new students to Durham in August. The incoming MSS class completed a virtual MATH/STAT Bootcamp, led by Ph.D. student Christine Shen, before coming from all over the globe to participate in the program’s in-person Python Bootcamp, led by Ph.D. students Ed Tam and Sam Rosen. They also participated in departmental and Graduate School orientations, including RCR training, a departmental welcome from department chair Dr. Jerry Reiter, and Program Director Dr. Funda Gunes.… read more about Welcome, MSS Class of 2025! »
Professor Peter Hoff has been named the IMS Executive Secretary for 2023. From the IMS website, "The Executive Secretary is responsible for maintaining the records of the Institute. Under the IMS Constitution, the Executive Secretary is a member of the Council and a member of the Executive and Officers Committees." Congratulations, Peter, on this honor! read more about Peter Hoff named the IMS Executive Secretary »
Students and postdocs affiliated with Duke Statistical Science were well-represented among the winners of the 2023 Section on Bayesian Statistical Science paper competition. Winners include: Yueqi Shen: MSS alum, now a Ph.D. student at UNC Yichen Zhu. recent Ph.D. alum going to Bocconi for a postdoc Joseph Feldman: new postdoc starting August 2023 Filippo Ascolani: new assistant professor starting January 2024. Additionally, Yueqi won the section's Laplace Award. Congratulations to all! read more about StatSci winners of SBSS paper competition »
Duke Stat Sci Ph.D. student Xiaojun Zheng, advised by Dr. Simon Mak, has won the ASA Best Student Paper award from the Sections on Physical and Engineering Sciences (SPES) and Quality and Productivity (Q&P). This award recognizes an outstanding student paper on the development and application of statistical techniques in the physical and engineering sciences, and quality and productivity. Xiaojun's paper, titled "PERCEPT: A New Online Change-Point Detection Method Using Topological Data Analysis" with co-authors Simon… read more about Stat Sci PhD student Xiaojun Zheng wins ASA SPES+Q&P Best Student Paper award »
Associate Professor Alex Volfovsky and colleagues were highlighted by NeurologyToday for their paper on the association between epileptiform activity and poor ICU outcomes. read more about NeurologyToday spotlights Duke Statistical Science research »
Associate Professor Alex Volfovsky has been named to deliver the Langford Lecture at Duke. This program was established in 2000 in tribute to the memory of Thomas Langford, former Divinity School faculty member, Dean, and Provost, who embodied the highest university values of scholarship, teaching, collegiality, and promotion of faculty excellence and community. The annual Langford Lectureship series is designed to offer Duke’s faculty an opportunity to hear about the ongoing scholarly activities of their recently… read more about Alex Volfovsky to deliver Langford Lecture »
Florence Wang graduated this past May with dual degrees in Statistical Science and Neuroscience and minors in Chemistry and Dance. Immersed in STEM throughout her time at Duke, she enhanced her course loads by adding quantitative statistical and life science classes. “That additional coursework really helped me gain a better understanding of the neural mechanisms behind how humans think,” she explains. During her senior year, she added a research assistant position at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, where she was… read more about Divergent Thinking by Dint of Dance »
Susan Paddock, (Alumna 1999) was elected as Vice President of the American Statistical Association. “Her term will begin on January 1, 2024. During her tenure, Paddock’s top three priorities are to advance statistical leadership in data science and AI; support the association’s ongoing diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and accessibility work; and amplify the ASA voice for sound statistical practice in society”. Read more on the ASA elections. read more about Susan Paddock elected VP of ASA »
Congratulations to Departmental of Statistical Science Business Manager Nicole Scott for being awarded the Dean’s Pillar of Excellence Award. Presented by Dr. Gary Bennett, Dean of Trinity College Arts & Sciences, he shared that this award is given to “non-teaching staff making significant contributions to the excellence of Trinity College through their commitment to service, initiative, outstanding leadership, increased efficiency, enthusiasm, collaboration, mentoring, and diversity.” “[Nikki is] the anchor of this… read more about Nicole Scott, Recipient of Dean’s Pillar of Excellence Award »
