To continue with my ‘Life as a STOR-i MRes Student’ blogging thread, I have decided to reflect on my previous term (Lent term). This provides me with an opportunity to review the work and activities that I have been involved with between Christmas and Easter 2020. To find out more about life as an MRes student before Christmas, please read my previous post from this thread.
Upon returning from the Christmas break, I was reunited with my colleagues and friends at the STOR-i annual conference (see post). This was a great opportunity to network with key researchers from Statistics, Operational Research and Industry.
Lent term focussed on independent work with a view to give us an insight into life as a PhD student. This involved completing two research projects working with an academic in the field. I worked on
- Slot Scheduling in Air Transportation with Professor Konstantinos Zografos (see my blog post here)
- Missing Data with Dr Robin Mitra
Another enjoyable part of Lent Term was the problem solving days. This involves a company visiting STOR-i with an industrial problem that may lend itself to either statistics and/or OR, then we work in teams with an aim to provide guidance on a solution. The three problem solving days were:
- Tesco
Machine Learning Predictions and Optimisation: Fuel Pricing - BBC
Temporal clustering - Electricity North West
Assessing the Plausibility of Data
During Lent term we also had masterclass’ which involved external academics presenting work in their research area. This was another opportunity to network as well as learn about important areas in statistics and OR. The three masterclass’ were:
- Model-based Clustering and Classification with Professor Brendan Murphy, University College Dublin
(See the blog post I wrote on this here) - Public Sector OR with Professor Laura Albert, University of Wisconsin Madison
(See my relevant blog post here) - Bayesian Optimisation with Professor Peter Frazier, Cornell University
(This was done virtually due to the coronavirus outbreak, many thanks to Peter for making this work)
Unfortunately the final masterclass (Ranking and Selection for Simulation Optimisation with Professor Barry Nelson from Northwestern University) was cancelled due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This world-wide emergency meant that Lent term came to an abrupt and premature end as we, like many others, were asked to work from home. This meant that many activities and deadlines were postponed. However, working from home has provided me with an opportunity to demonstrate a different style of learning. STOR-i have supported us in working from home by transferring much of our contact and planned events online.
Lent term also involved many social aspects as well. The Lancaster University Netball Team won their first (and only) match of the season. We had a term jam-packed with birthdays among the MRes, so there was plenty of celebration! I also went to the Lancaster University Undergraduate Conference where many of my friends in undergraduate degrees presented their work.
Whilst Lent term ended in the strangest of circumstances, I appreciate the new working from home skills I have acquired and I feel very grateful for the online platform in which we have been able to continue as close to normal as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed Lent Term and I feel more equipped than ever to continue on my academic journey into a PhD.
