First term at STOR-i

In September 2019 I began a new chapter of my life starting at STOR-i in Lancaster. Over the summer I had worked as an intern in the department and was given the opportunity to become part of the new mRes cohort.

The term started off with a couple days away up in the lake district with members of staff and the first year PhD students. We were put into different groups throughout the days, doing team building tasks such as canoeing and creating t-shirts.

The term itself was split into two distinct halves: lectures and topic sprints. We had four modules each giving an introduction to a different aspect of statistics and operational research. These were entitled Inference and Modelling, Stochastic Simulation, Deterministic Optimisation and Probability and Stochastic Processes. 

In the second half we were introduced to a new module for STOR-i – contemporary topic sprints. Every week we were placed into groups of four, and attended a lecture on Monday morning given by an expert in a field. They would then introduce a new topic to us and give a list of references for further reading. The remainder of the week would then be spent in our groups producing presentations to give to the expert along with an examiner from STOR-i to show what we had achieved.

To finish off the term we went for a Christmas meal to Quite Simply French, a great small restaurant in Lancaster. In all I had a great time in my first term as a STOR-i mRes and am looking forward to the next year.