8th - 18th July, 2024

Workshop for Women in Algebraic Statistics 

at St John's College, University of Oxford

 

The Workshop for Women in Algebraic Statistics will be held at St John's College, University of Oxford from July 8th - July 18th, 2024. Participants will form groups to work on novel research problems led by prominent women in algebraic statistics. Meals will be provided in College, and funding is available to cover lodging at St John's. We welcome applications from women in algebraic statistics at any point in their academic career. The workshop is organized by Jane Coons and supported by the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science UK and Ireland Rising Talent Programme. 


The application form can be found here.

Applications received before November 15th, 2023 will receive full consideration.

Requirement for students only: A letter of recommendation from your PhD advisor should be emailed to WomenInAlgStatOxford@gmail.com by November 22nd, 2023.

Questions? Email Jane Coons at WomenInAlgStatOxford@gmail.com.

Group Leaders

 Our research groups will be led by four leading women in algebraic statistics. We are very excited to have as our group mentors:

Marta Casanellas

Our research group develops and improves methods of phylogenetic reconstruction based on mathematical tools, especially algebraic, semi-algebraic and geometric tools. This involves studying molecular substitution models from a mathematical point of view to guarantee parameter identifiability and to provide model selection tools (including both the evolutionary model and the tree or network selection). Our research lies at the borders of phylogenetic reconstruction, algebraic statistics, algebraic geometry and computational algebra. 

Fatemeh Mohammadi

Fatemeh is a Professor in the Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science at KU Leuven. Her research focuses on Applied Algebraic Geometry, where she develops computational and algebraic tools to address problems in various fields, including statistics and probability theory, theoretical computer science, mathematical optimization, and quantum physics. Specifically, in the field of algebraic statistics, she explores topics related to conditional independence and graphical models, examining their connections with matroids, determinantal varieties, and tensors.

Elina Robeva

My research lies at the intersection of mathematical statistics, machine learning, combinatorics, multilinear algebra, and applied algebraic geometry. I particularly enjoy discovering mathematical structure which is inherently responsible for the successful solution to a statistical problem. My work spans causal inference, graphical models, tensor decomposition, non-parametric density estimation, and super-resolution imaging.

Ruriko Yoshida

Ruriko Yoshida is a professor at the department of operations research at Naval Postgraduate School.  She is interested in applications of algebraic geometry to problems in statistics and data analyses.  Especially she is interested in applications of tools in tropical geometry and polyhedral geometry to develop methods over non-Euclidean spaces, such as a space of phylogenetic trees.  Currently she is working on applications to robustness of neural networks against adversarial attacks and extreme value analyses using tools in tropical geometry.  

Organizer

Jane Ivy Coons

Jane Coons is an Early Career Fellow at St John's College, University of Oxford. She completed her PhD in Mathematics at North Carolina State University in 2021. Jane uses tools from combinatorics, polyhedral geometry and commutative algebra to approach problems that come from statistics and bioinformatics. She is broadly interested in the geometry of parameter inference for statistical models viewed as algebraic varieties. In 2023, she was awarded the L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK and Ireland Rising Talent Award in Mathematics and Computer Science, which has made this workshop possible. 

The Venue

St John's College

University of Oxford

The workshop will be hosted at St John's College, University of Oxford in the beautiful city of Oxford, UK. Founded in 1555, St John's boasts historic buildings and gardens, as well as modern academic facilities. All workshop participants will be housed in St John's lodgings and enjoy meals at our historic dining hall.

The Workshop for Women in Algebraic Statistics gratefully acknowledges support from: