Applications now open for PhD in Computational Statistics and Data Science

Start your PhD in Data Science now

Compass CDT is now recruiting for its fully funded places to start September 2023.

We are happy to announce that The University of Bristol online application system is open, and we are receiving applications for Compass CDT programme for September 2023 start. Early application is advised.

For 2023/34 entry, applicants must review the projects on offer. The projects are listed in the research section of our website. You will need to provide a Research Statement in your application documents with a ranked list of 3 projects of interest to you: 1 being the project of highest interest.

PhD Project Allocation Process

Application forms will be reviewed based on the 3 ranked projects specified. Successful applicants will be invited to attend an interview with the Compass admissions tutors and the specific project supervisor. If you are made an offer of PhD study it will be published through the online application system. You will then have 2 weeks to consider the offer before deciding whether to accept or decline.

The next review of applications for 2023 funded places will take place after

4 January 2023.

APPLY NOW

We welcome applications from all members of our community and are particularly encouraging those from diverse groups, such as members of the LGBT+ and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, to join us.

Advantages of being a Compass Student

  • Stipend – a generous stipend of £21,668 pa tax free, paid in monthly payments. Plus your own expense budget of £1,000 pa towards travel and research activity.
  • No fees – all tuition fees are covered by the EPSRC and University of Bristol.
  • Bespoke training – first year units are designed specifically for the academic needs of each Compass student, which enables students to develop knowledge and capability to pursue cross-disciplinary PhD research.
  • Supervisors – supervisors from across academic disciplines offer a range of research projects.
  • Cohort – Compass students benefit from dedicated offices and collaboration spaces, enabling strong cohort links and opportunities for shared learning and research.

About Compass CDT

A 4-year bespoke PhD training programme in the statistical and computational techniques of data science, with partners from across the University of Bristol, industry and government agencies.

The cross-disciplinary programme offers exciting collaborations across medicine, computer science, geography, economics, life and earth sciences, as well as with our external partners who range from government organisations such as the Office for National Statistics, NCSC and the AWE, to industrial partners such as LV, Improbable, IBM Research, EDF, and AstraZeneca.

Students are co-located with the Institute for Statistical Science in the School of Mathematics, which occupies the Fry Building.

Hear from our students about their experience with the programme

  • Compass has allowed me to advance my statistical knowledge and apply it to a range of exciting applied projects, as well as develop skills that I’m confident will be highly useful for a future career in data science. – Shannon, Cohort 2

  • With the Compass CDT I feel part of a friendly, interactive environment that is preparing me for whatever I move on to next, whether it be in Academia or Industry. – Sam, Cohort 2

  • An incredible opportunity to learn the ever-expanding field of data science, statistics and machine learning amongst amazing people. – Danny, Cohort 1

APPLY BEFORE: 

Wednesday 4 January 2023, 5pm (London, UK time zone)

APPLY NOW

Student perspectives: Neural Point Processes for Statistical Seismology

A post by Sam Stockman, PhD student on the Compass programme.

Introduction

Throughout my PhD I aim to bridge a gap between advances made in the machine learning community and the age-old problem of earthquake forecasting. In this cross-disciplinary work with Max Werner from the School of Earth Sciences and Dan Lawson from the School of Mathematics, I hope to create more powerful, efficient and robust models for forecasting, that can make earthquake prone areas safer for their inhabitants.

For years seismologists have sought to model the structure and dynamics of the earth in order to make predictions about earthquakes. They have mapped out the structure of fault lines and conducted experiments in the lab where they submit rock to great amounts of force in order to simulate plate tectonics on a small scale. Yet when trying to forecast earthquakes on a short time scale (that’s hours and days, not tens of years), these models based on the knowledge of the underlying physics are regularly outperformed by models that are statistically motivated. In statistical seismology we seek to make predictions through looking at distributions of the times, locations and magnitudes of earthquakes and use them to forecast the future.

 

 

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