The ninth BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences category has been awarded to Sir David Cox and to Professor Bradley Efron of Stanford University, for the development of “pioneering and hugely influential” statistical methods that have proved indispensable for obtaining reliable results in a vast spectrum of disciplines from medicine to astrophysics, genomics or particle physics. The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards seek to recognize and encourage world-class research and artistic creation, prizing contributions of lasting impact for their originality, theoretical significance and ability to push back the frontiers of the known world. These international awards span eight categories: Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics), Biomedicine, Ecology and Conservation Biology, Information and Communication Technologies, Economics, Finance and Management, Contemporary Music, Climate Change and Development Cooperation.
What does a statistician do for the England football team?
From squad selection to modelling how footballs behave at altitude, statistician Matt Penn explains how data is helping shape the modern game, and why coaches will always matter more than the numbers.
New evidence suggests vast hidden magma systems inside Mars
Researchers from the Departments of Earth Science and Statistics have found evidence that Mars once hosted enormous, Earth-like magmatic systems deep below its surface – even though the planet lacks the plate tectonics long considered essential for this kind of geological complexity. The findings open up new possibilities for how rocky planets become habitable.
Finding a needle in the genomic haystack: Targeting rare genes using statistical outliers
In statistical modelling, extreme outliers are often written off as 'noise'. But a new study by researchers from Oxford's Department of Statistics and Big Data Institute published this week in The American Journal of Human Genetics reverses that principle, using these outliers as the basis of a targeting system for locating rare, high-impact genetic mutations.