The faculty and staff of the Department of Statistical Science offers heartfelt congratulations to the MSS Class of 2023! Members of this graduating class are part of an incredibly accomplished group. Nine students will be entering prestigious Ph.D. programs at Duke, Dartmouth College, and Penn State, among others, and most received multiple Ph.D. admissions offers. Other members of the class are stepping into a myriad of industry roles, including data scientists, engineers, and analysts at companies like Pfizer,… read more about Congratulations, MSS Class of 2023! »
Students in the MSS program can submit a Portfolio of Work for their MS completion exam. The MS Portfolio Award is given for outstanding Portfolios, recognizing excellence in applied statistics and presentation. Nominations for the award are made and assessed by the Portfolio advisor, Dr. Yue Jiang, and the MS Director, Dr. Funda Gunes. Due to this year’s exceptionally strong pool of portfolios, the committee has bestowed multiple award winners and honorable mentions. More information is available on the MSS… read more about Recognizing MSS Portfolio Winners »
David Dunson, Arts & Sciences Professor of Statistical Science, has been named among top scientists in the field of mathematics for the 2023 ranking of researchers at Research.com. David Dunson’s scholarly influence combines theoretical and applied research in analyzing complex and high-dimensional data while characterizing uncertainty in inferences through probability distributions via Bayesian methods. He has made pioneering research contributions with a rich variety of popular statistical inference methods… read more about David Dunson named among top scientists in the field of mathematics »
Surya Tokdar, professor and interim chair of Statistical Science at Duke, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). The organization’s May 2 announcement notes Tokdar’s intellectual leadership in several fields of Bayesian inference, including posterior consistency, just-right smoothing, and frequentist properties of Bayesian estimates, as well as his development of novel models for analyzing neuroscience data. Founded in 1935, IMS is a membership organization devoted to “fostering the… read more about Surya Tokdar named IMS fellow »
Of our 44 outstanding graduates, nine will continue into Statistics, Biostatistics, and other STEM-related programs at other prestigious universities. These students received a combined two dozen Ph.D. admissions offers, with each student receiving at least one offer. We are so proud of this impressive group of scholars: Row 1 Jiongran Wang - Texas A&M (Statistics) Xiaozhu Zhang – University of Washington (Statistics) Haoyu Jiang – University of Illinois – Urbana Champlain (Statistics) Row 2 TJ Tang - Penn… read more about Nine MSS Students Accepted into Ph.D. Programs »
Duke Chapel is one of the most iconic structures on Duke’s campus and in Durham. It also offers a magnificent gathering space for significant events in the life of the university and its members. It was designed by Julian Abele, one of the first prominent African American architects, and the namesake of Abele Quad. It’s home to beautiful stained glass, and 50 bells that you can hear played every weekday at 5 pm. Did you know that Duke students, faculty, and staff can also climb to the top of Duke Chapel? MSS students… read more about MSS Climbs Duke Chapel Tower! »
Estimating the Brain’s Inherent Age From Sleep-Based EEG Scans by Srikar Katta, Harsh Parikh, Alex Volfovsky, Cynthia Rudin, Haoqi Sun, Brandon Westover wins at Hackathon read more about Almost Matching Exactly Lab wins Saving Lives With AI Hackathon »
Professor Fan Li has been appointed as the editor for social science, biostatistics, and policy in the Journal of the Annals of Applied Statistics, starting in March 2023. read more about Fan Li, New Editor for Social Science, Biostatistics and Policy »
The MSS program celebrated the return of our annual in-person alumni dinner at the JB Duke on February 17th. The event, hosted by the MSS GCC, featured keynotre speaker Eduardo Coronado Sroka (MS ’20) who shared his experience and insightful advice, and an alumni panel sharing experiences from across multiple industries and fields, including McKinsey & Co., Disney, and the New York Yankees. Program Dirctor, Dr. Funda Gunes, and faculty member Dr. Fan Li also shared remarks in support of the MSS program, and… read more about Annual MSS Alumni Dinner Returns in 2023 »