Cutting-edge research in statistics is being transferred into our everyday lives, by the brand-new Applied Statistics and Risk Unit (AS&RU) at the University of Warwick – which was officially opened yesterday.

The aim of AS&RU is to use academic statistical research to solve some of the world’s major problems – from healthcare and disease epidemics to the stock markets and traffic congestion.

The Warwick Department of Statistics has many specialist research groups, which affect multiple areas of life - including:

• statistical analysis (brain image analysis, epidemics, archaeological data, cell biology, patient survival)
• decision support for complex environments (e.g. nuclear accidents, forensic science)
• mathematical finance (stock market analysis, economics)
• robust approaches to big data (making the most of customer and patient data), probability (including applications to traffic)
• computational statistics and development of new statistical methods.

In addition, several members of staff are also Fellows of the Alan Turing Institute, which draws together academics in the five top UK Universities to work with industry and government in foundational Data Science research.

The official launch of AS&RU took place on 27 March 2017, and its director is Dr Martine Barons.

Martine explains the importance of ensuring that academic research is communicated to government, industry and business – and then applied to real life situations:

“There can be a significant time lag between cutting-edge research developments and turning those into useful solutions for business, government and industry. For example, some of the mathematics and statistics which makes the internet run was devised a couple of centuries earlier and had no apparent use at the time.

“My role is to shorten that time-lag by inviting government, industry & business to see what research is currently in progress and to discuss with the researchers if it can be used or adapted to meet their current or future needs.

“Of course, we have several high profile partners already working with Statistics and other research groups across the University, but we are keen to extend this opportunity and explore the potential for new partnerships.”

Notes to editors:

Warwick’s Department of Statistics is ranked 24^th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject - it is ranked 4th in the UK and 5th in Europe.

Warwick Statistics and Warwick Mathematics Institute together rank third nationally among Mathematical Sciences research groups, in the most recent UK government research assessment (REF 2014)

More than 90% of the University of Warwick's research work assessed is either internationally excellent or world leading (the highest grades, 3* and 4*, in REF 2014).

The research environment at Warwick is rated by REF 2014 as the very best in the UK for mathematical sciences (achieving the maximum possible score of 100% at 4*

28 March 2017

Further information, contact:

Luke Walton, International Press Officer

+44 (0) 7824 540 863

+44 (0) 2476 150 868

L dot Walton dot 1 at warwick dot ac dot uk