PhD studentship in Statistics - Inference for Distributed Likelihoods

Award Summary

100% of home tuition fees, and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £17,668 (2022-23 UKRI rate).

Overview

A problem arising in statistical inference is unifying distributed analyses and inferences on shared parameters from multiple sources, into a single coherent inference. This "unification problem" can arise explicitly due to the nature of a particular application (eg meta-analysis), or artificially as a consequence of the approach taken (eg distributed `big data'). Typically there is no closed form analytical approach to unifying inferences. We take a Monte Carlo approach: representing the distribution induced by the unified inferences using randomness. The "Monte Carlo Fusion" methodology introduced in [Dai et al., 2019], is one recent approach for doing this.

This project will look at extending this approach to practical applications, in particular Statistical Cryptography. In the simplest setting we will have a number of trusted parties who wish to securely share their distributional information on a common parameter space and model, but would prefer not to reveal their individual level distributions. It is possible to use cryptographic techniques such as Homomorphic Secret Sharing (HSS) as a means of ensuring differential privacy within the Monte Carlo Fusion framework.

The direction of this project will depend on the student. It could be: developing the underpinning statistical theory and methodology; considering privacy in other settings (eg untrusted parties); developing and applying cryptographic techniques in statistical settings. It would be advantageous to have some aptitude for programming.

Number of awards: 1

Start date: 18/09/2023

Award duration: 42 months

Sponsor

School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, Newcastle University 

Supervisors

Dr Murray Pollock

(Possible) Secondary Supervisors: Louis Aslett (Durham), Hongsheng Dai (Newcastle), Gareth Roberts (Warwick)

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a relevant subject such as Statistics, Mathematics, or another strongly quantitative discipline. Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements.

International applicants (inc. EU) are welcome to apply. In the first instance the studentship covers only home tuition fees. The School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics has very limited additional funding to offer full studentships including international fees to exceptional international applicants. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each subsection. International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme. 

You must apply through the University’s Portal

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:

• Search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8080F
• Research Area: Statistics
• Select ‘PhD Mathematics (full time) - Statistics' as the programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section: 

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form 
• The studentship code MSP067 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field 
• When prompted regarding your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal. 

Contact details

Contact the supervisors for project specific information. Contact maths.physics.pg@newcastle.ac.uk for general information on applications

Advert information