Ben graduated in 2019 with a PhD in Mathematics for Real-World Systems CDT.

He was supervised by Dr. Mike Tildesley and Dr. Christopher Jewell, whilst also a member of the Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology & Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (SBIDER) group based at the university.

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Education

MSc in Applied Mathematics, University of Auckland 2015/16

Project: Mathematical Models of Pelagic Bird Movement - How do pelagic birds find their way in featureless environments?

Grade: A+

BSc with Honours in Mathematics, University of Otago 2014

Project: The Mother's Curse - An investigation into the use and efficacy of the Trojan Female Technique as a revolutionary approach to pest control

Grade: First Class

BSc in Mathematics, University of Otago 2011-13

Grade: GPA of 8.77 / 9 over three years

Other Research

Summer research project, Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution 2014/15

A 10 week research project, under the auspices of the Allan Wilson Centre (one of New Zealand’s 7 Centres of Research Excellence, www.allanwilsoncentre.ac.nz) with supervision from Professor David Bryant, extending my previous work investigating the combined use of the Trojan Female Technique and Wolbachia bacteria as a novel pest control strategy, with highly promising results. Papers in progress.

Summer research project, University of Otago 2013/14

A 10 week research project, under the supervision of Professor David Bryant, towards an improved method of estimating completed download time off the internet using Bayesian Inference, Monte Carlo Markov Chains and Integration and Self-Similar Processes.

Scholarships and Awards

2016: Chancellor's International Scholarship, awarded to the most outstanding international PhD applicants at the University of Warwick

2016: Sims Empire Scholarship, awarded by the University of Canterbury for outstanding merit and promise in the subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or Medicine

2015: Otago Institute Prize for outstanding ability in the degree of BSc with Honours, particularly in the research component

2014: D B Sawyer Prize for highest aggregate marks during the 4th year of a BSc in Mathematics with Honours

2013: UoO Scholarship in Science, awarded to students who have displayed excellence in their field

2013: UoO Beverly Bursary in Mathematics, awarded to high achieving students who intend to do Honours

2012: UoO Staff Prize in Mathematics and Statistics for outstanding results

2011: UoO Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship, offered to students who excel in all areas, notably leadership and academia

Other Academic Activities

Conferences, workshops and summer schools:

• Developing efficient methodologies for modelling stochastic dynamical systems in biology, University of Bath, April 2017
• Next Generation Computational Modelling Summer Academy, University of Southampton, June 2017
• Conference of Infectious Disease Dynamics, University of Cumbria, September 2017 (Talk presented)
  
• Zeeman Launch Event: Mathematical Challenges from the Life Sciences, University of Warwick, September 2017 (Poster presented)
  
• Epidemics6 - International Conference on Infectious Disease Dynamics, Sitges – Spain, November 2017 (Poster presented)

Contact

b.atkins@warwick.ac.uk